Are free games in online slot games designed to really suck?

[dothebeats]

Hi fellow degens. This has always been in my mind for the past couple of months and I can't get a definitive answer to satisfy my curiosity.

I have been playing online slot games for a few years now, mostly from Pragmatic Games and Evolution. One thing I noticed is that they rarely give out free games (if you're not going to use the buy bonus feature), and sometimes it may take you up to 200 spins before you get a free game which will only give shit rewards after all the spins are exhausted. This got me thinking, are those free games/spins really designed to be shit compared to the normal spin feature which, surprisingly, gives me decent profit during my sessions? If it is, then I think using the buy bonus feature is a trap to lure people into losing their money faster to the casino.

For a while, I thought the free games feature is better considering that multipliers are added to the factoring of wins at the end of each spin, but on my observation, I am getting wins in a high RTP game with normal spins rather than the bonus games feature.

Can someone here who knows these things too well enlighten me if there's a difference between spins in a normal game and spins in a bonus game? Does each have their different RNG formulas?

[Yatsan]

Hi fellow degens. This has always been in my mind for the past couple of months and I can't get a definitive answer to satisfy my curiosity.

I have been playing online slot games for a few years now, mostly from Pragmatic Games and Evolution. One thing I noticed is that they rarely give out free games (if you're not going to use the buy bonus feature), and sometimes it may take you up to 200 spins before you get a free game which will only give shit rewards after all the spins are exhausted. This got me thinking, are those free games/spins really designed to be shit compared to the normal spin feature which, surprisingly, gives me decent profit during my sessions? If it is, then I think using the buy bonus feature is a trap to lure people into losing their money faster to the casino.

For a while, I thought the free games feature is better considering that multipliers are added to the factoring of wins at the end of each spin, but on my observation, I am getting wins in a high RTP game with normal spins rather than the bonus games feature.

Can someone here who knows these things too well enlighten me if there's a difference between spins in a normal game and spins in a bonus game? Does each have their different RNG formulas?

You raise some interesting points regarding the electronic components and mechanisms in place behind random rotation versus normal rotation. After all, players do generally assume that free spins tend to be less rewarding. Partly especially if you don't roll often.

Bonus structures and free spins can also differ from one game to another and between different developers. Most players begin to wonder if, really, free spins can ever be that terrible. That is the reason why they think that regular spins give a better payback. Bonus buying strategies could actually become a trap as they often cost more than whatever they may bring for the rewards.

And in the case of RNG formulas, even a basic RNG should do justice to both elements. However players can create different number of repeat trips (RTP). Set up regular upgrades with bonus upgrades. This may affect your experience.

It is always wise to play these games with caution and analyze your results.

[AliMan]

Not that much, we can't feel online slot games sucking us badly while we're new register to the game. When you're playing it harder for longer terms, that's the time you'll feel so bad and think you've been tricked by their promotions and other ads online popping up.
That's not bad at all, we just need to take it for fun and not so serious to avoid frustrations because emotions was too hard to battle.

[dothebeats]

Bonus structures and free spins can also differ from one game to another and between different developers. Most players begin to wonder if, really, free spins can ever be that terrible. That is the reason why they think that regular spins give a better payback. Bonus buying strategies could actually become a trap as they often cost more than whatever they may bring for the rewards.

In general, I think the buy bonus feature is something to be avoided at all costs unless you have a pretty deep bankroll to begin with. One good drop and multiplier may lead to an enormous amount of money.

For example, I was able to hit 1000x multipliers in the game Sweet Bonanza 1000 by PG for a couple of times now with a small bankroll of $30 making it to $500 before I ended my session. Even though I hit it big, it's mostly the normal spins that made up most of the wins (around $300 lol) as I kept increasing my bet per spin as I win more. During bonus spins, I seldom make a profit when compared to its price when bought. If the bonus feature drops on me during normal spins, I take it openly, but I never really expected it to give me insane wins most of the time.

And in the case of RNG formulas, even a basic RNG should do justice to both elements. However players can create different number of repeat trips (RTP). Set up regular upgrades with bonus upgrades. This may affect your experience.

I don't think these slot games employ the same RNG algorithm in normal spins and bonus spins. Most spins done in a bonus game tend to not result to even the littlest of wins, much more combining it to a multiplier which leads to the high numbers. This is something I'm really curious about, and based on my observation, I should be correct on my hunch. Though without solid proof that there indeed is a difference, I can only tell myself that it's RNG and high variance coming in to play.

