The term Ante Bet pops up in various forms of gambling, each with their own meanings. For slots, it effectively reflects the option or requirement to bet extra to activate some additional component to the game.
This can sometimes be a Feature Bet, for instance, which activates an enhanced feature. Mighty Cash Double Up has an Ante Bet, for instance, that for 50 percent more than the base bet you can get the Double Up feature when you land enough Mighty Cash prizes on a spin.
It can also be a side bet, like Konami’s Treasure Ball or Jackpot Streams features, where you’re betting extra above and beyond the base game for an entirely different game, which has its own bonuses (and, based on how much you wager, between 10 and 100 credits per spins, determines the frequency of the feature – higher bets mean they’ll come out more often on average).
Another example is the Cards of Cash feature on the latest Ainsworth games, which adds a 25 credit Ante Bet to a 50 credit base game wager to add the Cards of Cash feature as another bonus opportunity.
These various bets serve two purposes – for players, they create a more active game, which may be attractive to players finding themselves less enthralled with the more volatile games. For casinos, it helps to drive up the overall bet average by having add-on bets that push more dollars as bets through a game, which is exposed to games with a house advantage, over time making the casino money.
Slot sequels and brand extensions many times do the same thing, but simply building the Ante Bet directly into the game. Buffalo Gold extends Buffalo for a 20 credit bet increase from the game’s 40 credit bet to bolt on the Gold head feature and the chance for multipliers on the base game, and Buffalo Gold Revolution extends Buffalo Gold with a wheel and a symbol replacement feature for an additional 15 credits per spin.
Buffalo Gold Revolution adds a bunch of bells and whistles for the trade-off of a bet nearly double the original Buffalo at the same line bet. But it’s also a more active game for those extra bets, and a bonus with a chance at much bigger payoffs if things line up just right.
So an Ante Bet can enhance a game or add an extra feature to an existing one, in exchange for a consistently higher per-spin bet cost.
