Bonus Buy Slot: What the Feature Costs and Why UK Banned It

What a bonus buy really costs, why Sweet Bonanza lists no separate buy RTP, and how the UKGC used RTS 3A and 14A to push feature buy-ins off UK sites.

By Slots-Club ClubhouseOct 165 min read

A row of chips waiting in a felt tray beside one star chip on a velvet cushion and a tall chip tower as its price.

A bonus buy slot lets you pay a fixed price to skip the base game and drop straight into the bonus feature, rather than waiting for scatters to trigger it. The catch is the price: one game the UK Gambling Commission flagged was charging more than £3,000 to enter the bonus, and that regulator ended up pushing the mechanic out of the UK market. Before you hit the buy button, read the spec sheet for what the feature costs, what return it lists, and whether the game says anything about the buy at all.

What does bonus buy mean on a slot?

Bonus buy (also sold as feature buy or feature buy-in) is a paid entry into a game's bonus round. Normally the free spins, hold-and-win or multiplier round lands at random during base play; with a buy, you trade a one-off stake for a guaranteed trip into that round, not a guaranteed result inside it.

That distinction is the whole game. You are paying for access to the feature's volatility, not for its outcome. A bought round can still pay back a fraction of what it cost.

What a bonus buy actually costs and returns

The honest answer is that it varies by game, and the number you need is often missing from the public page. Check these on the paytable or rules screen before buying:

What to check	Why it matters	Where it usually lives
Buy price	The size of the single stake you are committing	Buy button and paytable
Feature RTP	Whether the bought round has its own return figure	Rules or help screen
Base game RTP	The headline figure, which may not describe the buy	Provider game page

Take a well-known example. Pragmatic Play's own Sweet Bonanza page lists a basic game RTP of 96.48% (as of October 2026), and it gives no separate figure for buying the feature. So the headline RTP is the only return figure on the provider's page, and it is labelled as the basic game. If a game does not publish a buy RTP where you can see it, you are pricing the feature blind.

Variance is the other half. Concentrating your budget into one large stake means fewer, bigger swings: a session can end on a single bought round.

Why the UKGC banned bonus buys

The UK Gambling Commission did not write a bespoke bonus-buy rule.

On 17 January 2020 the Commission said it had found six operators offering feature buy-in on slots-style games. In that warning it pointed to:

RTS 14A, which says gambling products must not encourage chasing losses or raising the stake or amount a customer has decided to gamble.
RTS 3A, which requires that an explanation of the rules is easily available before you commit to gamble.

The interesting detail sits in the standard itself. The RTS 14 guidance says its requirement does not apply to feature games where an additional stake is not wagered. A naturally triggered bonus costs nothing extra. A bought one is, by definition, an additional stake. That is the line a paid buy crosses.

All six operators the Commission contacted then removed the feature from their sites. The follow-up went wider: in its National Strategic Assessment 2020, the Commission said further licensees were instructed to remove games with the option to buy a feature, and that purchasing a feature in a slot game raised huge concerns linked to social responsibility.

Where bonus buys are banned now

The UK is not alone. Trade press reported in February 2024 that Bonus Buy games were banned in both the UK and the Netherlands. The same report covered a Play'n GO poll on Swedish attitudes to a ban, so the debate is still live in other regulated markets.

For a US player, the practical point is simple: whether a buy button appears depends on the market and the operator, so check the game's own rules screen rather than assuming a feature you saw elsewhere will be there.

How to read a bonus buy before you press it

Our take, spec sheet in hand:

Find the price and set it against your budget. It is one stake, not a run of spins.
Look for a separate buy RTP. If the provider only lists a basic game figure, as with Sweet Bonanza, you have no published return for the buy itself.
Expect high variance. A bought round can pay far less than its cost, and nothing guarantees a win.
Read the rules first. The UKGC treated rules being available before you commit as a baseline, and it is a fair standard to hold any game to.

Clubhouse questions

What is a bonus buy in slots?

It is a paid shortcut: instead of spinning until the bonus round triggers, you pay a set price to enter the feature straight away. The UK Gambling Commission called the same thing "feature buy-in" when it found it on slots-style games.

Are bonus buys worth it?

Nobody can promise that a bought feature returns its price, and the regulator that looked hardest at the mechanic did not like what it saw. The UK Gambling Commission said purchasing a feature raised social responsibility concerns. If you do use one, treat the price as a stake you can afford to lose and check the game's rules for a separate buy RTP first.

How do you buy a bonus on a slot machine?

On games that offer it, a buy button sits next to the spin controls and shows the price before you confirm. Read the paytable first: the UKGC standard RTS 3A expects the rules to be easily available before you commit to gamble. Availability depends on where you play, since the UK and the Netherlands have banned Bonus Buy games.