Ante bet
An ante bet is an optional extra on every spin that makes the bonus round more likely. In Pragmatic Play slots like Gates of Olympus it adds 25% to the stake and doubles the chance of free spins. The top prize in money stays where it was.
What the game data says
- Stake per spin
- 20 coins plain, 25 with ante (Gates of Olympus, Gates of Olympus 1000, Starlight Princess 1000, Sweet Bonanza 1000)
- RTP, Gates of Olympus 1000
- 96.50% plain and with ante
- RTP, Sweet Bonanza 1000
- 96.53% plain, 96.50% with ante
- Top win, Gates of Olympus 1000
- 15,000x plain, 12,000x of the ante stake
- Top win, Sweet Bonanza 1000
- 25,000x plain, 20,000x of the ante stake
- Odds of that top win, Sweet Bonanza 1000
- 1 in 71,428,571 plain, 1 in 47,619,048 with ante
The lower top-win figure with the ante on looks like a cut, but it's counted against the bigger stake. A $1 spin with ante costs $1.25, and 12,000 of those is the same $15,000 a plain spin can win. Sweet Bonanza 1000 is the one demo that also lists the odds with ante, and there the top win comes 1.5 times as often per spin.
What a bonus costs you
| Way in | Price | Spins per bonus | Money put through | Average loss of that money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain spins | $1.00 | 448 | $448.00 | $15.68 |
| Ante on | $1.25 | 224 | $280.00 | $9.80 |
| Bonus buy | $100.00 once | 1 | $100.00 | $3.51 |
Our calculation. Free spins 1 in 448 without ante and twice as likely with it (SlotCatalog, Bigwinboard). RTP 96.50% plain and ante, 96.49% for the buy (demo data). Average loss = money put through x (1 minus RTP). Real sessions swing far around these averages.
If the bonus is why you're playing, the ante is the cheaper way to wait for it, and you'll put about $168 less through per round on average. If you like the base game for itself, it's simply a 25% dearer spin: $100 gets you 80 spins instead of 100. Check the RTP line in the rules before you switch it on, since a few games price the ante a little worse than plain play.
| Budget | Plain spins | No bonus | Spins with ante | No bonus with ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | 100 | 80.0% | 80 | 69.9% |
| $250 | 250 | 57.2% | 200 | 40.9% |
| $500 | 500 | 32.7% | 400 | 16.7% |
Our calculation: (1 minus 1/448) to the power of the spins, and (1 minus 2/448) with ante. Assumes the ante exactly doubles the trigger chance.
Where the extra chance comes from
Sweet Bonanza shows it in the reel strips. The demo loads five reel sets, and one of them puts a second scatter on reels 2, 3 and 5. On that set 4 or more scatters land on the first drop about 1 in 459 spins. The other sets with scatters sit between 1 in 1,175 and 1 in 1,551. Which set a spin uses is hidden.
| Option | Price per spin | Bonus chance | Price per unit of chance | Found in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain spin | 1x | 1x | 1.00 | Every slot |
| Ante bet | 1.25x | 2x | 0.63 | Gates of Olympus, Sweet Bonanza, Starlight Princess |
| BonusHunt FeatureSpins | 3x | 5x | 0.60 | Le Bandit, RIP City, Le Pharaoh |
| Bonus buy | 100x once | Certain | n/a | Most big slots on Stake |
Price per unit of chance = price per spin / bonus chance, our calculation. FeatureSpins figures from Bigwinboard reviews of the three Hacksaw games.
Hacksaw calls its version FeatureSpins and charges 3x for five times the chance, which works out a touch cheaper per unit than the Pragmatic ante. What a full buy costs at different prices is on the bonus buy page.
Not affiliated with Pragmatic Play or Hacksaw Gaming. Game names belong to their owners.
Questions
What does ante bet mean in slots?
An optional extra stake on each spin, usually 25% in Pragmatic Play games, that raises the chance of triggering free spins. Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza double the chance.
Does the ante bet lower the max win?
Not in money. Gates of Olympus 1000 lists 12,000x with ante, measured on the 1.25x stake, which equals the 15,000x a plain spin can win.
Does the ante bet change the RTP?
Barely, and it depends on the game. Gates of Olympus 1000 shows 96.50% both ways. Sweet Bonanza 1000 drops from 96.53% to 96.50% with the ante.
Is the ante bet worth it?
For bonus hunting, on average yes: in Gates of Olympus 1000 you put about $280 through per free spins round instead of $448 at a $1 bet. For a long session at a fixed budget it costs you spins.
Sources
- Pragmatic Play demo: Gates of Olympus 1000 (game data). bet levels 20 / 25, RTP 96.50 regular and ante, 96.49 buy, top win 15,000x / 12,000x with ante, odds 1 in 2,749,771 Checked 12 November 2026
- Pragmatic Play demo: Sweet Bonanza 1000 (game data). bet levels 20 / 25, RTP 96.53 regular, 96.50 ante, top win 25,000x / 20,000x, odds 1 in 71,428,571 / 47,619,048 Checked 12 November 2026
- Pragmatic Play demo: Sweet Bonanza (game data, reel strips). five reel sets; 4+ scatters on the first drop 1 in 459 to 1 in 1,551 (our count) Checked 12 November 2026
- Pragmatic Play demo: Gates of Olympus and Starlight Princess 1000 (game data). bet levels 20 / 25; Starlight Princess 1000 symbol vs20starlightx Checked 12 November 2026
- SlotCatalog: Gates of Olympus 1000. ante +25%, doubles the bonus odds, free spins 1 in 448, buy 100x Checked 12 November 2026
- Bigwinboard: Gates of Olympus 1000 review. ante +25% for more scatters, RTP 96.5% normal and ante, buy 96.49%, free spins 1 in 448 Checked 12 November 2026
- SlotCatalog: Sweet Bonanza. ante +25%, more scatters on the reels, trigger odds doubled Checked 12 November 2026
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