[Agbe]

I think there is a very big difference even from common sense can different them. As a gambler who played gambling and understand gambling would know that free spins in online casinos are designed to lure gamblers to play the real game and even if you win, the odd will be very small. And it is not easy to win. And that is why I don't normally used them instead I deposit funds and play my normal games and when I loss all the funds I live. No casino will design free games for some to win big and if it happens. It should be once. And the bonus buy link has been there, I have seen and I usually avoid it because the last time when I checked it was $100 and other prices to buy bonuses. And I was like how can I buy bonus.

[Zlantann]

Can someone here who knows these things too well enlighten me if there's a difference between spins in a normal game and spins in a bonus game? Does each have their different RNG formulas?

I assume you mean that the chances of winning with free bets are lower, maybe because they are free. I don't have much experience with slot bets because my main game is sports bets? From the little game I have played in slots, I was fortunate to win free spins. So the opposite of what you are going through was my own experience. I won more money from free bets than when I used my funds. Free bets are usually small funds so it will take luck and more time to win big. So I will not agree that they have different RNG calculations. It will be unfair if it is programmed differently from the main game.

[Coin_trader]

Can someone here who knows these things too well enlighten me if there's a difference between spins in a normal game and spins in a bonus game? Does each have their different RNG formulas?

It depends on the volatility classification of the slot game that you choose. Some provider offer a frequently hit on bonus game but they often resulted to small win like games games of Play’n Go and Bgaming while slot provider like Pragmatic, hacksaw and nolimitcity offer low hit ration for their bonus games in exchange for a frequent chance of huge win.

I think you should explore on different provider until you find a slot game timing suitable for you. I rarely play pragmatic since it gives inconsistent result for me so I settle with hacksaw but some user experience the opposite.

[Jawhead999]

It's surprising, but not that surprising.

I also got many shit reward when it comes to something free or bonus, but when I gamble with real money, the reward tend to fair, sometime I lose and sometime I win. It's like when I gamble in free games, the house edge went up to 30%.

However, some people said we're in bad luck, but I don't understand why the bad luck mostly happen during free games lol.

[AbuBhakar]

I think there is a very big difference even from common sense can different them. As a gambler who played gambling and understand gambling would know that free spins in online casinos are designed to lure gamblers to play the real game and even if you win, the odd will be very small. And it is not easy to win. And that is why I don't normally used them instead I deposit funds and play my normal games and when I loss all the funds I live. No casino will design free games for some to win big and if it happens. It should be once.

If you read carefully, he is not talking about the demo mode as “free games” rather the bonus round on the slot games if you hit certain amount of scatter symbols. In fact, Demo mode usually just same with the actual game because there’s no evidence so far about the difference on the set RTP.

And the bonus buy link has been there, I have seen and I usually avoid it because the last time when I checked it was $100 and other prices to buy bonuses. And I was like how can I buy bonus.

You can lower the bonus buy amount if you lower the base bet. 100$ is really huge since it’s the default bonus buy amount for 1$ base bet which is set by the slot games the moment you open the slot game.

But you can purchase bonus buy for as low as 10$ or less depending on the currency you are using.

[Dailyscript]

It's surprising, but not that surprising.

I also got many shit reward when it comes to something free or bonus, but when I gamble with real money, the reward tend to fair, sometime I lose and sometime I win. It's like when I gamble in free games, the house edge went up to 30%.

However, some people said we're in bad luck, but I don't understand why the bad luck mostly happen during free games lol.

I will agree with this because I have had the same experience in playing free slot games and the result doesn't seem fair at all. It seems the game is being manipulated when the system finds out that the money staked is from the free games or bonus giving. Even if we are not certain about what is going on, it is something we should be concerned about since a lot of people have similar experiences.

I dont think it is bad luck, those who got lucky enough are part of the few who the platform wants to be lucky to win.

[danherbias07]

I felt like you just read my mind.

There was a time I got 3 times free spins in more or less 200 bets and all 3 gave me a multiplier below x20. Pretty shitty, yes. It got me thinking too if the "buy bonus" feature gives the same thing as those. So I tested it and yes there will be times it will give you the same result as the free spins that you receive from normally rolling the slots.
The sad part is, that you paid 75x to 100x times for the buy bonus and you will feel the sadness more than just getting it on the normal rolling. This is actually the reason why I don't use that buy bonus feature anymore after testing it. There's just no joy in doing that. In my opinion, the buy bonus is for gamblers who don't have the time to grind it.

