Key facts
- Every bonus feature's payouts are already counted in a game's RTP. A feature changes when you get paid, not how much you get back on average.
- Wild symbols substitute for other symbols; scatter symbols pay or trigger features wherever they land, such as 4+ scatters for 15 free spins in Gates of Olympus.
- In our model of a 96% pokie where free spins trigger 1 in 150 spins and pay 45x on average, the feature carries 30 of the 96 cents, and the base game returns only 66 cents per dollar.
- In that model, 13.4% of players go 300 spins without seeing the feature at all, in our calculation.
- A fair 50/50 gamble keeps the average the same but turns a win into all or nothing: doubling three times in a row succeeds 12.5% of the time.
What pokies bonus features are
Pokies bonus features are the parts of a game that pay outside an ordinary win: wild symbols, scatter symbols, free spins, multipliers, cascades, respins, gambles and feature buys. The key fact is that none of them is extra. A game's RTP already includes every dollar its features pay out, so a feature-heavy game is not more generous than a plain one with the same RTP. It just pays in a different rhythm.
GambleAware NSW lists this as a design choice aimed at you: "Free spins and progressive jackpots keep people playing." Knowing how each feature works makes it easier to see it as maths rather than luck.
| Feature | What it does | Example from a maker's page |
|---|---|---|
| Wild | Substitutes for other symbols | Elvis Frog in Vegas (BGaming): substitutes for all except scatters and coins |
| Expanding wild | Grows to fill its reel | Starburst (NetEnt): fills the reel and triggers a respin |
| Sticky wild | Stays in place for a round | Wanted Dead or a Wild (Hacksaw): Great Train Robbery bonus |
| Scatter | Counts anywhere, usually triggers a feature | Big Bass Bonanza (Pragmatic): 3, 4, 5 scatters for 10, 15, 20 free spins |
| Free spins | Spins at no cost, often with extra rules | Book of Dead (Play'n GO): 10 spins with a special expanding symbol |
| Multiplier | Multiplies a win | Gates of Olympus (Pragmatic): multiplier symbols up to 500x |
| Cascade or tumble | Winning symbols are replaced, so a spin can pay again | Gonzo's Quest (NetEnt): Avalanche |
| Respin with collect | Money symbols lock while the rest respin | Wolf Gold (Pragmatic): Money Respin from 6+ money symbols |
| Gamble | Risk a win for a chance to double it | Elvis Frog in Vegas: guess a card's colour or suit |
Wild symbols
A wild symbol stands in for other symbols to complete a win. Two details on any game's rules screen tell you how much a wild matters.
- What it cannot replace. Most wilds do not stand in for scatters or bonus symbols. BGaming says the Elvis Frog wild replaces everything except scatters and coin symbols.
- What it does besides substituting. Starburst's wild expands over its whole reel and triggers a respin. NetEnt's Aloha! Cluster Pays uses a substitution symbol that turns into whichever neighbouring symbol makes the highest cluster win. Sticky wilds, like those in Hacksaw's Great Train Robbery bonus, stay put and can count in several wins.
A wild that lands often makes small wins more frequent. That nudges a game's hit rate up without changing its RTP; see pokies hit frequency.
Scatter symbols
A scatter symbol counts wherever it appears, not along a line. Its job is usually to trigger the main feature, and the number needed is printed on the rules screen:
| Game | Scatters needed | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Book of Dead (Play'n GO) | 3 | 10 free spins |
| Gonzo's Quest (NetEnt) | 3, on reels 1, 2 and 3 | 10 free spins |
| Gates of Olympus (Pragmatic) | 4 or more | 15 free spins |
| Big Bass Bonanza (Pragmatic) | 3, 4 or 5 | 10, 15 or 20 free spins |
| Elvis Frog in Vegas (BGaming) | 3, on reels 1, 3 and 5 | 5 free spins |
| Bonanza Billion (BGaming) | 4, 5 or 6 | 10, 20 or 30 free spins |
Scatters restricted to particular reels, as in Gonzo's Quest and Elvis Frog, are harder to land than the bare number suggests, because every one of those reels has to cooperate.
