Hold and win
Hold and win is a slot bonus round in which cash or coin symbols lock in place and the remaining positions respin, usually three times, with the counter resetting to three whenever a new symbol lands. When no new symbols land in the respins left, or the screen fills, the round ends and pays the total of every value showing.
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Key takeaways
- Locked symbols stay put; only empty positions respin.
- Each new symbol resets the respin counter, normally back to three.
- The round pays the sum of every value on screen, often with fixed jackpots for special symbols or a full grid.
- Developers use their own names: Hold and Spin, Money Respin, Link and Win and more.
- Category
- Slot bonus round
- Also called
- Hold and spin, cash respins, lock and spin
- Usual trigger
- 6 or more cash symbols
- Starting respins
- Usually 3, resetting on each new symbol
- Common top prize
- A fixed jackpot for a full screen
What hold and win means
The name describes the mechanic. Special symbols, usually coins, moons, pearls or bags of money carrying a value, are held in place when they land. The rest of the grid turns into empty spaces that respin. Every respin that adds a new valuable symbol keeps the round alive, and you win whatever is showing when it ends.
Pragmatic Play’s Wolf Gold is one of the best-known online examples, with its Money Respin, triggered by six or more moon symbols and topped by three fixed jackpots. Since then nearly every major studio has built its own version, and our hold and win slots page groups the best-known ones together.
How a hold and win round plays, spin by spin
The example uses illustrative coin values on a 5 × 3 grid at a £1 stake. Each coin shows a multiple of your stake.
- Six coins land in the base game (2x, 1x, 5x, 1x, 3x, 2x), triggering the round. They lock in place and the respin counter shows 3.
- Respin one: nothing new lands. Counter drops to 2.
- Respin two: a 10x coin lands. Seven coins now held; counter resets to 3.
- Respin three: nothing lands. Counter 2.
- Respin four: two coins land, 1x and 4x. Nine held; counter resets to 3.
- Respins five, six and seven: nothing lands. Counter reaches 0 and the round ends.
- Total paid: 2 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 10 + 1 + 4 = 29x the stake, or £29.
Had all 15 positions filled, a typical game would add its top fixed jackpot on top of the coin values. In practice a full screen is a rare event, because the more spaces are taken, the fewer remain for new coins to land in.
Special symbols you meet in hold and win rounds
| Symbol type | What it does | Effect on the total |
|---|---|---|
| Cash or coin | Shows a value, usually 1x to a few dozen times the stake | Adds its value |
| Jackpot label | Shows Mini, Minor, Major or similar instead of a value | Adds that fixed jackpot |
| Collector | Gathers the values of other symbols and adds them to itself | Doubles up existing value |
| Multiplier | Multiplies one or all values on screen | Can lift the total sharply |
| Grid expander | Unlocks extra rows or reels | More room for symbols, more chance of a long round |
Relax Gaming’s Money Train 2 is known for stacking many of these at once, with persistent characters that act on every respin. A simpler game like Wolf Gold uses only cash values and jackpot labels. The more special symbols a round includes, the more volatile it tends to be.
Hold and win maths: what decides the payout
Three things decide a round: how many symbols trigger it, how often new symbols land during the respins, and the values those symbols carry. Developers balance all three so the round fits inside the slot’s RTP. A game with a low chance of new coins per respin produces many short rounds that pay little more than the trigger coins, with an occasional long run.
A quick check makes this concrete. If six trigger coins average 2x each, the round is already worth about 12x before any respin. Most of the excitement comes from the reset rule: every new coin buys three more chances, so a round can roll on for a dozen or more respins. Even so, a round that ends near its starting value is common, and with the house edge built in, a player should expect to lose money over a long run of spins.
Where hold and win appears, and other names for it
Each studio brands its version differently: Hold and Spin, Money Respin, Link and Win, Cash Respins, Lock and Spin. The core rules are the same. The format sits close to cash collect mechanics, which also involve cash values, but a collect feature pays on a single spin rather than through a run of respins.
- Asian-themed and lucky-symbol games with coin or lantern symbols.
- Fishing and animal slots, often combined with free spins.
- Jackpot slots where a full grid or special symbols award fixed jackpots.
Related terms
Hold and win is a kind of respin feature and one of the main families of bonus round. Its top prizes are usually a fixed jackpot rather than a progressive one. For a fuller explanation with more game examples, read how hold and win works.
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Frequently asked questions
How does hold and win work?
Special cash symbols lock in place when they land, and the empty positions around them respin. You usually start with three respins, and every time a new cash symbol lands the counter resets to three. When the counter reaches zero, or every position fills, the round ends and pays the total of all the values on screen, plus any jackpot labels. The values are multiples of the stake that triggered the round. Our guide on how hold and win works walks through further examples.
How many symbols trigger hold and win?
Six is the most common number on a 5 × 3 grid, but it varies. Some games need five, others need a specific symbol on a particular reel, and a few trigger the round at random. Larger grids may need more. The paytable states the rule. Landing it is down to chance on every spin, and stake size or timing cannot improve the odds. See how slot features trigger for how those odds are set.
Why does the respin counter reset to three?
Because that reset is what makes the round last. If you only had three respins in total, most rounds would end almost immediately. Resetting the counter each time something new lands means a round continues as long as symbols keep arriving, which can produce long, building sequences. It also means the round stops on its own once the grid stops filling. A few games start at a different number of respins, so check the help screen. Our respin entry covers respins more generally.
What happens if you fill the screen?
On most hold and win games, filling every position awards the top fixed jackpot, often called Grand or Mega, on top of the values already showing. It is the rarest outcome in the round, because the chance of a new symbol landing usually falls as the empty spaces run out. The jackpot’s size, normally shown as a multiple of the stake, is listed in the game info. Our fixed jackpot entry explains how these differ from progressive jackpots.
Is hold and win the same as cash collect?
No, though they are related and often appear in the same games. Hold and win is a respin round: symbols lock and the grid respins until it stops filling. Cash collect is a mechanic in which a collector symbol gathers the values of cash symbols showing on the same spin, with no lock-and-respin sequence. Some slots combine them, with collectors working inside a hold and win round. Read our cash collect entry for a side-by-side explanation.
Are hold and win slots high volatility?
Many are, especially those with multipliers, collectors and large fixed jackpots, because much of the game’s return depends on rare long rounds. Simpler versions with only cash values can sit nearer medium volatility. The clearest signal is any volatility rating the help screen gives, along with the max win. Remember that UK stake limits apply to the triggering spin: £5 for players aged 25 and over, £2 for those aged 18 to 24. Our high volatility slots page explains what that means for a session.