Addition: Try playing slot providers without that feature. You will find it more amusing. I actually enjoyed them more than those with a buy bonus.

[Yucky]

I think there is a very big difference even from common sense can different them. As a gambler who played gambling and understand gambling would know that free spins in online casinos are designed to lure gamblers to play the real game and even if you win, the odd will be very small. And it is not easy to win. And that is why I don't normally used them instead I deposit funds and play my normal games and when I loss all the funds I live. No casino will design free games for some to win big and if it happens. It should be once. And the bonus buy link has been there, I have seen and I usually avoid it because the last time when I checked it was $100 and other prices to buy bonuses. And I was like how can I buy bonus.

Spot on! Your free spins is a form of motivation to pay for the real games. And yes, this online casinos did not establish a business for them to run into loss. Those free spins, what you stand to gain if you win, is minimal compared to what you can win from normal games. And the chances of winning, indeed, is low. So you need to understand the strategy of this online casinos. It's your real money that can give you real value. On rare occasions will you be able to win much with free spins, It's very rare.

So it's either you are playing a normal game or you are just using free spins for fun. But if you are using free spins to hope for a large reward, then you are in another planet. You are definitely not playing an online casino game; you are playing something else.

So it's best to use the free spins to have fun, but don't take it too serious. And try to watch yourself so you will not play more than you budgeted. Budgeting in casinos in game playing is really important. This way, you can have your peace of mind. You won't be angered by the fact that you didn't win much from your free spin because you already know you are in here to play games with real money and win real rewards afterwards. In summary, don't expect bounty rewards from free spin.

[hedgeh0g]

It's surprising, but not that surprising.

I also got many shit reward when it comes to something free or bonus, but when I gamble with real money, the reward tend to fair, sometime I lose and sometime I win. It's like when I gamble in free games, the house edge went up to 30%.

However, some people said we're in bad luck, but I don't understand why the bad luck mostly happen during free games lol.

Now I play slots very rarely, I would even say that almost never, and I prefer other gambling games and bets. But when I played, I was once credited with free spins in a slot with a genie. So in the end I managed to win so much that I beat off a huge wager. And in the end I earned $ 180, I would be very happy, but after that I no longer played because I understand how slots work. And all sorts of cards with bright characters and catching wild do not amuse me much, perhaps I am too old. Nevertheless, if I see somewhere free spins in a bookmaker's counter which I consider authoritative, then maybe I will not pass by.

[TravelMug]

Still boils down on luck mate, I have games that I used the boy bonus and win some, but most of the times, I experienced dead spins. Same when I get the bonus round, normal spins without boy bonus, and the results are the same.

I know the concept of RTP, but I would just say, f**k it, I will just play and test my luck with my favorite slot games. And yes, specially Evolution games. So I would just play and if I lose then so be it, I wouldn't put my mind and stress myself, maybe I really suck, or maybe lady luck is on my side.

[dothebeats]

For some of the commenters, I meant to point out the "bonus spins" feature on a slot game like those present in Sweet Bonanza by Pragmatic, and not free games being given out by casinos as a bonus to their users.

It depends on the volatility classification of the slot game that you choose. Some provider offer a frequently hit on bonus game but they often resulted to small win like games games of Play’n Go and Bgaming while slot provider like Pragmatic, hacksaw and nolimitcity offer low hit ration for their bonus games in exchange for a frequent chance of huge win.

I think you should explore on different provider until you find a slot game timing suitable for you. I rarely play pragmatic since it gives inconsistent result for me so I settle with hacksaw but some user experience the opposite.

I've been playing with Pragmatic for over 3 years now, and have made some huge wins here and there with their games. I tried Hacksaw Gaming's slots (Le Bandit, Rotten Switch) and feel like they're something I would play if I feel like my luck isn't with PG.  I know that Pragmatic classify their games as high volatility, high RTP slot games which makes profiting off it very hard, but for some reason I feel like my luck with normal spins without the bonus feature is better compared to those with it activated, hence the question.

I felt like you just read my mind.

