Bonus buy slots are an extremely popular genre of online slots that allow you to purchase the bonus round directly rather than waiting to trigger it organically through gameplay. This gives you more control over when you access potentially lucrative bonus rounds. However, while buying bonuses speeds up gameplay, it also requires risking a large chunk of your bankroll at MrGreen upfront.
To get the highest returns from your purchased bonuses, you need to utilize some smart strategies that minimize losses and maximize payout potential. Here are the top tips to boost your chances of locking in a nice win when buying slot bonuses.
Carefully Check Return to Player Ratings
All slots have a built-in statistical return-to-player (RTP) percentage that indicates the long-term payouts you can expect when betting the game. An 96% RTP means the slot is programmed to pay back $96 for every $100 wagered, for example. This rating accounts for all gameplay, including standard spins and bonus rounds.
When assessing a bonus buy slot, check the overall RTP first. Games with more generous ratings like 96-97% inherently give you better odds overall.
Next, look for slots that advertise a higher theoretical RTP exclusively during purchased bonus rounds. Some slots boost the bonus buy RTP substantially compared to standard spins. This further raises your payout expectations when buying bonuses.
Set a Strict Bonus Buy Budget
Bonus buy slots tempt you to risk 50x to 100x your usual bet size to instantly trigger highly volatile bonus rounds. Without proper bankroll management in place, bought bonuses can quickly wreck your balance if you hit a cold streak.
Before playing any bonus buy games, set a firm budget dictating your maximum bonus buy expenditure per session, day, or week. As a general rule, limit bonus buys to 5-10% of your session bankroll at most. This prevents overspending while allowing some fun risk-taking.
Monitor the Bonus Buy Breakeven Rate
All quality bonus buy slots display the “breakeven rate” of purchased bonuses prominently in the rules or help section. This tells you the minimum theoretical RTP during bought bonuses you’ll need to achieve to offset their upfront cost long-term.
Most games require you to win back at least 96-98% of your bonus buy spend to breakeven over many buys. Carefully track your actual bonus round payout rate. If it lags too far behind that breakeven score consistently, the bonus buy costs too much relative to the pay potential to generate reliable profits.
Leverage Free Spins First
Nearly all bonus buy Amatic slots slots award free spins during standard gameplay. Before committing lots of cash to buy bonuses, first build up some free spin triggers and play through those. Free spins offer looks at the bonus round without additional cost.
If you land big wins in multiple free spin bonuses, the slot may be hot. Buying bonuses could capitalize on that streak and produce above-average payouts. Just ensure your free spin results are actually positive using the breakeven rate.
Quit While You’re Ahead on Big Wins
The volatility pendulum swings both ways when you directly buy slot bonuses. After securing an especially large payout from a purchased bonus, consider stopping bonus buys for a while and revert to standard spins.
Chasing immediate previous big wins via buying even more bonuses likely won’t replicate the same short-term success. You used up all the early positive variance. The slot must now regress closer its long-term expected RTP. Further bonus gambling after a hot streak usually just gives back profits.
Check the Bonus Buy Paytable First
Bonus buys instantly open the bonus round with all its lucrative features like free spins, multipliers and special reels in effect. But the pays and rules during bought bonuses often differ considerably from the base game.
Before committing lots of money to bonus buys, thoroughly check the bonus round paytable first. Make sure you understand all the varying pays for line hits, special symbols, multipliers in play and other factors that affect payouts. Understanding the bonus round pays in detail allows better strategy and bankroll decisions.
Run Extensive Play Money Trials First
When assessing a new bonus buy slot with unfamiliar rules and pays, always run through an extensive play money trial first. Play at least 30 to 50 bought bonuses while tracking key stats like:
- Overall bonus buy RTP
- Biggest wins
- Bonus round hit frequency
- Max payout caps
This gives you a solid feel for the slot’s upside potential and risks before placing real wagers. You might discover the bonus buys don’t pay enough to offset their costs, prompting you to avoid wasting actual bankroll.
Play at Low Denominations
Bonus buy costs scale up drastically alongside denomination sizes. At just $0.20 per spin, a 100x bonus buy may only set you back $20. But that same feature could cost $100 per trigger at $1 coins.
When trying new bonus buy slots or working within a limited gambling budget, scale back denomination sizes. This allows buying plenty of bonuses to accurately gauge their pay potential without huge upfront investments. Once confident in a slot’s payouts, you can increase bets to pursue larger rewards.
Set Loss Limits on Dry Spells
Much like standard slot spins, bonus buys can hit nasty cold streaks where payouts lag far behind their statistical expectations. That’s the nature of slots, even when you control the bonuses.
To avoid hemorrhaging money during dry spells, set firm loss limits before buying bonuses, such as:
- Stop after 3 straight bonus buys pay less than 50% of purchase cost
- No more than 5 bonus buys in a row paying under 1.5x purchase price
Streaks won’t last forever, but loss limits prevent them from demolishing entire sessions before that inevitable turnaround arrives.
Track Your Results
Any form of gambling, including buying slot bonuses, requires tracking results to gauge actual returns versus perceived rewards. Human minds play tricks, making big wins seem more frequent and losses speed by faster.
For each bonus buy slot, keep detailed records of:
- Date/time of play
- Length of each session
- Total wagers (standard spins + bonus buys)
- Net wins/losses per session
- Biggest payouts in regular spins and bought bonuses
Over the span of weeks and months, these metrics reveal your true bottom-line profitability from bonus buys and whether current strategies work or require tweaking to boost returns.
The Risks and Rewards of Buying Bonuses
Bonus buy slots undoubtedly carry sizable risks, especially for slots novices. Putting up 100x bets or more for what amounts to a virtual spin of the wheel will fry bankrolls if you continually hit dead bonuses.
However, buying bonuses also introduces a fun, interactive element where you control access to lucrative features that could shower you with 1000x wins or more. Just use the risk management, bankroll budgeting and statistical tracking strategies above.
Within reason, buying slot bonuses adds an entertaining dimension with big profit potential. Just ensure you follow smart gambling habits tailored to the extreme swings inherent in purchased bonuses.
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