Pokies maths

Bonus Buy Pokies: What the Buy Price, RTP and Bonus Terms Really Mean

Last updated 23 October 2026 · by the Aussie Top Casinos editors

A bonus buy skips the base game for a fixed multiple of your bet. Here is how to read the price and RTP, why bonus terms often exclude it, and why some markets have banned the feature.

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A bonus buy, also called a feature buy, lets you pay a fixed price to start a pokie's bonus round straight away instead of waiting for scatters to land. It is popular in online pokies from studios such as Hacksaw Gaming, Pragmatic Play and Nolimit City, and it changes the maths of a session more than most players expect. The price is always quoted as a multiple of your bet, the return to player (RTP) can differ from the base game, and many casino bonus terms forbid it outright.

How the buy price works

The buy price is set as a multiple of the current bet. If a feature costs 100x and your bet is A$0.50, the buy costs A$50. If you raise the bet to A$2, the same buy costs A$200, and every win inside the feature is also calculated on the A$2 bet.

Some games offer several buys at different prices. One published summary of Hacksaw Gaming's Wanted Dead or a Wild lists three, priced per A$1 of bet:

Feature	Listed price (x bet)	Listed buy RTP	Cost at A$0.50 bet
Great Train Robbery	80x	96.27%	A$40
Duel at Dawn	200x	96.33%	A$100
Dead Man's Hand	400x	96.43%	A$200

The same summary lists the base game RTP as 96.38%, a bet range of 0.20 to 75, and a maximum win of 12,500x. Other sites quote different buy prices for the same title, which is common: studios release several RTP and price configurations, and the casino chooses which one to run. Always check the in-game information screen at the casino you are using rather than a review.

Why a higher bet makes the buy disproportionately expensive

Players often think of a buy as “one spin”. It is not. A 400x buy at A$2 is A$800 committed in a single click, equivalent to 400 base-game spins at that stake. Treat the buy price as the number of spins you are pre-paying for, then decide whether your bankroll covers it.

Reading the buy RTP

RTP is a long-run theoretical average, not a forecast for a session. Where a pokie lists a separate RTP for the buy, that figure applies to money spent on buys, while the base figure applies to normal spins.

The listed buy RTPs above are close to the base game's. In some games they are higher, in some lower, and in many the paytable does not say at all. Pragmatic Play's own page for Gates of Olympus, for example, gives an RTP of 96.50% but does not state a separate figure for its buy. When no separate buy RTP is shown, you cannot assume it matches the base game.

Worked example: expected cost of a buy

Expected loss is the stake multiplied by the house edge (100% minus RTP). Using the listed figures:

One Great Train Robbery buy at A$0.50: A$40 x (100% − 96.27%) = about A$1.49 expected loss.
One Dead Man's Hand buy at A$0.50: A$200 x (100% − 96.43%) = about A$7.14 expected loss.
The same A$200 spread over 400 base spins at A$0.50: A$200 x (100% − 96.38%) = about A$7.24 expected loss.

On paper, the expected cost is similar. What changes is variance: the buy compresses the outcome into one event. Many buys return a fraction of their price, and the average is propped up by rare, very large results. A player who makes five A$200 buys can easily see all five return less than they cost, even though the long-run average is about 96%.

Key point: a bonus buy does not usually change the house edge much, but it multiplies how fast money is staked. Price it as a block of spins at your current bet, and check whether a separate buy RTP is listed before you click.

Variance: why a buy can drain a balance quickly

The expected cost of a buy is a long-run figure. Over a handful of buys, results spread widely around it. A simple illustration shows why.

Illustrative session with a 100x buy

Imagine a player with a A$500 balance buying a 100x feature at a A$1 bet, so A$100 each time. Suppose the first four features return A$35, A$60, A$22 and A$140. These figures are hypothetical, but this sort of pattern is common in high-volatility games:

Spent: 4 x A$100 = A$400.
Returned: A$35 + A$60 + A$22 + A$140 = A$257.
Net result: −A$143 after four clicks, with A$357 left, enough for three more buys.

