Slot respins explained

What slot respins are and why games use them

A respin is a follow-up spin that a slot triggers by itself. Something on the screen is held in place, whether a winning symbol, a wild, a whole reel or a set of cash symbols, and the remaining positions spin again. You don't press anything extra and your balance isn't charged again, because the respin belongs to the paid spin that started it.

That last point matters more than it sounds. A respin is not a gift on top of the game; it is one of the ways the slot returns the money it has already priced in. The RTP a developer publishes is a long-run average that covers every outcome the game can produce, respins included. So a slot packed with respin features doesn't pay more because of them. It simply spreads its returns differently from a slot that pays mostly through ordinary line wins.

Studios use respins for two reasons. They add suspense to a base game that would otherwise be a stream of single results, and they let a developer build a feature with a visible target, such as a grid to fill or a counter to keep alive. For an overview of every mechanic covered on this site, see our slot features hub.

The main types of slot respins

Developers give respin features their own brand names, but nearly all of them fall into three families. The table sets out what stays still, what moves and how each one usually starts. The exact trigger and number of respins differ from game to game, so the help screen is always the final word.

Sticky-win respins

The simplest form. A winning combination lands, its symbols lock, and the other reels spin once more in the hope of adding matching symbols. If the respin improves the win, some games keep going; if not, the sequence stops. Thunderkick's Midas Golden Touch is built around this idea, with winning symbols held while the rest of the reels respin.

Wild respins

Here a wild symbol is the anchor. It stays on screen for one or more extra spins, and in some games it shifts position each time. Playtech's Age of the Gods: God of Storms uses Wild Wind Respins with a moving ship wild. Similar ideas turn up in games with sticky or expanding wilds, where the wild holds or grows before the next respin.

Hold-and-respin rounds

The biggest family. A set number of special symbols opens a separate round in which those symbols lock and the empty spaces respin. As casinos.com's guide to slot features (opens in a new tab) puts it, hold-and-win games lock certain symbols while other positions keep spinning, giving repeated chances to land more. Our page on hold and win slots covers that mechanic in depth; this page looks at respins as a whole.

Slot respins vs free spins: how they differ

People often use the two terms loosely, and some games blur them on purpose (the bonus in Relax Gaming's Money Train 5 is a respin-style free spins round). The practical differences are about what carries over and what ends the feature.

If you want the full picture on scatter-triggered rounds, our guide to the free spins feature explains how they play. Both are different again from free spins handed out by a casino as a promotion, which are paid spins funded by the operator; those are covered on our free spins bonus page.

Respin slots in our reviews: RTP and max win

These slots from our reviews have a respin mechanic named in the developer details we hold. RTPs are the developer's published figures; where a game is released in several RTP versions, the casino you use may run a lower one, so check the game's help screen before you play.

Two things stand out. First, the RTP range runs from 94% to 98% across games built on the same basic idea, so the mechanic tells you nothing about price. Second, the biggest max wins sit with games whose respin rounds are hardest to complete, which is the trade-off covered in the maths section below. Outside the table, Hacksaw Gaming's Rotten adds SwitchSpins respins alongside its jar-pick bonus.

How a hold-and-respin sequence plays out, step by step

Sticky-win and wild respins are over in a moment. The hold-and-respin round is the one with moving parts, and it follows a broadly similar pattern in most games. Read this as a general outline; counts and symbol types are set game by game.

1. A paid base-game spin lands the trigger, usually a set number of special symbols.
2. Those symbols lock in place and the round moves to its own screen or grid.
3. The game shows a respin counter. Each respin spins only the empty positions.
4. When a new special symbol lands, it locks too, and in many games the counter goes back to its starting number.
5. When a respin adds nothing, the counter drops by one.
6. The round ends when the counter reaches zero or every position is filled.
7. The values on the locked symbols are added up (some games apply collectors or multipliers first) and paid to your balance.

No extra money leaves your balance at any point. Everything from step 2 onwards sits inside the game cycle of the spin that triggered it.

