Guide
What is break-even in a bonus hunt?
The break-even multiplier, or BE, is the average win, in multiples of the bet, that every bonus still to be opened must pay for the hunt to get back exactly what it cost. You work it out by dividing the money still needed by the total of the remaining bonuses' bet sizes. For comparison, the typical bonus in our recorded hunts paid 49.9×.
By Johnessy · Updated · Figures live from 16,341 recorded bonus opens
Key facts
- Formula: BE = (amount still needed to break even) ÷ (sum of bet sizes of the unopened bonuses).
- Before any bonus is opened, the amount needed is the full cost of the hunt.
- BE falls after a bonus that beats it and rises after one that misses it.
- Median recorded bonus: 49.9×; average: 128.7× (16,341 opens).
A worked example
Say a hunt cost £1,000 to collect and holds 20 bonuses, each triggered on a £1 spin. The bets add up to £20, so the starting BE is 1,000 ÷ 20 = 50×. Every bonus would need to pay 50 times its bet, on average, for the hunt to finish level.
Open the first bonus and it pays £150 (150×). The hunt now needs £850 from the 19 bonuses left, whose bets total £19, so BE drops to 850 ÷ 19 ≈ 44.7×. If the first bonus had paid £10 instead, the hunt would need £990 from £19 of bets and BE would rise to about 52.1×.
When bonuses were collected at different bet sizes, BE still works because it divides by the total of the remaining bets, not by the number of bonuses. A £5 bonus counts five times as much as a £1 one.
How BE compares with what bonuses really pay
In the 795 hunts recorded on this site, the median bonus paid 49.9× and the average paid 128.7×. The average is higher because rare big wins count for a lot: 29.4% of bonuses paid 100× or more.
That is why a hunt with a starting BE near the typical bonus result can still finish well short: the hunt usually needs at least one big hit to get there. A high starting BE means the collecting phase cost a lot relative to the bets, and the hunt needs bigger wins than usual to break even.
BE is a scorekeeping tool. It tells you where the hunt stands; it does not make any bonus more or less likely to pay.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good starting BE for a bonus hunt?
- Lower is better, because it means the hunt cost less relative to its bets. A starting BE well under the typical recorded bonus (49.9× here) gives the hunt a fairer chance of finishing level, but nothing guarantees it.
- Why does BE go up during a hunt?
- Each bonus that pays less than the current BE leaves more money to recover from fewer bonuses, so the multiplier the rest need goes up.
- Is BE the same as RTP?
- No. RTP is the long-run theoretical return a slot is designed to pay over millions of spins. BE is a live target for one specific hunt.
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Figures are recorded observations from past live play, not predictions. Gambling is 18+ and can be addictive. Read our responsible gambling guidance and editorial policy.