To get back to even, the next feature would need to return A$243 or more, which is 2.43x its own price. In a game where the average buy returns about 0.96x its price, that happens, but only some of the time. The same A$400 spent on 400 base spins would usually show a smoother path, with smaller wins along the way and occasional natural triggers of the feature.

Setting a stop point

Because each buy is a large single stake, decide in advance how many buys a session allows, rather than deciding after each result. Two or three buys at a stake you are comfortable losing is a very different session from “until it pays”. Many casinos offer deposit and loss limits in the account settings; these apply to buys like any other bet.

Bonus terms that exclude feature buys

Casino bonus terms frequently ban the feature while a bonus is active. The clauses vary, but they tend to take one of these forms. The wording below is illustrative, not quoted from a particular casino:

“The use of bonus buy or feature buy functions is prohibited while a bonus is active.”
“Purchasing a bonus feature with bonus funds will result in the forfeiture of the bonus and any associated winnings.”
“Bets placed via feature purchase do not contribute towards wagering requirements.”
“The maximum bet while wagering is A$5. A feature purchase counts as a single bet equal to its full price.”

The last one catches people out. If the maximum bet is A$5 and a 100x buy at A$0.20 bet costs A$20, a single buy breaks the rule even though the spin stake shown on screen is only A$0.20. Read the bonus terms before playing pokies with a buy button; our guide to casino bonuses explains wagering and maximum bet rules in more detail, and no wagering offers avoid most of these clauses.

Why some markets ban bonus buys

The best-known restriction is in Great Britain. In January 2020, CasinoBeats reported that the UK Gambling Commission had found “six operators were offering products providing ‘feature buy-in’ facilities on slots style games”, with one game charging more than £3,000 for a feature. The Commission pointed to its remote technical standards, including RTS 14A: “Gambling products must not actively encourage customers to chase their losses, increase their stake…”. All six operators removed the feature.

iGaming Expert summarises the outcome: bonus buys “were prohibited in the UK in 2019 when the Gambling Commission decreed that the mechanism encourages chasing losses”. That is why studios ship UK versions of games without the buy button.

Rules elsewhere vary by market and change over time, so a buy button visible at one casino may be missing at another for the same game. Australia's offshore casinos operate outside Australian licensing, so the version you see is set by the operator's own licence and configuration, not by an Australian standard.

When a buy makes sense, and when it does not

There is no maths trick that makes buys profitable. Some practical considerations:

Time vs money. A buy gets you to the feature immediately. If the feature is what you enjoy, a buy is the same expected cost delivered faster, so set a smaller session budget.
Bankroll size. A 100x buy needs a bankroll of several hundred times your bet to survive a run of poor features.
Bet sizing. Lower the bet before buying. The feature's multipliers are the same; only the stake changes.
Check the configuration. Open the info screen for the RTP and price at that casino.

Where to read more

For how RTP differs between casinos running the same title, see best paying online pokies. Our online pokies guide covers volatility and features, and Pragmatic Play casinos lists where that studio's games are offered. If buys are pushing your spending up, our responsible gambling page lists Australian support services.

FAQ

What does 100x mean on a bonus buy?

It means the feature costs 100 times your current bet. At a A$0.50 bet that is A$50, and at A$2 it is A$200.

Is the RTP different when you buy the bonus?

It can be. Some games list a separate buy RTP that is slightly higher or lower than the base game, and some do not state it at all, so check the in-game information screen.

Can I use a bonus buy while wagering a casino bonus?

Often not. Many bonus terms prohibit feature purchases, exclude them from wagering, or count the full buy price as one bet against the maximum bet rule.

Why can't UK players buy bonuses?

The UK Gambling Commission prohibited the feature in 2019 on the grounds that it encourages chasing losses. Studios supply UK versions of their games without the buy button.