Bonus Buy Slots: How Feature-Buy Pokies Work and What They Cost

Bonus buy slots — also called feature buy or feature-unlock pokies — let you pay a fixed price to jump straight into a game’s bonus round instead of waiting for it to land on its own. The appeal is easy to see: no grinding through hundreds of spins to reach the free-spins feature. The trade-off is just as real, because that shortcut usually costs a large multiple of your normal bet and does nothing to improve your underlying odds. This guide explains how the feature works, what it typically costs, how it affects return-to-player and volatility, which markets allow it, and what to check before you ever press the button.

What are bonus buy slots?

A bonus buy slot is an online pokie that includes a dedicated button — often labelled “Buy Feature”, “Bonus Buy” or “Feature Buy” — that instantly triggers the game’s main bonus round for a set price. In most slots that bonus round is a free-spins feature, which you normally reach only when enough scatter symbols land on the reels at the same time. On an average game that natural trigger might happen roughly once every few hundred spins, so some players would rather pay to skip the wait.

The purchased feature is identical to the one you would eventually unlock through normal play. You are not buying a better or special version of the bonus — you are buying immediate access to it. The reels still spin, the symbols still fall at random, and the outcome is still decided by the game’s random number generator. To understand what you are skipping, it helps to know how pokies paylines work and how scatters normally trigger a feature in the first place.

How the feature buy works, step by step

The mechanics are deliberately simple, which is part of why regulators watch them closely:

1. Set your base stake. The buy price is calculated as a multiple of your current bet, so a larger stake means a proportionally larger purchase cost.
2. Open the buy menu. Clicking the feature-buy button shows the exact price and, on many games, the specific bonus you are buying into.
3. Confirm the purchase. The cost is deducted from your balance immediately — this counts as a single, large wager, not a series of small spins.
4. Play the bonus. The free-spins round (or other feature) begins straight away, and any winnings are paid exactly as they would be in a naturally triggered round.

Because the whole stake is committed in one click, a feature buy compresses what might have been an hour of play into a few seconds. That speed is convenient, but it also removes the natural pauses that help people keep track of how much they are spending.

What bonus buy slots cost

Prices vary by game, but the most common range is roughly 50 to 100 times your base bet, with some titles charging 200 times or more. Two of the most widely played examples, Pragmatic Play’s Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza, each price their free-spins buy at about 100× the stake. Hacksaw Gaming’s Wanted Dead or a Wild uses a similar 100× price, while some Nolimit City titles sit at 200× or higher.

The multiplier structure is what makes the numbers escalate quickly. On a modest NZ$1 spin, a 100× buy costs NZ$100; raise the stake to NZ$5 and the same feature costs NZ$500. The table below shows how a single purchase scales across common stake sizes, which is worth studying before you treat a buy as a casual click. Comparing that outlay with the way ordinary casino bonuses and wagering requirements work can also put the real cost of “instant” access into perspective.

RTP and volatility: what a purchase actually changes

The single most important thing to understand is that buying the bonus does not improve your chances of coming out ahead. It changes the shape of the risk, not the maths in your favour.

Buy RTP versus base-game RTP

Many studios publish a separate return to player (RTP) figure for the buy feature. Sometimes it is marginally higher than the base game — Big Time Gaming’s White Rabbit, for instance, is often quoted at around 97.39% in normal play and about 97.72% with the buy. The reason is technical: part of the house margin is already collected in the purchase price, so the feature itself can return a slightly higher percentage. The difference is usually small, and a higher headline RTP still means the game keeps a share of every dollar bought over the long run.

Why a single purchase can return nothing

RTP is a long-run statistical average measured across millions of spins, not a promise about your session. Feature buys are concentrated bets on high-volatility slots, and high volatility means outcomes swing widely. A purchased bonus can pay many times its price — or it can pay back less than you spent, including nothing at all. Buying ten features in a row is no guarantee that any of them will cover their cost.

The “ante bet” or double-chance alternative

Several of the same games offer a middle option that sits between normal play and a full buy. Often called an “ante bet”, “bet boost” or “double chance”, it increases your stake by around 25% on every spin and, in return, roughly doubles the probability that the bonus triggers naturally. It is cheaper per spin than a feature buy, but it also raises your cost on every single spin whether the feature arrives or not. Like the buy button, it changes your exposure rather than the game’s built-in edge.

