Gigi studies gems held in gold rings, illustrating held symbols in a Hold and Win feature.

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GAMES · 8 MIN READ

Hold and Win Games: A Beginner’s Guide

By Gigi Celeste Hold and Win Features

Gigi studies gems held in gold rings, illustrating held symbols in a Hold and Win feature.

Quick Answers

  • Hold and Win features often keep certain symbols in place while a set number of respins runs.
  • A new symbol may reset the respin count. Each game sets the trigger, reset rule, and ending.
  • A nearly full board does not guarantee the final symbol will land. Keep the time and coin limits you chose before playing.

From Gigi’s Preflight Notes

The Flight Where I Had to Stay Put

During a storm near Aurelia, I had to hold our craft beside a damaged navigation relay while the repair crew worked. The opening ahead looked flyable almost immediately. Looking flyable and being cleared were, unfortunately for my impatient pilot heart, two different things.

From a distance, we probably looked parked. At the controls, I was correcting our drift, watching the storm, and keeping the craft steady enough for the crew to finish. Staying still turned out to involve a surprising amount of flying.

That is how I read a Hold and Win board: some symbols stay in place while the empty spaces can keep changing. Before the excitement takes over, check what starts the feature, what resets its count, and what finally ends it.

How Hold and Win Usually Works

In many of these features, certain symbols stay on the board while the game gives you a set number of respins. A respin is another spin within the feature. New symbols may fill empty spaces. Some new symbols reset the count.

Hotfire Diamonds 2 by Enjoy Gaming gives us a concrete example: its Hold and Win Bonus Game starts with three respins, and each new Bonus, Jackpot, or Boost symbol resets the count. The important detail is which symbols qualify for a reset. Another game may use a different rule. [2]

Open your game through All Games and read its feature rules. Our slot screen guide explains how features fit into a game.

Five Hold and Win Games Compared

These five games share the Hold and Win idea, but their boards, symbols, and respin rules differ. Use this comparison to know what to look for, then check your game’s own rules.

Hold and Win features and what to check in each game
Game and provider Relevant features What to watch
3 Super Hot Chillies
3 Oaks Gaming
Multi can add multipliers; Double adds a second board; Extra provides four respins. The Super Wheel acts before the bonus. Check the Wheel result and which Chilli features are active.
Sticky Coin: Hold The Spin
Gamzix
Sticky Coins remain in place. Expand Coins open reel spaces; Royal Coins collect visible values. Watch which spaces open and which coins collect. Check the in-game counter rule.
3 Hungry Pandas
Kendoo
Extra provides four respins; Multi can apply 2×, 3×, or 5× multipliers; Double runs two playing fields. Identify active features and follow both boards when Double is active.
Hotfire Diamonds 2
Enjoy Gaming
Bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3 plus a Boost on reel 2 trigger the round. Three respins reset with new Bonus, Jackpot, or Boost symbols. Watch the three-respin counter and the Boost symbol’s collection of visible values.
Thunder Coins XXL: Hold and Win
Playson
Thunder Bonus symbols stay on reel 2 during the Bonus Game. The Thunder Coin feature collects Bonus and Jackpot values. Distinguish sticky collector symbols from the values they gather.

What Starts the Feature?

Find the symbol or event that starts it. If you need several symbols, check where they must land and whether they must appear in one round. Extra symbols may change the starting board.

Some games use a meter that builds up over time. Check whether it saves progress or resets. A part-filled meter only carries over if the game says so.

Check the coin mode and play level too. The feature may use the amount of Gold Coins (GC) or Sweeps Coins (SC) chosen for the spin that started it. You may not be able to change that amount during the feature.

In Hotfire Diamonds 2, Bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3 must land together with a Boost symbol on reel 2 to trigger the Hold and Win Bonus Game. Enjoy Gaming also describes an Extra Bonus Feature that can randomly start the round. That is why I check both the symbol combination and any separate entry feature before following the counter. [2]

3 Super Hot Chillies by 3 Oaks Gaming adds a step before the Hold and Win round: the Super Wheel. It can add a feature, more Bonus symbols, or a Mini, Minor, or Major Jackpot symbol. Its three Chilli features also change the round: Multi adds multipliers to random symbols, Double introduces a second board, and Extra raises the respin count to four. Check which features have activated before reading the starting board. [5]

Gigi smiles beside the 3 Super Hot Chillies mariachi mascot as he plays his blue-trimmed guitar in a yellow suit and sombrero.
The guitarist in 3 Super Hot Chillies has the fiesta covered. I’m keeping an eye on which features join the Hold and Win round.

