Bonus Buy (also called Feature Buy or Bonus Purchase) is one of the most debated features in modern slots. It lets you skip the base game entirely and jump straight into the bonus round — for a price. Here’s everything you need to know before you click that button.
Bonus Buy is a feature that lets you pay a fixed premium — typically 50x to 100x your bet — to instantly trigger the slot’s bonus round (usually free spins). Instead of waiting for scatter symbols to land naturally, you buy your way in.
How Bonus Buy Works
In a standard slot session, the bonus round triggers when a certain number of scatter symbols (usually 3 or more) land on the reels during a single spin. Depending on the game’s volatility, this can happen every 50 spins or every 500 spins. There’s no way to predict or control it.
Bonus Buy removes that waiting game. The slot offers a button (usually visible near the spin controls) that lets you pay a fixed price to trigger the bonus round immediately. After you buy in, the bonus plays out exactly as it would if it had triggered naturally — same mechanics, same potential payouts.
Bet size: $1.00 per spin
Bonus Buy cost: 100x bet = $100.00
What you get: 10 free spins with multiplier bombs
Possible outcomes: anything from $0 (total loss) to $21,100 (max win)
The Bonus Buy cost varies by game. Most fall in the 50x to 100x range, but some games go higher — up to 200x or more for enhanced bonus versions.
What Does Bonus Buy Cost?
| Slot | Provider | Bonus Buy Cost | Max Win |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | 100x | 21,100x |
| Gates of Olympus | Pragmatic Play | 100x | 5,000x |
| Wanted Dead or a Wild | Hacksaw Gaming | 80x | 12,500x |
| Chaos Crew | Hacksaw Gaming | 66x | 10,000x |
| Bonanza | Big Time Gaming | 100x | 26,000x |
| Tombstone RIP | Nolimit City | 66x / 666x | 300,000x |
| Money Train 3 | Relax Gaming | 80x | 100,000x |
| Jammin’ Jars | Push Gaming | 60x | 20,000x |
Some games offer multiple Bonus Buy tiers. Nolimit City is notable for this: a standard buy for the regular bonus and a more expensive buy (sometimes called “Super Bonus” or “Ultimate”) for an enhanced version with better starting conditions.
How Bonus Buy Affects RTP
This is where it gets nuanced. The Bonus Buy feature often has its own separate RTP that may differ from the overall game RTP.
In most cases, the Bonus Buy RTP is close to the game’s total RTP — within 0.5% in either direction. But there are exceptions. Some games have a slightly higher Bonus Buy RTP because you’re skipping the lower-RTP base game entirely. Others have a slightly lower Bonus Buy RTP because the premium you pay is weighted slightly against you.
Check the slot’s info/help menu. Many providers disclose the Bonus Buy RTP separately. If it’s not listed, assume it’s approximately equal to the game’s overall RTP. Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming, and Nolimit City typically disclose this.
One important detail: some jurisdictions restrict or ban Bonus Buy entirely. The UK Gambling Commission, for example, prohibited the feature in 2019 for operators licensed in the UK. If you don’t see a Bonus Buy button, your casino may be operating under regulations that don’t allow it.
Is Bonus Buy Worth It?
The honest answer: mathematically, Bonus Buy is neither better nor worse than regular play in most cases. The RTP is similar. What changes is the variance profile of your session.
A Bonus Buy at 100x your bet means you’re paying the equivalent of 100 regular spins in a single click. At $1 per spin, that’s $100 per buy. Three bad bonuses in a row = $300 gone. Bonus Buy amplifies both the excitement and the financial risk dramatically.
When to Use Bonus Buy (and When Not To)
Use Bonus Buy when your bankroll is large enough to absorb multiple failed bonuses (at least 5–10 buy-ins minimum), you specifically enjoy the bonus mechanic and find base game grinding boring, or you’re testing a new game and want to experience the feature quickly.
Avoid Bonus Buy when your bankroll is limited (if losing 100x bet would hurt, don’t buy), you’re playing to meet wagering requirements (base game is usually more efficient for grinding through requirements), or you’re on tilt after losing — buying bonuses to “chase” a big win is one of the fastest ways to empty a bankroll.
Which Providers Offer Bonus Buy?
Most modern providers include Bonus Buy in at least some of their games. The providers most known for it are Pragmatic Play (available on nearly all games), Hacksaw Gaming (standard on most titles), Nolimit City (often with multiple buy tiers), Relax Gaming, Push Gaming, and Big Time Gaming.
NetEnt and Play’n Go have been more conservative — older titles generally don’t have it, though newer releases increasingly include the feature.
Slots with Bonus Buy are tagged with a dedicated badge in our randomizer. Spin the wheel and see which Bonus Buy games turn up.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
Bonus Buy is a convenience feature, not a mathematical advantage. It lets you skip to the part of the game most players consider the most exciting — but at a steep cost per activation.
The RTP is roughly the same either way. What changes is the speed and variance of your session. Bonus Buy makes the highs higher and the lows lower — and it makes both happen much faster.
Use it if you can afford it and enjoy it. Avoid it if you can’t. And always know the cost before you click.