Who makes bonus buy slots

Feature-buy mechanics are most associated with a handful of studios. Pragmatic Play, Nolimit City and Hacksaw Gaming are the most prolific, and Push Gaming, Relax Gaming and Big Time Gaming also offer buy-enabled titles. These casino software providers design the games; individual casinos then choose whether to offer the buy button, and in some markets they are not permitted to do so at all. Because the same game can appear with or without the feature depending on where you play, it is always the provider’s game-info screen — not a casino’s marketing — that tells you the real price and RTP.

Where bonus buys are allowed

Great Britain and other restricted markets

Feature buys are not available to players on British-licensed sites. In January 2020 the UK Gambling Commission found six operators offering “feature buy-in” facilities — one charged more than £3,000 to enter a bonus round — and warned that this breached its technical standards, citing requirements that game rules be clear before a customer commits and that products must not encourage people to chase losses. All six operators removed the feature. Several studios now ship a separate, buy-free version of popular games for regulated markets. A number of other jurisdictions apply similar restrictions, so availability depends heavily on where a casino is licensed.

New Zealand’s new online casino regime

New Zealand’s online casino market is in the middle of a major change. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force on 1 May 2026 and, for the first time, sets up a licensing system — administered by the Department of Internal Affairs — for a capped number of online casino operators, with supporting regulations rolling out through 2026. Advertising of online casino gambling is currently restricted while the regime is established. Whether specific features such as a bonus buy are offered will depend on each licensed operator and the conditions the regulator sets, rather than on the game studio alone. For context on how the market has shifted, see our overview of online casinos that have left New Zealand.

Common mistakes and what to check first

• Treating the buy price as a bet, not a cost. A 100× buy is the equivalent of 100 full-stake spins committed at once; budget for it the same way.
• Assuming the buy improves your odds. It does not. It only removes the wait and concentrates the risk.
• Ignoring the game-info screen. The exact buy price, the base and buy RTP, and the volatility rating are all listed there before you commit.
• Chasing a feature that keeps underpaying. Repeated buys to “win it back” is loss-chasing, the exact behaviour regulators flag as harmful.
• Playing a version from an unlicensed site. Games on sites outside your local licensing regime carry none of the consumer protections that regulated operators must provide.

Who feature-buy slots suit — and who they don’t

Feature buys appeal to experienced players who understand volatility, play with a fixed entertainment budget, and simply prefer not to sit through long dry spells to reach a bonus. They are a poor fit for anyone on a tight budget, anyone who enjoys the slow build-up of base-game play, and above all anyone who might be tempted to keep buying in the hope of recovering a loss. If the price of a single buy feels uncomfortable, that is a clear signal it is too expensive for your bankroll.

Responsible gambling and important information

This article is general, factual information about how bonus buy slots work. It is not advice, and it does not encourage gambling, the purchase of any feature, or any specific betting decision. Online casino gambling in New Zealand is restricted to adults aged 18 and over. All slots are games of chance: the outcome is random, the house keeps a long-term mathematical edge, and no feature buy, strategy or demo play can change your odds of winning.

If gambling is causing you or someone you know harm, free and confidential help is available in New Zealand 24 hours a day through the Gambling Helpline Aotearoa on 0800 654 655 or by texting 8006. Further support and self-help resources are available from Healthify (Health New Zealand), and information on the regulation of online casino gambling is published by the Department of Internal Affairs.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What are bonus buy slots?

They are online pokies with a button that lets you pay a fixed price to trigger the game’s bonus round immediately, instead of waiting for it to land through normal play. The purchased bonus is the same feature you would eventually unlock on your own.

How much does a feature buy usually cost?

The price is set as a multiple of your base bet, most commonly between 50 and 100 times your stake, though some games charge 200 times or more. So a 100× buy on a NZ$1 spin costs NZ$100, and the same buy on a NZ$5 spin costs NZ$500. The exact figure is shown on each game’s info screen.

Does buying the bonus improve my chances of winning?

No. It only removes the wait and delivers the feature instantly. The outcome is still decided at random, the house still keeps its long-term edge, and a purchased bonus can pay back more than it cost, less than it cost, or nothing at all.

Why can’t I find bonus buy slots at some casinos?

Some regulators restrict or prohibit the feature. In Great Britain, for example, the Gambling Commission warned operators against offering feature buy-ins, and they were removed. Availability depends on where a casino is licensed and on the conditions set by the regulator, so the same game can appear with or without the buy button.

Is the bonus buy RTP better than normal play?

Sometimes the published buy RTP is marginally higher than the base-game figure because part of the house margin is collected upfront in the purchase price. The gap is usually small, and RTP is a long-run average across millions of spins, not a prediction for your session, so a higher percentage does not make a single purchase safe.