Know Which Spaces Count

Four board checks
What you see What to find out
Open spaces Which spaces can receive symbols now?
Held symbols Which stay put, and can they change?
Locked spaces Can more spaces open? How?
A full board Exactly which spaces must be filled?

A locked space and an empty space may look alike. Read the rule before counting either one. If the board grows, check what “full” means at each stage.

Sticky Coin: Hold The Spin by Gamzix shows why the visible board deserves a second look. Sticky Coins stay in place, while Expand Coins open additional reel spaces. Royal Coins have a separate collection role, gathering visible values. A symbol that opens a space is doing a different job from one that collects what is already there. [6]

Gigi lifts a gold coin bearing a crown and laurel wreath from a purple-lined treasure chest in a royal-blue and gold chamber.
A closer look at the crown in Sticky Coin: Hold The Spin. I keep the symbol’s job in mind: Royal Coins collect values, while Expand Coins open spaces.

A second board is another kind of change. In 3 Hungry Pandas by Kendoo, the Double Bonus Game runs two playing fields at once.

Its Extra Bonus Game gives four respins, while the Multi Bonus Game can apply 2×, 3×, or 5× multipliers to Bonus symbols, including Jackpot symbols. Kendoo says all three features can be active together. I would check the active features first, then follow each board and its displayed count. [7]

Gigi accepts a gold coin from the blue-clad panda, with the red and green pandas beside two gold panels in a bamboo forest.
Three pandas, and plenty to keep track of. In 3 Hungry Pandas, I check both playing fields when the Double feature is active.

A Reset Starts the Count Again

Adding a respin and resetting the count are different. The example below illustrates a three-respin reset, like the one Enjoy Gaming describes for Hotfire Diamonds 2. A spin without a qualifying new symbol uses one respin; a new Bonus, Jackpot, or Boost symbol restores the count to three. These are illustrative results, not a recorded round. [2]

Example of a three-respin reset
Before New result After
3 left No new symbol that counts 2 left
2 left A new symbol that counts 3 left
3 left No new symbol that counts 2 left

Your game may work differently. A reset tells you what just happened. It does not tell you where the next symbol will land.

Gigi’s Field Note

Almost Through Was Not Through

The route looked almost clear just as the heat warning inside my armor lit up. I wanted to call, “Just one more minute!”, which would not have made the armor any cooler. I told the crew exactly how long I could keep holding position and kept that cutoff.

A nearly full board can create the same tug. One empty space may feel like a reason to continue, but it does not change the limits you chose. Keep your stop time and play limit whether the board is empty, full, or infuriatingly close.

Read Each Special Symbol’s Job

Some symbols show a value. Others may collect values, raise a multiplier, open spaces, or change the respin count. Each game chooses its own mix.

Ask what the symbol changes and when. Does it act when it lands or at the end? Does it change symbols already on the board or only new ones?

Check whether a shown total already includes a multiplier or collection. Do not count the same value twice.

In Hotfire Diamonds 2, a Boost symbol immediately collects the visible Bonus and Jackpot values. That makes it a collector, rather than simply a symbol showing its own value. Read the collection rule before adding up what you see. [2]

Gigi reaches around a glowing yellow diamond in a fiery cavern surrounded by gemstone spades, clubs, diamonds, and gold dice.
That yellow diamond is hard to miss in Hotfire Diamonds 2. I watch the Boost collection and the respin count before adding up the result.

Thunder Coins XXL: Hold and Win by Playson gives us another collector example. Its Thunder Bonus symbols appear on reel 2 and stay in place throughout the Bonus Game.

The Thunder Coin feature gathers Bonus symbol values, including Jackpot values. Here, the useful question is which symbol stays and collects; “Hold and Win” does not mean every symbol has the same job. [8]

Gigi braces against a blue reel column beside a lightning-marked gold coin, with bells, fruit, and red sevens behind her.
I’ve found the collector in Thunder Coins XXL: Hold and Win. Thunder Bonus symbols stay on reel 2 throughout the Bonus Game.

Know When It Ends

A feature often ends when the counter reaches zero or the board is full. Check for other endings, extra stages, and limits in your game. Then find out how the final total is worked out.

