Hold feature (slots)
A hold feature is a slot control that lets the player freeze one or more reels so that only the remaining reels spin on the next paid go. It comes from the pub fruit machine, where hold buttons light up under the reels at random intervals, and it survives in many online fruit-machine-style games. A held spin still costs the normal stake, so the hold changes which reels move rather than what the game pays back over time.
How a hold works on the reels
When holds are offered, the player presses the button under each reel worth keeping and then starts the spin. The usual case is two matching symbols on the win line: holding both leaves the third reel to complete the combination, if it lands.
On machines with a feature trail, a hold can also keep a trail number in place so that it may count again, though whether it does depends on the game’s rules.
Holds are not a sign that a win is coming.
The outcome of every spin is still set by the random number generator, and the machine’s built-in return is the same whether the player holds wisely or not at all. A sensible hold collects value the game is already offering; it cannot lift the long-run percentage, and a single lucky session proves nothing about it. Most machines also block a hold on a line that has just paid.
Hold feature compared with Hold and Win
The two names sound alike and are regularly mixed up in casino lobbies, yet one is a player decision on the base game while the other is a bonus round the game runs by itself.
Hold feature | Hold and Win |
|---|---|
| Player picks which reels to freeze | Game locks cash symbols automatically |
| Held spin costs a normal stake | Respins come free within the bonus |
| Offered at random in the base game | Triggered by a set number of special symbols |
| Return set by the game, not the hold | Return set by the game, not the respins |
Where players meet the term
Online, the hold feature turns up mostly in fruit-machine-style slots, often next to nudges, which move a single reel one position without a full spin. The name and the frequency of holds vary from studio to studio, so the game’s help screen is the place to confirm how they behave.
The word also causes confusion in Hold and Win games, where the respin counter usually starts at three and resets whenever a new symbol locks.