There was a time I got 3 times free spins in more or less 200 bets and all 3 gave me a multiplier below x20. Pretty shitty, yes. It got me thinking too if the "buy bonus" feature gives the same thing as those. So I tested it and yes there will be times it will give you the same result as the free spins that you receive from normally rolling the slots.
The sad part is, that you paid 75x to 100x times for the buy bonus and you will feel the sadness more than just getting it on the normal rolling. This is actually the reason why I don't use that buy bonus feature anymore after testing it. There's just no joy in doing that. In my opinion, the buy bonus is for gamblers who don't have the time to grind it.

Normally it's paying 100x for Pragmatic's buy bonus feature, with the super bonus feature at 500x. There is this one time wherein my 10 automatic spins resulted into 5 bonus games. Guess what, I stake $0.5 per spin and the largest I got from those 5 bonus games is only $7.9. That's something really disappointing but I guess that's how RNG works.

Addition: Try playing slot providers without that feature. You will find it more amusing. I actually enjoyed them more than those with a buy bonus.

If there are good slots games with high RTP, I would perhaps give it a go. The main reason I play with Pragmatic is because they offer high RTP slots, and I sit for 2-3 hours in one session, and that 96.53% really helps in those 2-3 hours and around thousands of spins.

[Davidvictorson]

Can someone here who knows these things too well enlighten me if there's a difference between spins in a normal game and spins in a bonus game? Does each have their different RNG formulas?

Unlike you , I don't think I have been playing that long. However, in the short while I have been playing slot, I would say that the spins in a bonus games which I have been fortunate to have a couple of times have boosted my winnings like 20%. It may be that in your case, for example while the worth of each normal spin is $1, the worth of a bonus spin is half a dollar. It is my hypothesis and I stand to be corrected.

[crwth]

This is an exciting topic because learning how slot machines work could help you win more and increase your chances of winning.

https://www.casino.org/bonus/free-spins/

According to the website I searched above, There are different RNGs for free spins compared to bonus spins. It is definitely unpredictable, and it is harder to quantify it as well. I don’t think the developers would fully say it or something.

It is designed to let more money in than out.

[Blowon]

I thought, I was the only one who thought like that, when I got free spins most of the results were not comparable, but I realized that we only focus on the results we get which are not in accordance with the expectations we want, it's like our brains are washed when playing slots

[swogerino]

Hi fellow degens. This has always been in my mind for the past couple of months and I can't get a definitive answer to satisfy my curiosity.

I have been playing online slot games for a few years now, mostly from Pragmatic Games and Evolution. One thing I noticed is that they rarely give out free games (if you're not going to use the buy bonus feature), and sometimes it may take you up to 200 spins before you get a free game which will only give shit rewards after all the spins are exhausted. This got me thinking, are those free games/spins really designed to be shit compared to the normal spin feature which, surprisingly, gives me decent profit during my sessions? If it is, then I think using the buy bonus feature is a trap to lure people into losing their money faster to the casino.

For a while, I thought the free games feature is better considering that multipliers are added to the factoring of wins at the end of each spin, but on my observation, I am getting wins in a high RTP game with normal spins rather than the bonus games feature.

Can someone here who knows these things too well enlighten me if there's a difference between spins in a normal game and spins in a bonus game? Does each have their different RNG formulas?

I think that it does not differ much as I believe the same algorithm to be used most of the time. I know for example from experience that Play n Go usually in their bonuses will give you 90% free spins that sucks and only 10% that are really paying well while with providers who offer you to buy the bonus this is a bit better, it is 80% of the games suck and 20% will be profitable, it is in this 20% of how big of a profitable bonus will be that decides win/loss ratio and in these providers the RTP is much better than providers who don't let you buy the bonus. This is in general and I never had a better situation in normal spins rather than in bonus ones simply because I play only games where the bonus makes a real difference and not the normal game, so this depends also on the type of slot that you choose to play.

[Dewi Aries]

Well indirectly this is also something I question my friend, thank you for opening the topic, I am also one of the gamblers who favor casino games like slots and lately I feel that when I manage to get a bonus round (without buying) I see the rounds in it are really very bad, this happens in the long term like the last few months which is added again it is really difficult to get the free spins if you don't buy them, I have completed hundreds of rounds and even though the balance in my account has run out I still haven't managed to get the free spins.

This is really annoying, I don't know about whether most casinos are now changing the mechanism in each game to make it harder to win or what, because previously what I thought was maybe because I was really far from luck, this situation really makes it difficult for me to win, even in small amounts, and indirectly this situation also makes my interest in gambling disappear.