Held symbols do not always carry into the next feature. A saved meter may work differently. Read the rule for each. Our free spins guide explains another way features can be extended.

Follow a Hold and Win Feature

  1. See What Stays

    Find the active spaces and the symbols that stay in place.

  2. Watch the Count

    Check when the respin count drops and which symbols reset it.

  3. Check the Ending

    Read how the feature ends: an empty counter, a full grid, or another rule.

Starting counts, symbol effects, and ending rules vary by game.

If the Screen Freezes

Pause, reconnect, and check any available round details. If you cannot find them, ask Mission Control, our support team, what the game recorded.

Save the game name, time and time zone, coin mode, last count, and a screenshot if possible. A nearly full board does not prove it filled. Closing the window does not by itself show whether the feature ended or was saved.

Keep Your Own Landing Time

The crew cleared the route before my cutoff, and we left only when both the craft and corridor were ready, not when the opening merely looked close.

Give a Hold and Win feature the same attention: watch its start, symbols, count, and finish. When your own stop time arrives, though, that is your landing time even if the game’s counter is still going.

Your Next Step

Ready to play? Pick a Hold and Win game and put your new knowledge into each spin.

Play Hold and Win Games

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a Hold and Win feature work?

It often holds certain symbols in place while a set number of respins runs. New symbols may affect the counter or result. Each game sets its own trigger, reset and ending rules.

Is resetting the respin counter the same as adding respins?

No. Resetting replaces the remaining count with a set count. Adding respins increases the count you already have. Read which rule the game uses.

Does a nearly full board guarantee the last symbol will land?

No. A nearly full board does not guarantee completion or tell you where the next symbol will land. Any values already collected follow the game’s rules. Keep your planned stop time and coin limits.

What should I check before a Hold and Win feature?

Read what starts it, which symbols stay, how the counter changes and what ends the feature. For example, Hotfire Diamonds 2 uses three respins with qualifying-symbol resets, while the Extra features in 3 Hungry Pandas and 3 Super Hot Chillies provide four respins. Check the rules for the feature actually active in your game.

About the Author

Gigi Celeste

Pilot and field guardian

Gigi Celeste pilots for the Win Bonanza Crew and serves as its field guardian. She likes forward motion, but storm duty near Aurelia taught her the value of staying put. Her game guides break busy screens into small, useful checks. Off duty, she trades route stories with Wren and assures Sierra that her armor is only a little warmer than planned. Sierra usually asks to see the readings.

More about Gigi

Sources

Game examples updated September 25, 2026 using provider descriptions. Rules and offers can change. Read the in-game rules for the version you open; provider descriptions may include features that differ by platform.

  1. Win Bonanza All Games
    Browse our games and open each game’s own rules.
  2. Enjoy Gaming: Hotfire Diamonds 2
    Provider details for the trigger, three-respin reset, Boost collection, and Extra Bonus Feature.
  3. Win Bonanza Sweepstakes Rules
    How to get and use SC, who can play, and how prize requests work.
  4. Win Bonanza Terms and Conditions
    Rules for accounts, who can play, and special offers.
  5. 3 Oaks Gaming: 3 Super Hot Chillies
    Super Wheel and the Multi, Double, and Extra features.
  6. Gamzix: Sticky Coin: Hold The Spin
    Sticky Coins, Expand Coins, Royal Coin collection, and Hold The Spin.
  7. Kendoo: 3 Hungry Pandas
    Extra, Multi, and Double Bonus Games, including four respins and two playing fields.
  8. Playson: Thunder Coins XXL: Hold and Win
    Game overview. Playson’s release notes describe sticky Thunder Bonus symbols and the collection feature.

FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Trust and Transparency

Written by Ella Hartly in the voice of Gigi Celeste, a Win Bonanza Crew character.

Ella Hartly built the Win Bonanza Crew around one idea: facts help more when people enjoy reading them. Her characters use stories and humor to make hard topics easier to follow. The facts about Win Bonanza come from the sources linked above.

Win Bonanza publishes these guides about our own service. The crew’s adventures are part of our story world and are entirely fictional. Ella Hartly is the real expert behind these characters, offering her insights and expert opinion.

Win Bonanza’s editorial process calls for checking sources, claims and links before publication and when rules change. Ella Hartly’s personal opinions and game preferences do not reflect the opinions of the brand Win Bonanza.