The Negative Scatter Bonus (4 scatters)

A negative bonus is perceived as unfair: the player waited for an event but got a weak payout. That breeds a wish to 'top up' the result.

It's a class of event

For analysis it's an ordinary class of event. The bonus came but didn't cover the path to it. So it should be counted as a fact, not as a promise of a future payback. It's not preparation for a plus — often it's simply a base part of the distribution, background rather than a signal.

What to record

Record the date, the scatters, the bet, the payout and the distance to the bonus. The more such rows in your history, the clearer the behaviour of the specific game and account. Reading a bonus by its payout class — minus, zero, plus — matters more than a single result. A negative bonus doesn't owe you a return on the next one.