By What is a bonus buy?
A bonus buy, also called a feature buy, lets you pay a fixed price to skip straight to a slot's bonus round. Instead of spinning until three scatters land, you pay a multiple of your stake, often 100 times or more, and the free spins start at once. In many countries it is a standard button on popular slots, and it is a big part of streaming culture.
The appeal is obvious: the bonus round is where the big wins live. The problem is just as clear. Buying into the most volatile part of a game, again and again, lets you spend very large sums in a few minutes. A £1 stake with a 100x buy costs £100 per bonus round, and a run of poor rounds can wipe out a budget almost immediately.
Why there is no bonus buy in the UK
In January 2020 the Gambling Commission warned licensed operators that paid feature buy-ins do not comply with its Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards. It had found six operators offering slot-style games with the feature, and in one case a player could pay more than £3,000 to enter a bonus round. The Commission pointed to two standards: one says the rules of a game must be clear before you commit to gamble, and the other says games must not actively encourage players to chase losses, raise their stakes or keep gambling. All licensees were told to remove the functionality immediately.
Since then, UK versions of slots have shipped without the buy button. Studios build a separate version for Great Britain, so the same game can have a feature buy elsewhere and none here. That is why searches such as "can you buy bonus on slots UK" or "how to do bonus buys in the UK" always end at the same answer for licensed sites: you cannot.
The 2021 game design rules
The second set of rules came in on 31 October 2021, when the Commission added new game design requirements to its technical standards. Under them, UK online slots must not:
- offer autoplay, so every spin has to be started by you;
- complete a game cycle in less than 2.5 seconds;
- offer turbo, quick-spin or slam-stop features that speed play up or give a false sense of control;
- celebrate a return that is equal to or smaller than your stake, a so-called loss disguised as a win;
- let you play several slots at the same time, for example in a split screen.
Slots must also show you how long you have been playing and your net position, meaning how much you have won or lost in the session.
Slot auto play: why it went
Slot auto play used to let you set a number of spins, often 50 or 100, and watch them run. The Commission's view was that it let play continue without any active decision, which made it easy to lose track of time and money. Removing it means each spin needs a press of the button, which gives you a small moment to decide whether to carry on.
Turbo spin and spin speed
A turbo spin mode cut the time between spins to a fraction of a second, and slam stop let you end a spin early by tapping the screen. Both increase how many spins you can play in an hour, and so how much you can stake. The 2.5-second minimum puts online slots closer to the pace of gaming machines in venues. In practice, if you play non-stop, you get through about 24 spins a minute at most.
How to tell you are playing a UK version
A UK version of a slot is easy to recognise once you know what to look for. There is no buy button next to the spin button, and no option in the settings for autoplay or quick spin. A clock or session timer is shown on screen, along with your net position for the session. If you press spin again, nothing happens until the current game cycle has finished. And the stake selector stops at £5, or at £2 if you are aged 18 to 24.
If a game you open has a buy button, autoplay or turbo settings, you are almost certainly not on a site licensed in Great Britain. Close it and check the licence before you deposit anything. A real UK licence is easy to confirm on the public register in a couple of minutes.
The stake limits on top
Since 2025, online slots also have a maximum stake per spin: £5 for players aged 25 and over, and £2 for players aged 18 to 24. Together with the design rules, that sets a ceiling on how fast and how much anyone can play on a UK slot. See our slot stake limits guide for how they work.
Bonus buy slots UK players see online
Search results and streams are full of bonus buy slots, and some sites market them directly to British players. Those sites are not licensed in Great Britain. They are outside the technical standards, outside GamStop and outside UK dispute rules, which is exactly how they can offer features that licensed casinos cannot. We do not list them. If a site offers you a feature buy, autoplay or turbo spins, treat it as a sign that it is not a UK licensed casino, and check it with our licence check guide.
Is this a bad thing for players?
For most players, not really. You play the same games with the same maths per spin, and the RTP is set by the game version, not by these rules. You simply play more slowly and with fewer ways to escalate quickly. For a player trying to make a budget last, slower play is a benefit.
If you want the best value within the rules, look for high-RTP game versions and wager-free spins. Our best payout casinos and no wagering bonuses are good places to start, and our slot reviews show the RTP, volatility and maximum win for every game we cover.
Bonus buy and autoplay UK: FAQ
Can I buy the bonus on Big Bass Bonanza in the UK?
No. UK versions of slots, including the Big Bass series, do not offer a feature buy.
How do people do bonus buys in the UK?
Only at sites that are not licensed in Great Britain, which offer none of the UK protections. Licensed UK casinos cannot offer the feature.
Is there any way to turn autoplay back on?
No. Autoplay is banned for players in Great Britain, so UK licensed casinos cannot offer it.
Why do UK slots feel slower?
Each game cycle must last at least 2.5 seconds, and turbo or quick-spin modes are banned. It is intentional, to slow the pace of play.
Do the rules change the RTP of a slot?
No. The rules change how fast and how you play, not the maths of each spin.