Feature Boosts - Are they worth it?

[steveh35]

Paying extra to have a chance of a feature are they worth the extra few pennies?

They only one I think is better to pay is Book of Monsters as it gives the bonus with three scatters instead of four but in general are they just a gimmick, would you have hit a bonus anyway?

 

[Nate]

IMPO Gimmick. The slot still runs at the same TRTP. Wins are distributed slightly differently. In the case of Pragmatic Play, the max win is reduced to 4000x (From 5000x) for Gates of Olympus as an example.

 

[Casinos Hate Winners]

The question is mostly rhetorical. For example, in Pragmatic slots the bonus booster makes the bonus trigger about twice as often, but the price for that is plus twenty five percent to your bet. So you end up playing more expensively and spending more money. The RTP does not change and the variance increases, mostly because your effective bet is higher. If you want to get bonus rounds more often and do not want to use bonus buys, then it makes sense. If you do not want to spend extra money because your stake becomes higher, then it does not.

There are also boosters in NoLimit slots that can cost even more than a bonus buy. In my view there is absolutely no point in using those. You play more expensively and the variance goes down. For example, God Mode in Flight Mode lets you hit the max win every 5.8 buys, but because its cost is 911 spins, your actual return is about 5.5x and the minimum bet becomes 182 dollars. It is similar to betting on six numbers in roulette. That is the whole picture. It can make sense only when you need to generate a lot of wagering and want the actual and theoretical RTP to converge quickly.

 

[Casinos Hate Winners]

but in general are they just a gimmick

As for the marketing trick, the only real intention is to make you spend more. That part is simple.

But Flight Mode has a genuinely sneaky mechanic. You can buy extra spins. The rules say that the optimal strategy is not to buy them, but the rules do not mention that if you always buy extra spins until you hit the max win, the RTP drops to 77%. I parsed this slot myself, so I know. I wondered whether extra spins would help you reach max wins faster. They do, but the price you pay for it is far too high.

 

[steveh35]

So some boosts are just 4p more and Pragmatic is usually double bet, so if it is a small amount does that mean there is basically no more chance than playing with the original bet?

Also what about when they offer boosts like this are they just revenue grabbers?

 

[Casinos Hate Winners]

The logic is simple. When you buy a booster, you trigger the bonus game more often, but you also pay more for every spin. They extract money from you every time you hit the spin button, unless you are clearing a deposit bonus which is a different topic, and the booster offer is just another way to make you spend even more.

 

[DreamRJ]

I rarely do the extra bets. There is only a handful of slots I do them on. Mostly ones that does not cost more than 50% the stake.

I will never do it on slots that it costs 100% X the stake or more.

I just do not see the point especially because being in the UK we have no bonus buys anyway so we are used to just playing the slots naturally. Also some slots from some providers depending on what casino you play at in the UK enable extra bets where some do not. So it is hit or miss most of the time. It is very strange honestly. Take for example All British. They have slots with extra bets enabled on some providers but yet on others they do not have it enabled? No idea why they choose to enable it on some but not others? Did they just forget to enable it? No clue.

Like Hacksaw now has an option for UK to be able to pay for the extra bet but I only found that extra bet on hacksaw slots in a few casinos. Majority do not allow it on hacksaw. Same for Elk they also added it so we can now do the bonus hunts. But again this is again limited to newer slots and or casino you play at. But again Elk bonus hunt extra bet is 200% the stake so that is a no from me anyway.

 

[Casinos Hate Winners]

I rarely do the extra bets. There is only a handful of slots I do them on. Mostly ones that does not cost more than 50% the stake.

I will never do it on slots that it costs 100% X the stake or more.

I just do not see the point especially because being in the UK we have no bonus buys anyway so we are used to just playing the slots naturally. Also some slots from some providers depending on what casino you play at in the UK enable extra bets where some do not. So it is hit or miss most of the time. It is very strange honestly. Take for example All British. They have slots with extra bets enabled on some providers but yet on others they do not have it enabled? No idea why they choose to enable it on some but not others? Did they just forget to enable it? No clue.

Like Hacksaw now has an option for UK to be able to pay for the extra bet but I only found that extra bet on hacksaw slots in a few casinos. Majority do not allow it on hacksaw. Same for Elk they also added it so we can now do the bonus hunts. But again this is again limited to newer slots and or casino you play at. But again Elk bonus hunt extra bet is 200% the stake so that is a no from me anyway.

I also do not place any extra bets, and the only time I buy bonuses is in DOA 2 High Noon Saloon because it is extremely high variance and because you are not hitting a max win there without buying the bonus.

You also have the option to play in offshore casinos, although I would not recommend it. Offshore operators that target the UK often hold very weak licenses such as Costa Rica or have no license at all. But with the way your regulation works, it is not surprising that offshore sites capture a significant share of the market.