Hold and Win Slots

How a hold and win round plays out

Most of the ten games follow the same four steps, each with its own numbers.

1. Trigger. A set number of special symbols in one spin starts the round: 3 money symbols in Big Bass - Hold & Spinner, 6 coins in Elvis Frog TRUEWAYS, 6 Amazing symbols in Amazing Link Zeus Boost.
2. Lock. Those symbols stay put; only empty positions respin.
3. Reset. Each new special symbol sets the respins back to the start - 3 in most of these games, 4 in Big Bass - Hold & Spinner.
4. Collect. When no new symbol lands in the last respin, all values are paid. Filling every position adds a top prize in several games.

The extras are where games differ. Money Train 3 and Money Train 4 add persistent symbols that act after every bonus spin and can unlock extra columns or rows. Area Link Phoenix Firestorm uses coloured phoenixes that add multipliers, collect prizes or copy the feature onto a second grid. Gold Blitz works the other way round: a Blitz symbol on reel 1 or 6 collects every cash symbol on screen at once, without a respin round.

Ten hold and win games compared

Figures are the providers' own. A dash means the provider does not publish the figure.

RTP and volatility: where the money sits

Seven of the ten games carry a published volatility rating, and five of those sit at medium-high or above on the provider's own scale: Money Train 3, Money Train 4 and Gold Blitz are "High", Elvis Frog TRUEWAYS is "Very high" and Amazing Link Zeus Boost is "Medium-High". Big Bass - Hold & Spinner and Big Bass Bonanza Megaways are the calmer pair at "Medium". On a high-volatility game, expect long runs of small base-game wins between features.

A quick dollar picture: in Big Bass - Hold & Spinner each coin or diamond carries 1x to 2,000x the base bet, so at a C$1 stake one symbol is worth between C$1 and C$2,000. The round pays the sum of the symbols you lock, which is why one feature can be worth very little or most of a session's return.

Check the version too. Relax Gaming publishes Money Train 3 at 96.10%, at 94.00% and at 90.00% for Germany; on C$500 of spins the gap between the first two is about C$10 in long-run return. Several Games Global titles - Amazing Link Zeus, Amazing Link Zeus Epic 4 and Area Link Phoenix Firestorm - have no public RTP on the provider pages we used, so the info screen at the casino is the only place to read it. More on this in our RTP versions guide and volatility guide.

Buying the feature

Six of the ten games let you buy straight into a bonus. The price is a multiple of your bet, paid in one go:

• Money Train 3: four options from 20x to 500x the bet, base game only.
• Money Train 4: 100x (Original) or 500x (Persistent).
• Big Bass - Hold & Spinner: 100x for either the free spins or the Hold & Spinner round.
• Amazing Link Zeus Epic 4: 50x for 10 free spins; the provider notes the buy may not be offered in every market or above a bet threshold.
• Elvis Frog TRUEWAYS: price shown on the in-game button; Gold Blitz: price not published.

At a C$1 stake, a 500x buy costs C$500 for one bonus round, and nothing guarantees it returns that amount. A bought bonus does not change the house edge; it only skips the base game. See bonus buy slots for every game with this option.