Bry: No. What you buy, you get. It's up to you how you use it. You can spend Brains to extend your membership or purchase a membership for another user. You can save them for a later use. Or you can pay a tournament entry fee with them and hope you will be one of the winners and win a thousand or two. But, as I always say, it's just an option and everyone can use all advantages and features of BrainKing without any Brains.