Question Bonus Buys and Base Games

[M!ke]

I used to play Gold Megaways primarily a year or so ago. Thousands of spins. I eventually hit 2400x in a bonus game.

Anyway, when I started playin, it didn't have a bonus buy button. After the casino swapped it for the version that has a bonus buy button, I noticed the base game had longer droughts. It was noticably more volatile.

Other things changed too, like the curtains will turn purple after the first cascade if it will lead to a 20x or greater return. It never did that in the version without the bonus buy button, so now the player knows they'll get at least 20x back on the first cascade, even if that first cascade only returned 2x. It kinda spoils it.

There's also a way to know if you'll get a third scatter from cascades. If you see a base game return of 20x or more and cascades are still occuring with 2 scatters on the board and the curtains didn't turn purple (like they usually would before a 20x return), then a third scatter will eventually drop in and then the curtains will turn purple.

Anyway, those are just things I've noticed that were introduced from that game adding a bonus buy button.

My question is, how much do you think these bonus buy offers affect the base gameplay of slots?

 

[thediro]

Completely.

Take for example my goto slot, bullets and bounty by hacksaw

Used to have 96.28% Rtp now it’s 94%

The sad thing is because it’s considered a “low volatile” slot it’s supposedly easier to hit bonus and features but obviously when shittier payouts, problem is this slot only cost $12 to buy a 3 FS scatter bonus which can be gambled for a super bonus!

The kicker is manually spinning now days can cost anywhere between $50 to $150 to get that same bonus, but it’s the same base Rtp and same volatility as a bonus buy package.

I’ve now placed roughly $80 into it just now through paddy power and I’ve had at least 30 honus teases but not a single land of a bonus yet.

The base hits are so vile you are NOT making any money back from features or base hits at all.

The uk has been completely shafted when it comes to slots and gambling in general cause we have a soft government and who are only interested in there own gain.

People will argue that the UKGC removed bonus buy and auto spinning to protect the players, I think the real truth is they lowered the max bet to £5 and removed bonus buys to negate bigger payouts to players in general.

Gate keeping at its best

 

[johnnymcc1966]

Completely.

Take for example my goto slot, bullets and bounty by hacksaw

Used to have 96.28% Rtp now it’s 94%

The sad thing is because it’s considered a “low volatile” slot it’s supposedly easier to hit bonus and features but obviously when shittier payouts, problem is this slot only cost $12 to buy a 3 FS scatter bonus which can be gambled for a super bonus!

The kicker is manually spinning now days can cost anywhere between $50 to $150 to get that same bonus, but it’s the same base Rtp and same volatility as a bonus buy package.

I’ve now placed roughly $80 into it just now through paddy power and I’ve had at least 30 honus teases but not a single land of a bonus yet.

The base hits are so vile you are NOT making any money back from features or base hits at all.

The uk has been completely shafted when it comes to slots and gambling in general cause we have a soft government and who are only interested in there own gain.

People will argue that the UKGC removed bonus buy and auto spinning to protect the players, I think the real truth is they lowered the max bet to £5 and removed bonus buys to negate bigger payouts to players in general.

Gate keeping at its best

I'm not sure anybody believes banning auto spins achieves anything but banning bonus buys is an excellent idea. Particularly with the awful RTPs now regularly on show. It was bad enough will full RTPs but with reduced RTPs it would clean you out even quicker.

 

[thediro]

I'm not sure anybody believes banning auto spins achieves anything but banning bonus buys is an excellent idea. Particularly with the awful RTPs now regularly on show. It was bad enough will full RTPs but with reduced RTPs it would clean you out even quicker.

now days absolutely…

The amount of 93% rtp across casinos now days is mental.

I know we prohibited from posting links here by I highly suggest looking up

The Great RTP Deception: How UK Slots Secretly Lowered Payouts in 2025 by​

Good read and recently released article basically highlighting what we all knew was coming as soon as casinos got hit with the new tax.

How devs of the slots (hacksaw, prag, playngo etc) are now sending casinos there “newer” updated versions of there slots with lower rtp versions for casinos to slip in.

Just a snippet from the page

“If you feel like your deposits don’t stretch as far on UK slots anymore, you’re not imagining things. In 2026, game providers quietly gave casinos the option to lower RTP (Return to Player) rates without players knowing. The result? Millions of UK players are spinning on “nerfed” versions of their favorite games, thinking the odds are the same. Spoiler: they’re not. And the cost is massive.”

 

[thediro]

wtf wasn’t even finished writing and it posted automatically lol won’t even let me edit it fml.

Anyways yea we’re all fkd moving forward.

 

[kg2025]

I'm not sure anybody believes banning auto spins achieves anything but banning bonus buys is an excellent idea. Particularly with the awful RTPs now regularly on show. It was bad enough will full RTPs but with reduced RTPs it would clean you out even quicker.

If they banned bonus buys across the board , developers might have to change the variance of slots for the better . The only reason bonus buys are there , is to extract more money, faster from players . If it was a benefit to the gambler , do you think developers would have BB on their slots .

 

[Casinos Hate Winners]

I used to play Gold Megaways primarily a year or so ago. Thousands of spins. I eventually hit 2400x in a bonus game.

Anyway, when I started playin, it didn't have a bonus buy button. After the casino swapped it for the version that has a bonus buy button, I noticed the base game had longer droughts. It was noticably more volatile.

Other things changed too, like the curtains will turn purple after the first cascade if it will lead to a 20x or greater return. It never did that in the version without the bonus buy button, so now the player knows they'll get at least 20x back on the first cascade, even if that first cascade only returned 2x. It kinda spoils it.

There's also a way to know if you'll get a third scatter from cascades. If you see a base game return of 20x or more and cascades are still occuring with 2 scatters on the board and the curtains didn't turn purple (like they usually would before a 20x return), then a third scatter will eventually drop in and then the curtains will turn purple.

Anyway, those are just things I've noticed that were introduced from that game adding a bonus buy button.

My question is, how much do you think these bonus buy offers affect the base gameplay of slots?

I used to play and the slots were always generous. Then Trump came to power and everything changed. Or maybe the reason is that I got married. Or that I started playing from an iPhone.

Buddy, what you wrote is far from the truth. It’s just a coincidence.

 

[M!ke]

I used to play and the slots were always generous. Then Trump came to power and everything changed. Or maybe the reason is that I got married. Or that I started playing from an iPhone.

Buddy, what you wrote is far from the truth. It’s just a coincidence.

It's far-fetched to think a slot machine adding a bonus buy option can affect its base game returns?

 

[09237653]

It's far-fetched to think a slot machine adding a bonus buy option can affect its base game returns?

Bonus buys wont, reduced RTPs will, problem with bonus buys is they design the games around them and then the base games suffer.

 

[Reelsoffun]

problem with bonus buys is they design the games around them and then the base games suffer.

Not always, depends on the game of course, but more and more now use a totally seperate bonus pool for the bought ones as opposed to the naturally triggered ones, so the base just depends on its RTP allocation eg anything below 60% is harsh, which traditionally only a few went below, now with the likes of hacksaw below 40/50% often way lower, is the norm making for very harsh base games.

 

[Casinos Hate Winners]

It's far-fetched to think a slot machine adding a bonus buy option can affect its base game returns?

That's quite naive, actually. And bonus buys are sometimes configured with a higher RTP than the base game. Lower risk for the casino, better margins. That's not a coincidence.