How Do Hold and Win Slots Work?

If you're a fan of slot games, you're probably well aware there are a plethora of slots to choose from when you explore any average game platform and not every slot is the same. Not only do many games vary in theme, but they oftentimes vary in features as well. Slot games are the best, and the ones that include Hold & Win Features are often the cream of the crop, representing the pinnacle of slot gaming at its finest.

The essence of a Hold & Win feature is simple enough even less experienced online gamblers can grasp the basics of this game. The specifics of this feature vary, but the gist of what a Hold and Win feature is and how it operates can be easily explained. Only certain slots offer a Hold and Win style bonus round, and when this game feature is triggered, specific symbols, which are often coins or cash symbols, lock into place. The player will receive a set number of respins and during the respins, additional triggering symbols can land and lock, and reset the number of respins. The bonus round continues on until no respins remain, or until all positions are filled, which often rewards the biggest jackpot.

Why Choose Hold and Win Slots?

These distinct features make a Hold and Win slot wildly different from an average slot game. These kinds of games add a unique twist to a common free spins feature. Also, Hold and Win features can extend your session, giving you the chance to snatch up wins for a longer period. The game will offer numerous levels and oftentimes unusual added features. In most games, the Hold and Win slot mechanics feature works to replace free spins in slot games, but you can also enjoy other game features. Many slots combine both features, so you can actively enjoy a Hold and Win Game and Free Spins in the same slot. Hold and Win slots are just as fair as most games, offering a fair RTP percentage. Most games have an RTP above 95%, with 96% being common in Hold and Win games, which is actually above the industry average. Of course, this won’t necessarily apply to every Hold and Win games, but this is a common pattern. When picking a Hold and Win game, it's important to have an awareness of the games software provider. Some providers offer more Hold and Win slots than others and are more experienced with the feature. Multiple game providers offer Hold and Win slots, or offer their own version of this popular feature. Some games call Hold and Win slots Link and Win, but it's the same feature in a nutshell. Some of the best Hold and Win slot providers include Big Time Gaming, Relax Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Stormcraft Studios, and Slingshot Studios,

Picking The Proper Hold and Win Game

When choosing a hold-and-win game, you'll be bombarded with different options always, so picking can be a difficult thing if you aren't knowledgable about what to look for. So let’s go over a few tips that you can use to pick out the perfect hold-and-win game, and then we'll suggest some specific hold-and-win slots! Since many different developers make slots, themes, and style are usually available in abundance. You should pick a hold-and-win slot with a theme and style that appeals to you, as it'll add to the overall experience of the game mechanics and general win potential. Fairness is also an important part of picking out a game, and the fairness of a slot can always be verified by an RTP percentage.

Another thing to consider is whether or not the game has a bonus buy option, but only if you're the type to actually consider purchasing a bonus round as part of your overall strategy. Sometimes, it can take a while to activate something like a hold and win round, and some players prefer to purchase them and increase their chances of landing large wins. Games that offer hold-and-win features also might offer other bonus rounds, and while choosing to play hold-and-win slot games, consider what online casino you are playing on. It can be beneficial to make use of things like free spins or a welcome bonus by picking a particular platform. You should also consider if you can combine the hold and win features with other bonus games or additional free spins, as this can be a huge advantage. Many of their games include special symbols like wilds that might appear at random and maybe shift or expand.

The Best Hold and Win Slot Games

1. Joker Coins Hold and Win

Playson is one of the best companies to publish hold and win games, and this is just another solid game from its collection. However, there are quite a few reasons why this slot made it onto our list! This game takes place on a three reel, three row format, and features five pay lines. There's a straightforward theme, and it's essentially at its core a classic fruit slot. This is considered a high volatility slot, and the game offers a jackpot of 3,255x your bet. The game has a hit frequency of 10.18%, and the minimum bet you can place is 0.20 per spin. The maximum bet you can place is 100 EUR per spin.

