Hold-and-win slots: locked symbols and respin counters
Direct answer: hold-and-win is a broad directory term for bonus sequences where qualifying symbols remain fixed while empty positions spin again for a limited counter. A new qualifying symbol commonly resets that counter, but triggers, values, grid size and end conditions vary by title.
Last checked: 11 July 2026 by SlotsLike.
Hold-and-win sequence diagram
1. Exact trigger met2. Qualifying symbols lock3. Empty cells respin4. New symbol may reset counter
Representative comparison
| Example | Officially described trigger | Sequence rule |
|---|---|---|
| Bad Santa | Filling the glass of lager on the bar above the reels, which collects across ordinary spins (Endorphina’s own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid seeded with five bonus symbols; gold bottle caps carrying cash values lock in place and every fresh cap resets the counter back to three. Four fixed plaques sit beside the reels at 50x, 100x and 300x the total bet, and covering all fifteen positions releases the 1,000x ULTRA tier, which is the highest award Endorphina confirms anywhere in the game |
| Basketball King Hold and Win | Five or more Cash Fireball symbols landing anywhere on the grid (iSoftBet’s own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid; only Cash Fireballs and blanks land during the round, each fresh Fireball locks with a cash value on its face and resets the counter back to three, and nothing is paid until the respins run out and every visible value is collected together. There is no jackpot ladder and no multiplier on the collect, so filling all fifteen positions for the flat 1,000x MVP Award is the only tier above the collected values |
| Break the Pumpkin Bank | Golden Coins collecting into the five carved pumpkins above the reels until the pumpkins crack open (OctoPlay’s own described trigger) | Three spins on a five by three grid; only Golden Coins, Jackpot symbols and blanks land during the round, every fresh coin or jackpot symbol sticks and resets the counter back to three, and Count Pigula expands to fill each reel beneath a broken pumpkin. Nothing is paid until the counter empties and the whole board is collected at once, and breaking all five pumpkins releases the 2,500x Grand and ends the feature |
| Break More Piggy Banks | Coin symbols landing in the base game, triggering the round at random rather than on a fixed count (OctoPlay’s own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid; only coins, collector symbols and blanks land, every fresh landing sticks and resets the counter to three, and nothing pays until the respins run out and the whole grid is collected together. Five piggy banks above the reels gather the coins from their own reel and can each carry a multiplier of up to 3x, and breaking all five in one round is the only route to the 2,500x Grand |
| Big Bang Bonus: Hold & Win | Six or more Gold Pan, Mystery or Jackpot symbols landing together, or a randomly triggering gold chunk (OctoPlay’s own described trigger) | Three free spins on a five by four grid; only Gold Pan, Mystery, jackpot and blank symbols land during the round, anything that is not a blank locks and resets the counter to three, and nothing is paid until the round ends and every visible value is collected at once. Filling all twenty positions terminates the feature rather than awarding a top tier, and a five-level Dynamite ladder multiplies every collected value by the level reached |
| Bag the Swag: Hold & Win | Golden Coin symbols collecting in the vault above the reels (OctoPlay’s own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by four grid; only coin and jackpot symbols land during the round, every fresh coin locks and resets the counter back to three, a Bandit Collect symbol sweeps up the visible coin values, and covering all twenty positions pays the 500x Grand tier |
| Beef Up The Bonus | Six or more Link&Win coin symbols in view (High Limit Studio’s own described trigger) | Three respins; each fresh coin locks with a cash value and resets the counter to three, and a persistent Upgrade Trail collected during ordinary spins adds 2x to 70x multipliers at level 2 and up to 1,030x at level 3, with a full grid paying the 5,000x MEGA tier |
| Area Link Wolf | Moon symbols landing on the reels (AreaVegas Area Link trigger) | Three respins; only Moons land during the round, each new Moon locks with a cash value and resets the counter to three, and covering all fifteen positions pays the 5,000x Grand tier |
| Amazing Link Hades | Six or more gold Amazing coin symbols in view (SpinPlay Games’ own described trigger) | Three respins; only coin symbols land during the round and each new coin resets the counter to three, with a 2x to 10x multiplier able to lift individual coin values and a full 15-position grid paying the Mega tier |
| Amazing Legends Olympus | Collecting enough of a single god’s Bonus symbol (SpinPlay Games’ own described trigger) | Three respins; any new Prize, Boost, Blast or Collect symbol resets the counter, and the god that triggered the round decides the modifier, with the Mega jackpot paid only for covering every position |
| Chilli Heat | Six or more money symbols | Three respins; sticky money symbols reset the counter |
| Floating Dragon Hold and Spin | Three money symbols on the middle reel | Three respins with visible-value rules supplied by the developer |
| Sleeping Dragon | Six or more money symbols | Sticky values remain until the counter ends or the grid fills |
| Amazing Link Wildcat Kingdom | Six or more waterhole medallion symbols anywhere on the 5×3 grid (SpinPlay Games’ own described trigger) | Three respins; every medallion locks with a cash value on its face and each fresh one resets the counter back to three, with a full fifteen-position board paying the Mega jackpot |
| Treasures Of Mjolnir | Collecting enough Bonus Pot symbols | Bronze-to-Diamond tiered UpZones; landing a fresh coin in an active zone extends the round rather than resetting a fixed counter |
| 3 Christmas Fortunes | Landing one or more coloured baubles (Iron Dog Studio’s own described trigger) | Three respins; a fresh bauble resets the counter, with five tiered jackpot values locking in as the board fills |
