Hold & Win

Hold & Win is the only bonus format where the trigger spin sets the starting state of the bonus. Land a free spins round and the reels reset. Whatever was on the grid when the scatters landed is irrelevant. Trigger a Hold & Win round and those triggering symbols carry over, locked in place as the foundation everything else builds on. The bonus doesn’t start from zero. It starts from where the trigger left it, which is a fundamentally different design logic from any other bonus format.

The standard structure awards three respins at the point of trigger, with the qualifying symbols, typically coin symbols carrying printed values, held in their landed positions. Every subsequent respin either adds new qualifying symbols to the grid, in which case the counter resets to three, or produces no new additions, in which case the count decrements by one. The bonus ends when the counter reaches zero or the grid is completely filled. Collected values are totalled and paid as a single amount. Most Hold & Win games layer jackpot prizes into the coin pool, awarded for filling specific grid patterns or landing dedicated jackpot symbols during the respins.
Does the counter always reset to three when a new coin lands?
In the standard implementation, yes. Any new qualifying symbol landing during the respin phase resets the counter back to three, regardless of how many respins remain. Some games modify this, resetting to a different number or applying a reduced reset value in later stages of the bonus, but the three-reset convention is the most widely used version of the format and a reasonable default assumption going into any Hold & Win slot demo.
What happens if no new coins land during a respin?
The respin counter decrements by one and the board stays exactly as it is. The held positions remain locked, the values already collected stay in place, and the next respin runs with the same locked grid. If the counter reaches zero without any new additions, the bonus ends and whatever is on the grid at that point is paid out. A Hold & Win round can end after just three respins with only the trigger coins contributing, or it can extend considerably if new coins land consistently enough to keep resetting the counter.