Online slots are fun and exciting to play with. But at times, playing these exciting machines can also be turned into a frustrating experience, especially when you are waiting for a bonus feature to get triggered. Bonus rounds and features make the slot machines way more intriguing and even more profitable.

Anyone who has ever played a slot like Beehive Bedlam online slot must be familiar with the importance of a bonus round such as free spins. These features can lead you to enhanced payouts in the shape of multipliers. Besides, these bonus rounds can usually lead you to the jackpot or the highest payout offered in the game.

There are two ways you can trigger a bonus feature in a slot machine, with the first one being the standard method to initialize a bonus round and the second one being the bonus buy feature. Both these methods can result in identical payouts. However, the way they work is entirely different. So, let’s find out how these two methods differ from each one another and which one of these is better.

Standard Method of Triggering a Bonus Feature

Different slots offer various bonus features, and the methods to trigger any of those vary from slot to slot. However, the overall concept remains the same. According to the standard method, you’ll have to land a specific number of a specialized symbol (Scatter, Wild, or Bonus) on the reels to activate the bonus round.

For instance, free spin bonus rounds are usually triggered when three or more scatter symbols appear anywhere on the reels. Scatter symbols are unique icons that can create wins regardless of their position on the grid and most of the online slot machines also use scatters as key to the main bonus feature.

Once activated, you can then enjoy the bonus feature according to the rules and limitations of the game. The same goes for the Wilds and Bonus symbols, as players are required to arrange those on the reels in a specific order and number to trigger a feature.

It can take a while before activating a bonus feature through the standard method, as the average bonus hit frequency in slot machines is less than 1%. It means that the traditional method can take up to 100 spins before triggering a bonus feature.

Besides, the percentage is even lower for the high volatility games that can take up to 500 spins before triggering a bonus game. Therefore, it can be pretty frustrating and expensive to start a bonus feature via the standard method.

Bonus Buy Feature

As stated, the standard method of triggering a bonus feature can take a very long time, and here is when the bonus But feature comes into play. As the name suggests, Bonus-Buy is a feature that allows players to buy a bonus game for a certain amount of credits. So, instead of wasting your credits on spins, you can simply trigger a bonus feature whenever you want by wagering a few extra credits. But is this feature worth spending money on? Let’s have a quick look.

Slots Bonus Buy Feature vs. Stansted Bonus Triggering Method: Which One is Better?

Take a game with a bonus hit frequency of 1%; what this means is that it will take approximately 100 spins before you will be able to trigger a bonus feature. Now imagine that each of those 100 spins costs you €1, so you’ll end up with a total of €100 spent. However, there would also be some wins during those 100 spins. Take a low volatility game with an RTP of 96%, meaning that the game will probably return €96 out of the €100 spent. So theoretically, you’ll be spending €4 to activate a bonus round by the standard triggering method.

Now let’s take an example of the Buy Bonus feature. For instance, you are playing a slot that allows you to buy a bonus feature for €5, and the bonus consists of 50 free spins. So each of those 50 free spins will cost you €0.1, and the RTP of that slot machine is 96%. So theoretically, you’ll receive €48 after completing the bonus round. So, it will cost you only €2 to activate a bonus round. Remember, the wins that we have determined in our examples are purely based on the RTP percentage, and there are no multipliers, or high prize wins included. Therefore, theoretically, we can say that the Buy Bonus feature can be more beneficial than the standard bonus triggering method.