Bonus buy
A bonus buy is the button that lets you pay to go straight into a slot's bonus round instead of spinning until it triggers. The price is set in multiples of your stake per spin, and 100x is the one you'll see most, so $100 when you're betting $1. Plenty of the big Stake slots have one, while UK players haven't had the option since the Gambling Commission stepped in early in 2020.
| Option | What you pay | What you get | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus buy (feature buy) | A fixed multiple of the bet, once | The bonus round starts on the next spin | Sweet Bonanza and Sugar Rush 1000: 100x |
| Tiered buys | One price per bonus round | You choose which round | Wanted Dead or a Wild: 80x, 200x, 400x |
| Super buy | A higher multiple, once | A stronger round | Sugar Rush 1000: 500x for a round that never triggers by itself |
| Ante bet | More on every spin | Better odds of triggering the bonus | Sweet Bonanza: +25% per spin, trigger chance doubled |
| Engine bet mode | The mode's cost multiplier | Its own maths, RTP and max win | No mode priced above 50,000x |
Set your bet before checking the buy price, because the price on the button moves with it, and at a $2 bet 100x comes to $200, which catches out people who were spinning at 20 cents a minute earlier. Ante bet works differently. It's usually a small toggle near the spin button that makes every spin cost more so the bonus comes round more often, and it stays on until you switch it off.
How long the bonus takes without buying
| Spins at $1 | Spent | Chance of at least one bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $100 | 26.7% |
| 200 | $200 | 46.2% |
| 323 | $323 | 63.3% |
| 500 | $500 | 78.8% |
| 1,000 | $1,000 | 95.5% |
Own calculation: 1 − (1 − 1/323)^spins. Trigger rate from SlotCatalog.
Roughly three in four $100 runs of normal Sugar Rush 1000 spins never trigger a bonus. The 100x buy always does, and on average it costs about the same. It just puts the whole $100 on one round.
What a buy costs on average
| Price | Where it comes from | At 96.0% RTP | At 96.7% RTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80x | Wanted Dead or a Wild, cheapest buy | $3.20 | $2.64 |
| 100x | Sweet Bonanza, Sugar Rush 1000 | $4.00 | $3.30 |
| 200x | Wanted Dead or a Wild, second buy | $8.00 | $6.60 |
| 400x | Wanted Dead or a Wild, top buy | $16.00 | $13.20 |
| 500x | Sugar Rush 1000 Super Bonus | $20.00 | $16.50 |
Own calculation: price × (100% − RTP). Engine requires every mode, buys included, to sit between 96.0% and 96.7% (math verification). The example games are not Engine games and have their own buy RTPs.
If you're planning a bonus hunt, add up the buys before the first one. Twenty 100x buys at one dollar a spin put $2,000 on the table, and the spread around the average result is wide in both directions.
Bonus buys on Stake
| Group | Games | With a buy |
|---|---|---|
| 200 most-wagered slots | 200 | 163 |
| Hacksaw Gaming, all with wagers | 216 | 201 |
| Push Gaming, all with wagers | 89 | 55 |
Counted by us from the bonus-buy flag in bonushunt.gg provider analytics, read 12 Nov 2026. The flag can miss bet modes on some Engine games, Waylanders Forge for example shows none.
On Stake.us you won't see the word buy anywhere, and that's deliberate. Engine's rules for the social side ban buy, bet and pay in the game text and even in the names of the modes, so studios relabel the same thing as a bonus or a feature. The round itself is identical.
- Great Britain
- UK Gambling Commission warning, January 2020: six operators sold feature buy-ins, one above £3,000, all six removed them
- UK game versions
- Sweet Bonanza and Sugar Rush 1000 ship without the buy (SlotCatalog)
Not affiliated with Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming, Push Gaming or any Engine studio. Game names belong to their owners.
Questions
What is a bonus buy in slots?
A button that starts the bonus round straight away for a fixed price, set in multiples of your bet. 100x is common. Sweet Bonanza charges that, as does Sugar Rush 1000.
Is buying the bonus worth it?
On average it costs about the same as spinning the same money, since the RTP is close. Your balance just swings much harder.
What is an ante bet?
An optional surcharge per spin in exchange for easier bonus triggers. Sweet Bonanza charges 25% extra and makes free spins twice as likely.
What does super buy mean?
A pricier buy that starts a stronger bonus. In Sugar Rush 1000 the Super Bonus Round costs 500x, and that round cannot trigger in normal play.
Why is bonus buy not available in the UK?
The Gambling Commission had feature buy-ins removed from licensed sites in 2020 after finding six operators offering them, one priced above £3,000.
Sources
- SlotCatalog: Sweet Bonanza. buy 100x the base bet; ante bet +25%, trigger chance doubled; not available under UKGC Checked 12 November 2026
- SlotCatalog: Sugar Rush 1000. buy 100x at 96.52% RTP; Super Bonus 500x at 96.55%; free spins 1 in 323; not offered in the UK Checked 12 November 2026
- SlotCatalog: Hacksaw Gaming. Wanted Dead or a Wild buy prices 80x, 200x, 400x Checked 12 November 2026
- bonushunt.gg provider analytics. bonus-buy flag per game, month window, counts by us; Sugar Rush 1000 configured RTP 96.53% on Stake Checked 12 November 2026
- Engine docs: math verification. every mode 96.0% to 96.7% RTP; cost multiplier at most 50,000x Checked 12 November 2026
- Engine docs: jurisdiction requirements. Stake.us social mode: buy, bet and pay are restricted terms, also in mode names Checked 12 November 2026
- UK Gambling Commission: games warning for online operators (17 Jan 2020). six operators, feature buy-in removed, one game above £3,000 Checked 12 November 2026
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