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A question you’ll see pasted ad nauseum all over iGaming forums and subreddits is:
‘Are Slot Bonus Buys Worth it?’
Well, they certainly save time, no doubt about that – you’re basically paying for an instant go on the Free Spins mode; as opposed to spinning around 1 to 30 times on average to activate it.
Therefore, value is 20/20 hindsight – if you had been lucky and found the free spins mode right away with a basic low-cost spin, you would have wasted money by spending around 10x your bet on the Bonus Buy.
If you were going to be unlucky and would need to spend over 60 spins instead, you saved money, bravo… only, there’s no way to know beforehand, so it’s a bet like everything else in gambling.
So, we thought we’d just try it out on a few different slot games ourselves to see if the rewards were worth the buy-in and report our results for our readers to see our answer to this resounding eternal question of value – ‘are they actually worth it though?????’
Testing
To keep things fair, we chose ten different slots across a mix of themes, volatility levels, and RTP ranges. Think of it as a balanced slot buffet—minus the belly-swollen regret afterwards:
- Cygnus 4
- Power of Thor Megaways
- Fruit Party 2
- Christmas Carol Megaways
- Bigger Bass Blizzard Christmas Catch
- Rabbit Royale
- Starlight Princess
- Danger High Voltage II
- Christmas Big Bass Bonanza
- Extra Chilli
All tests were run in demo mode (because, sadly, we’re not loaded), and we bought the bonus immediately in each game. No warm-up spins— just straight into the chaos.
Results
Here’s a breakdown of our results per game. This has no reflection on whether we think the slot is any good or not, it’s purely all about their bonus buy results.
| Slot | Bonus Buy Cost | Winnings | Profit/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cygnus 4 | 500X | 48.65 | 451.35 |
| Power of Thor Megaways | 200X | 68.30 | 131.70 |
| Fruit Party 2 | 200X | 185.70 | 14.30 |
| Christmas Carol Megaways | 200X | 883 | 683 |
| Bigger Bass Blizzard Christmas Catch | 120X | 212.40 | 92.40 |
| Rabbit Royale | 500X | 671 | 171 |
| Starlight Princess | 200X | 141 | 59 |
| Danger High Voltage II | 100X | 75.45 | 24.55 |
| Christmas Big Bass Bonanza | 200X | 5 | 195 |
| Extra Chilli | 50X | 23.45 | 26.55 |
| Totals | 2270X | 2313.95 | 43.95 |
Verdict
So, after completing all of our testing we made a profit of 43.95X. While not a huge windfall that we can retire on, it’s still a profit, so ultimately from these specific tests, we can say bonus buys are worth it. However, there is a condition and that is you may need a large bankroll to profit from it. As you can see from our testing, only three out of the ten slots yielded a profit for us.
Slots are a game of chance and we could run these tests tomorrow and get completely different outcomes. But for today, we say, much like L’Oréal, bonus buys are worth it!
Want to know when to say Yes or No to Bonus Buys? Here’s our take:
When Bonus Buys are Worth it and When They’re Not
Worth It
- High-volatility slots with strong bonus potential
(Some bonuses are where all the RTP and win potential actually sit.) - If you’re comfortable with big swings
Bonus buys can return 0–20% of the cost or suddenly drop a 500x— It’s random and uncertain. - If you know the game
Some bonuses are mathematically stronger than others (e.g., multi-feature slots where one bonus is significantly higher RTP). If you know, you know.
Not Worth It
- Small bankrolls
Bonus buys can chew through balance insanely fast. - Low-volatility slots
You’re basically paying extra for a bonus that pays almost the same as base game hits. - Chasing losses
Bonus buys accelerate losses when you’re tilted.
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