Six beliefs about a bought round, checked

Feature buys and antes attract the same handful of beliefs, and most of them are half true - which is worse than false, because the half that is true is the part a reader remembers. This page takes six and shows which part holds, using the same invented samples as the rest of the desk.

Desk spec

beliefs: 6
false: 3
partly true: 2
true: 1
the samples: 10
a recommendation: none

The control platesample A / 1,200 extra-stake rounds, four controls

feature buy100x stakeBuys one whole round at a fixed price. The stake moves from 1x to 100x in a single decision; the return is the bought round's, not the base game's.

ante bet+25% per spinRaises the price of every spin a little and the stated chance of reaching the feature a lot. It makes a non-triggering spin dearer and can make the route to the feature cheaper.

super stake2x per spinDoubles the stake for roughly double the quoted chance. It changes the size of the bet and the variance, not the expected cost of reaching the feature.

gamble0 until a winCosts nothing to be offered, then stakes a win on a double-or-nothing. It is the only control here that can take money already won and put it back at risk.

four controls, one thing in common: each changes what a round costs, and none changes what it can return beyond the game's own mathematics.

Direct answer

Of six common beliefs about the extra-stake controls, three are false, two are partly true and one is true. The buy is not free money and not better value than the base game; the ante can cut the route to a feature but raises the price of every other spin; a matched super stake is a size choice rather than a shortcut; a gamble is close to even money but not even; and a bought round frequently counts for nothing toward wagering.

false

The buy is free money waiting to be collected. The buy is a price, not a prize. It costs 100 times the stake and returns about 96.5% of its own price on average. There is no value in it that the base game does not already carry; there is a 3.50 edge on a 100.00 purchase.

false

A buy is better value than spinning. The same feature is reached two ways at about the same expected value. A buy at 100.00 and the average route of 100 spins at 1.00 both cost 100.00 for the same round. The buy changes the size of the decision, not its value.

partly true

The ante makes the feature cheaper. It can. At a 25% uplift with a doubled chance the route to a feature falls from 100.00 to 62.50. But every spin that does not trigger is a quarter dearer, so the ante only pays when the chance rises by more than the price.

partly true

The super stake gets you to the feature faster. It does, and it halves the number of spins. But when the stake and chance multiples match, the expected cost is unchanged at 100.00; the super stake buys speed and variance, not a discount.

false

A gamble is a fair coin toss. It is close to even money, not equal. Across 180 gambles the offer returned 93.33 against a 100.00 win kept - a 6.67 edge paid by the class of gambles, even though a single double looks like a plain win.

true

A bought round may not count toward a bonus. This one holds. Of 480 buys, only 96 advanced a wagering requirement and 384 advanced nothing; 60 were barred entirely. A buy is often play that is not qualifying play.

The pattern behind the six

Three beliefs confuse a price with a value: the buy is priced, not gifted.
Two are conditionally true, and the condition is the arithmetic: chance versus price.
One is straightforwardly true: the terms, not the game, decide qualification.
None of the six is a reason to play or not to play; each is a figure to check.

This desk prints invented outcomes and names no real game, studio or operator. It gives no advice on any control and no view on any product; the beliefs are checked against the samples on this site and nothing else.

The numbersevery figure in one place The checkfive figures before you buy Questionsthe common questions in full