How Hold and Spin slots work: the rules, studio by studio

Hold and Spin slots work as a self-contained bonus round. A set number of special symbols lands and locks in place, the other positions respin, and every new symbol locks too and resets the respin counter. The round ends when the respins run out or the grid fills, and the locked values are paid as one win.

That is the core loop BGaming describes, and the one the other two sources build on. The detail, from how many respins, which symbols count and what the jackpots are called, belongs to each studio and each game. This piece is an evergreen explainer, not a release note: it sets the rules as three named sources state them, side by side, and attributes each one. This desk read BGaming’s mechanics article, livebet.com’s game page for Light & Wonder’s Gremlins After Midnight, and Aristocrat’s Lightning Link release on 9 October 2026.

How do Hold and Spin slots work, step by step?

BGaming’s article is the clearest supplier statement of the sequence read for this piece. In most cases, it says, the feature triggers when a set number of coins, cash symbols or bonus icons lands. From there:

1. The round opens with three starting respins, and the triggering symbols lock for its duration.
2. Each respin can land new symbols; every new one locks and resets the counter back to three.
3. Locked symbols carry values; some add multipliers or link to fixed jackpots.
4. The round ends when no new symbol appears within the remaining respins, or when the grid is completely filled.
5. All collected values, multipliers and jackpot awards are added and paid as a single combined win.

The reset is the composition’s whole idea. A round is not a fixed number of spins but a chain that lasts exactly as long as symbols keep arriving, which is why the same trigger can close after three empty spins or run on well past its opening three.

Hold and Spin rules by studio

Rule	BGaming (Hold & Win)	Gremlins After Midnight (Light & Wonder)	Lightning Link (Aristocrat)
Who states it	BGaming’s own article	livebet.com’s game page, not the supplier	Aristocrat’s 23 July 2026 release
Feature name	Hold & Win	Hold & Spin	Hold & Spin
Starting respins	three	three	not stated
What resets the counter	any new symbol, back to three	new Fuzz Balls or modifier icons, back to three	not stated
Round ends	no new symbol, or full grid	not stated	not stated
Extras	multipliers, linked jackpots	Chicken Buckets: More Money, reels up to 5x6, jackpots	shared progressive jackpots
Jackpot tiers	typically Mini, Minor, Major, Grand	Mini, Major, Grand	includes a Grand Jackpot

Two things in that table deserve a closer look. Gremlins After Midnight, as livebet.com describes it, lists three fixed jackpots rather than BGaming’s typical four, and, per that page, the jackpots are unlocked through the purple Chicken Bucket. Aristocrat’s release, for its part, names Hold & Spin as Lightning Link’s base mechanic without restating the respin count, so this desk does not supply one for it. The site’s review of Gremlins After Midnight walks through how that game’s buckets change the round as it plays.

Is Hold and Win the same as Hold and Spin?

BGaming says the feature is known across the industry as Hold & Spin, Hold & Link or Stick N Win, and treats them as one mechanic under different labels. Other aliases circulate in operator blogs; none appeared in the supplier pages read for this piece, so they are left out here. The site’s map of the Gremlins series shows how far one franchise moved before landing on a Hold & Spin. The label tells you the family. It does not tell you the trigger count, the reset rule or the jackpot ladder.

Why the paytable is the copy of record

BGaming hedges its own account with “in most cases”, and the Light & Wonder and Aristocrat games read here add variants on top of the base loop: expanding grids, value boosters, shared progressives. Figures for a single game also disagree from sheet to sheet; this site’s look at what four sheets print for Gremlins After Midnight’s max win found exactly that. The paytable inside the build you load states the respin count, the jackpot values and the configuration you are on. Nothing on this page overrides it.

Hold and Spin questions

What is the difference between Hold and Win and Hold and Spin?

In BGaming’s account there is no mechanical difference. The studio calls its version Hold & Win and says the same feature is known across the industry as Hold & Spin, Hold & Link or Stick N Win. The name is a studio’s label; the rules that matter, from the respin count to the jackpot tiers, are set game by game and printed in each paytable.

How many respins do you get in Hold and Spin?

BGaming’s description gives three starting respins, with every new symbol resetting the counter to three, and livebet.com’s page for Gremlins After Midnight describes the same three-and-reset loop. Aristocrat’s release on Lightning Link gives no count at all. Three is the common pattern in what was read, not a law; the paytable states the number for the game in front of you.

What happens if you fill the screen on Hold and Spin?

Per BGaming, a completely filled grid ends the round, since no position is left to respin, and all accumulated values are paid as a single combined win. Whether a full grid also awards a top jackpot is a per-game rule; none of the three pages read here promises one, so the in-game paytable is the place to check.

How does Hold and Spin work on slot machines?

The trigger symbols lock, the remaining positions respin, and each newly landed symbol locks too and restores the respin count. The round closes when the respins run out without a new symbol, or when the grid is full. Locked values, plus any multipliers or jackpot awards, are added together and paid once at the end.

This is a description of a mechanic, not advice on playing one; nothing here was played or recommended. 18+. Slots carry a built-in edge, a bonus round included, and the paytable governs every session.