The pokies free spins feature, by the numbers
Free spins feel like free money, but the base game is where you pay for them. Here is a simple model we built to show how. Take a pokie with a 96% RTP where free spins trigger on average once every 150 spins and pay 45 times your bet on average. In our calculation:
| Part of the game | Return per $1 bet |
|---|---|
| Free spins feature: 45x every 150 spins | 30 cents |
| Everything else (the base game) | 66 cents |
| Total RTP | 96 cents |
So while you wait for the feature, the game hands back only 66 cents in each dollar. At $1 a spin, the average 150-spin wait costs $150 in bets for $99 back, a net $51, and then the feature pays its $45 average. Over the full cycle you are down $6, which is the 4% house edge on $150. The pokies calculator runs the same sum for any RTP, stake and speed.
The wait is also uneven. In the same model:
| Spins played | Chance of no free spins yet |
|---|---|
| 150 | 36.7% |
| 300 | 13.4% |
| 500 | 3.5% |
More than one player in three reaches the average trigger point without a feature, and about one in eight goes twice that long. That is where "it's due" comes from, and it is wrong: each spin has the same 1 in 150 chance whatever happened before. Our pokies volatility guide shows how this shapes a whole session.
Pundit tip: set your budget to survive a long wait, not an average one. If you can only afford 150 spins, you will miss the feature more than a third of the time in a game like our model.
Multipliers and cascades
Multipliers scale a win, and they are often tied to cascades, where winning symbols disappear and new ones fall in. Real examples:
- Climbing ladders. Gonzo's Quest raises its multiplier by 1 with each Avalanche, up to 5x in the base game and up to 15x in free spins, according to NetEnt.
- Doubling spots. Pragmatic's Sugar Rush marks winning positions and, on later wins there, applies a multiplier that starts at 2x and doubles up to 128x. Cluster games like this are covered in cluster pays pokies.
- Random multiplier symbols. Gates of Olympus multiplier symbols are worth up to 500x; Bonanza Billion's free spins multipliers range from 2x to 100x, and BGaming says their total is applied to the sequence win.
A large multiplier is a small-probability event. The game's maths already prices it in, which is why games with big multipliers usually pay small amounts most of the time.
Gamble features
A gamble lets you risk a win you have just landed. If it is a fair 50/50 for double, your average stays the same, but the risk rises fast:
| Times you gamble | Chance you keep winning | Multiple of original win |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50% | 2x |
| 2 | 25% | 4x |
| 3 | 12.5% | 8x |
| 4 | 6.25% | 16x |
BGaming's Elvis Frog in Vegas offers a card gamble on colour or suit after base game wins. Big Time Gaming's Extra Chilli lets you gamble free spins, with the first gamble a straight 50/50 and later ones "tilted 60/40 in the players favour". Whatever the odds, a gamble converts a known win into an uncertain one.
Respins, holds and buys
Two more feature families have their own guides. Collect-and-hold respins, where money symbols lock and the rest spin again, are explained in hold and spin pokies. Paying a multiple of your stake to skip straight to the feature is covered in bonus buy pokies. To see how a game's paytable prices its symbols and features, read how to read a pokies paytable.
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Frequently asked questions
What are bonus features in pokies?
They are parts of a game that pay or play differently from a normal line or cluster win: wild symbols, scatter symbols, free spins, multipliers, cascading reels, respins such as hold and spin, gambles and feature buys. Their payouts are built into the game's RTP, so they do not make the game cheaper to play.
What does a wild symbol do?
A wild substitutes for other symbols to complete a win. Makers often limit it: BGaming's Elvis Frog wild substitutes for all symbols except scatters and coins. Some wilds expand to fill a reel, as in NetEnt's Starburst, or stay sticky for a whole bonus round.
What is a scatter symbol?
A symbol that counts wherever it lands rather than on a line, usually to trigger free spins. In Pragmatic Play's Big Bass Bonanza, 3, 4 or 5 scatters trigger 10, 15 or 20 free spins.
Are free spins features worth more than the base game?
Per spin they pay more, but you pay for them in the base game. In our 96% model, the base game returns 66 cents per dollar between features, so the wait for free spins costs about $51 at $1 a spin on average before the feature pays its 45x.
Should I use the gamble feature after a win?
If the gamble is a true 50/50 for double, it does not change your average return; it only adds risk. Gambling a win three times in a row succeeds 12.5% of the time and loses the whole win 87.5% of the time.
Related reading
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