This game has eight paying symbols, which can be divided into four low paying symbols and four high paying ones. The lower paying symbols are the cherries, lemons, plums and oranges, which award 4x your bet per combination. On the other hand, high-paying symbols include grapes, melons, bars and bell symbols. Bell symbols are worth the most, and award 30x your stake for a set of three on a pay line. Special symbols include joker wilds and coin symbols, and joker wilds will operate as a substitute for any of the aforementioned pay symbols in winning combinations, and are worth 100x your bet. This game doesn't come with any free spin features, but three coins will trigger hold and wins, and each coin symbol can be worth 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x or 15x your bet, and you'll receive three respins.

2. Pirate Chest: Hold and Win

If you have a childhood fantasy of running away to become a pirate, Pirate Chest Hold and Win will give you the fix you need. This slot is filled with many mysterious jackpots and other awesome rewards, and this is all thanks to the software provider Playson. Theme wise, this game captures life on the sea. There is a quality display featuring a pirate ship and hidden treasure, and a plethora of special symbols like pirate wilds, ship scatters, a parrot, compass, anchor, monkey, and A to J royal symbols. This game is laid out against a five by four game grid, and features 25 total pay lines.

This is a one-armed bandit with 0.10 credits per spin, while the maximum bet is 100 credits per spin. This game has a wild symbol that substitutes for all other symbols except the scatter, bonus and boost. The free spins are triggered when three scatters land on the first, third and fifth reels. Boost and Bonus symbols are added to the reels. Any bonus symbols in view during the base game or free spins are added to the Treasure Chest, which sits on top of the grid and grants players a chance to trigger the feature, and add enough symbols to activate the bonus game. The hold and spin feature ends when you run out of respins, and players can win the grand jackpot worth 3,000x your stake while spinning these reels.

3. Big Bass: Hold and Spinner

This fishing themed slot is immensely popular! Landing big wins through the Hold & Spinner bonus can mean a massive prize sum for you. You can activate free spins with increasing multipliers, and win up to 10,000x your bet. Big Bass Bonanza Hold and Spinner is one of Pragmatic Play's best games, and players can land high paying winning combinations by landing floats, rods and bait boxes. You can also land diamonds, additional money symbols and even fish scatters which will trigger exciting bonus game and other eclectic features. Big Bass Bonanza lovers can bet as little as 0.10 to 250 coins per spin while playing this game, and to land combinations you need to trigger a match of three to five symbols. This game comes with an RTP of 96.09%.

Triggering this special hold and spinner feature bonus game is activated when you land three fish money symbols, and you can respin the reels to collect as many money symbols as possible, and each will award you a win of 1x to 2,000x your bet. If you land three, four, or five scatters you can accumlate up to twenty free spins. This game also has wild anglers that will retrigger the feature with additional multipliers.

4. Wolf Lane: Hold and Win

Wolf Lane is an exciting 25 pay line slot with a top obtainable win of 3681x your bet! This game features a medium/high volatility game level, and hosts an RTP of 95.66%, and features free spins and multipliers galore. This game has demonstrated an uncanny ability to offer an innovative and engaging slot experience that not only suggests fun gameplay, and amazing visuals but also remarkable bonus features that can lead to a top-tier slot experience.

Theme wise, this game takes place in the icy wilderness. This sort of winter is mysterious and well crafted, with a color palate and general graphics that are well in sync with the slots overarching theme. The bonus features add layer upon layer of wonderful complexity to the Wolf Land: Hold and Win experience. The feature triggers re-spins whenever six or more bonus symbols appear on the reels and lock in place, and the round continues until no new bonus symbols land.

5. Thunderstruck Wild Lightning

This game draws its inspiration from the popularity of Norse mythology, and is a Microgaming classic. Thunderstruck Wild Lightning is a crisp slot filled with animations of heroic Norse deities like Thor, Odin, Loki and even the powerful Valkyrie. This game is played on a five by five slot, and features 40 pay lines. Landing three or more of a single symbol will award you generously, and the game explores a plethora of different special features.

This high-volatility game has it's own version of the hold and win feature, and has a wagering range that's wide enough to fit most players’ needs. The game has two types of bonuses, and a collection feature. The gods help make up the pay table, along with five World Stones, and low paying 9 to A card symbols worth 2x to 3x your bet. While playing this game, keep your eyes peeled for the Thunderball Symbols, as six or more of these games will trigger the Link & Win feature!