Is It Worth Buying Bonus Rounds in Slots
Most modern slots allow you to win not only in a standard mode but also in bonus rounds, which often offer sets of free spins with additional mechanics. Many players play slots to activate this feature and try their luck, as it has an increased payout potential and can potentially bring enormous prizes up to the maximum. Following customers’ wishes and desires, many gambling providers implement an instant bonus round purchase feature in their slot machines. The essence is simple: you press a few buttons and pay a specific amount to activate the desired feature right now. Let’s discuss whether this is worth doing and how profitable it can be.
What Is a Bonus Round Purchase and How Much Does It Cost
Bonus round purchase is a special feature of slot machines which allows you to go straight to a series of free spins or a bonus game by paying a certain amount in advance. In this case, you can avoid playing in standard mode at all; if you are only interested in the bonus round, you can simply buy it. Usually, it costs from 50 to 150 bets; for example, if you want to activate the bonus with a $1 bet, and its value is x100, you have to pay $100 to buy it.
Let’s consider several popular slots with a bonus round purchase feature.
| Name | Provider | Cost of Purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | х100 |
| Hand of Anubis | Hacksaw Gaming | х129-x200 |
| In Jazz | Endorphina | x120 |
| Raptor Doublemax | Yggdrasil | x100 |
| Mental | Nolimit City | x2,000 |
To buy a bonus round, you need to tap an appropriate icon in the interface and confirm the action. After that, its cost is deducted from your balance, and the feature is activated.
There is no limit to the number of bonus rounds you can buy; activate them as many times as your bankroll allows.
Are Slots With a Bonus Buy Feature Profitable
The question of the benefits of buying bonus rounds is quite complicated. There is no way to say that this feature will make you more likely to win or, on the contrary, increase the risk of losing. It all depends on whether you are willing to wait for a standard bonus game activation. There are also a few other essential factors to consider:
- Since a random number generator determines the results of all slot machine spins, you never know what the next bet will bring. It’s completely random; sometimes, you profit more from 100 standard spins than when you pay their cost to activate a free spin bonus round.
- When you buy a bonus round, you spend a significant bankroll part, leading to fast spending and increased variance. Keep in mind that free spins can both bring you big winnings and give you tiny prizes that don’t even compensate for a tenth of their value.
- If you stick to bankroll management principles and buy bonuses at a low rate, the potential prizes will also be markedly lower than in the standard game.
That is, you have to decide whether you want to use a bonus round purchase option, taking into account the factors described above. It’s impossible to unambiguously answer whether it is profitable to use this feature because everything depends only on luck.
Regardless of whether you bought the bonus round or activated it during the standard game, RTP doesn’t change.
Your own experience can also influence your decision. If you play a slot regularly, you should know approximately how often the bonus feature you are interested in comes up and whether it is easier to buy it right away. Also, in some slots with high volatility and multiple levels of bonus play, it is almost impossible to activate the most valuable feature in regular spins. For example, in the Tombstone R.I.P. slot, the probability of this event is comparable to winning the lottery.
Analysis of the Game Performance in Demo Mode
If you want to check what will be more profitable — the standard game or buying bonuses — you can conduct a little experiment. In many casinos, there is an opportunity to run slot machines in demo mode. In this case, you play for virtual chips, not real money, so there are no risks. The experiment’s essence is pretty simple: run several slot machines and try to spend the same amount of money in them for regular spins and buying bonus rounds. Compare the results to see which game and what mode are more profitable.
Not all slots allow you to buy a bonus in demo mode; in some, this feature is only available in the standard mode when you play for real money.
However, even after this experiment, you should understand that luck greatly influences results; if you repeat this experiment one more time, the result may be completely different.
Pros and Cons of Buying Bonus Rounds
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| You can not wait until there are enough scatters or wilds on the reels | Buying a bonus quickly consumes your bankroll |
| Bigger prize potential than during the standard game | Much higher volatility compared to the standard game |
| More exciting gameplay | Not all slot machines have this feature |