| 4 Dragon Pots | Landing a coloured dragon coin (Iron Dog Studio’s own described trigger) | Three respins; a fresh coin resets the counter, with the triggering coin’s colour deciding whether the board expands, an extra respin is added, or an existing coin’s value increases |
| 12 Burning Baseballs | A 2×2 block of Burning Baseball symbols (Print Studios’ own described trigger) | Three respins; every Burning Baseball on the grid locks sticky and a fresh one landing during a respin resets the counter back to three |
| 3 Lucky Hippos | A Lotus symbol landing on every reel (PearFiction’s own described trigger) | Triggers three linked LockNWin rounds together, Multiply, Jackpot and Supreme, each with its own locked-coin respin sequence rather than a single shared counter |
| Almighty Mustang Express | Six or more Cash Prize symbols (Blueprint Gaming’s own described trigger) | Three respins; any new Cash Prize, Cash Pot or Train symbol resets the counter, and landing a Train symbol carries play into a linked Almighty Mustang Express carriage-building round with its own respin sequence |
| Ancient Fortunes Minotaur Rising | Three Ultra Link and Win symbols (Triple Edge Studios’ own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by four area; every new cash symbol resets the counter to three, Unlock symbols extend the grid up to eight rows, and Persistent Collect symbols stay in place and re-sweep the visible values on each remaining respin |
| Area Link Bank Boss | Coin symbols landing on the reels (AreaVegas Games’ own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid; each fresh coin sticks and resets the counter to three, five colour-coded piggy banks add multipliers, extra cash values, instant collects or a duplicated second grid, and covering all fifteen positions pays the Grand jackpot |
| Area Link Dragon | Fireball symbols landing on the reels (AreaVegas Games’ own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid; every yellow fireball sticks with a cash value or jackpot on its face and a fresh one resets the counter to three, while four coloured dragon eggs above the reels hatch multipliers, added values, an instant collect or a second independent grid, and covering all fifteen positions pays the Grand jackpot |
| Area Link Piggy Bank | Six or more gold coin symbols landing on a single spin (AreaVegas Games’ own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid; each coin locks with a cash value and every fresh one resets the counter to three, while three coloured piggy banks collected during the round add a 2x to 5x multiplier, a second independently filling reel set or instant collect coins, and covering all fifteen positions pays the Grand jackpot |
| Big Money Frenzy Cash Gains | Six or more Cash Prize symbols in view during the base game (Blueprint Gaming’s own described trigger) | Three respins on a 4-5-5-5-5-4 grid; every fresh Cash Prize or Collect symbol resets the counter to three, a Collect symbol landing on the short top reel sweeps the visible values, and filling every position doubles the value of all Cash Prizes rather than paying a separate top tier. A fixed Mega, Major, Minor and Mini ladder of 2,000x, 250x, 50x and 10x enters play as symbol values |
| Betbarian Bounty | Pot symbols filling a skull meter above the reels, which opens a three-potion picker (PearFiction’s own described trigger) | The picker decides which LockNWin variant runs. MaxSplits takes every reel to six rows before the respins begin, Jackpots puts a Micro to Mega ladder of 10x, 20x, 100x, 500x and 10,000x into play, and 4Lives starts the round on four respins instead of three. Locked cash symbols reset the counter each time a fresh one lands, and nothing is paid until the respins run out and the whole board is collected together |
| Battle Bucks 10K Ways | Five or more winged star scatters landing anywhere on the 4-5-5-5-5-4 grid (ReelPlay’s own described trigger) | Four consecutive tank opponents, green then blue then purple then red, each with more life points than the last and each given three spins. A gold tank landing in a position awards the prize on its face, an enemy tank removes life points, and either symbol locks that position for the rest of the round. Beating an opponent guarantees one of four fixed tiers, Mini 10x, Minor 50x, Major 250x and Grand 2,000x, and there is no way to compound them, so the Grand is the hard ceiling of the game |
| Bison Moon | Six or more red moon symbols landing on a single spin (Northern Lights Gaming’s own described trigger) | Three respins on a five by three grid; the triggering moons lock, the rest of the board clears, every fresh moon sticks with a cash value and resets the counter back to three, and nothing pays until the respins run out and all visible values are collected together. Mini, Minor and Major moons are collected like any other value at 50x, 150x and 750x, while the 5,000x Mega is awarded only for covering all fifteen positions |
These examples demonstrate variations, not a ranking. “Hold & Spin” may be a product title or branded label; use the exact developer wording when describing a specific game.
Help-file checklist
- Trigger count, eligible symbols and whether the trigger itself is paid.
- Starting counter and the exact event that resets it.
- Whether values lock, upgrade, collect, multiply or combine.
- What happens when the grid fills and whether a displayed jackpot is fixed, progressive or stake-dependent.
- RTP version, volatility, feature frequency if supplied, and maximum win.
Three remaining respins do not mean a qualifying symbol is due. The counter describes feature state, not the probability of the next result.
Affiliate disclosure: SlotsLike may receive commission from marked operator links. Commercial relationships do not decide inclusion or ordering. Gambling is for adults aged 18 and over; see our responsible gambling guide.
Sources & Verification
- Pragmatic Play official Hold & Spin example
- Pragmatic Play official sticky-symbol respin example
- UK Gambling Commission RTS 3 game-information requirements
- UK Gambling Commission RTS 7 random outcomes
Correction log
11 July 2026: first publication with counter logic, grid-fill distinctions, an accessible diagram and sourced examples.