Slot respin maths: why the counter matters so much

Developers don't publish the chance of each symbol landing during a respin round, so the figures below come from a made-up game. They aren't the figures for any real slot. The point is to show how sharply the outcome depends on a small per-position chance.

Picture a 15-position grid. The round starts with 6 symbols locked and 9 spaces empty. The counter starts at 3 and resets to 3 whenever something new lands. In version A, each empty space has a 1 in 20 (5%) chance of filling on any respin; in version B, it's 1 in 10 (10%).

The arithmetic for the first row is simple counting. With 9 empty spaces, the chance that none fill on one respin is 0.95 multiplied by itself 9 times, which is about 63.0%, so the chance of at least one is about 37.0%. A round that adds nothing on three respins in a row happens 0.630 × 0.630 × 0.630 of the time, about 25%.

Doubling the per-space chance multiplies the chance of a full grid by about thirty. That is why a developer can attach a very large top prize to a full grid and still balance the game: the full grid is rare by construction. It is also why respin-heavy slots tend to sit at the higher end of slot volatility. Most rounds end modestly, and the long-run average leans on a few big ones.

Independent events have no memory. A respin round that ended early doesn't make the next one more likely to fill the grid. The reasons are set out in do online slots have memory.

What slot respins cost at 10p, 50p and £1 stakes

Because respins are already priced into the RTP, the cost of playing a respin slot is set by the stake and the RTP, nothing else. Expected loss is the amount staked multiplied by the house edge (100% minus RTP). Taking Midas Golden Touch at its published 96.1%, the edge is 3.9%.

Pace adds up too. UK rules require at least 2.5 seconds between the start of one slot game cycle and the next, so the fastest possible rate is 1,440 spins an hour. At 50p that would be £720 staked in an hour, and 3.9% of £720 is about £28 of average cost. Real sessions run slower, and any single session can land well above or below the average.

The same sum shows why RTP versions matter. On £100 staked, a 98.00% version of Money Cart 2 costs £2 on average, the 95.71% Piggy Riches 2 Megaways about £4.29, and the 94% Reindeer Royale £6. The question of how long £20 lasts on a slot works through session length at different stakes.

Slot respin myths that don't stand up

• "A respin is a bonus on top of the game." It isn't. Its average value is part of the published RTP, so it's one of the ways the game returns money you've already staked.
• "After a near-miss respin round, the grid is due to fill." Each round is random and independent. A long run of short rounds changes nothing about the next one; see can a slot be due a win.
• "Raising the stake improves the respin odds." The chances are the same at every stake; only the size of the prizes scales. Stake size never changes the odds of an outcome.
• "Respins happen more at quiet times of day." UK slots must use certified random outcomes, so timing has no effect. The clock plays no part in the result.
• "A big max win means respins pay well." A high max win usually means the top prize is rare, not that typical rounds are generous.

UK rules for respins in online slots

There is no Gambling Commission rule written specifically about respins, but several general rules shape how they appear on British screens. The Commission's RTS 14 responsible product design standard (opens in a new tab) sets out most of them.

• Spin speed: at least 2.5 seconds must pass between the start of one slot game cycle and the next, and the player must release and press start again (RTS 14D). Turbo, quick spin and slam stop are not allowed (RTS 14E).
• Bonus play: RTS 14E doesn't apply to bonus or feature games where no additional stake is wagered, and it doesn't ban reveal-all options. That is why a respin round can sometimes be shown more quickly than base spins.
• No autoplay: autoplay has been banned on UK slots since 31 October 2021 and on all online casino games since 17 January 2025. Our autoplay ban guide has the detail.
• No false celebration: a game must not celebrate a return less than or equal to the total stake (RTS 14F), so a respin round that pays back less than you staked can't be dressed up as a win.
• Feature buys: since a Gambling Commission warning in January 2020, feature buy-ins are not offered to British players. See our feature buy rules page.

On stakes, the Commission's online slots stake limit guidance (opens in a new tab) caps slots at £5 per game cycle for players aged 25 and over (from 9 April 2025) and £2 for those aged 18 to 24 (from 21 May 2025). A game cycle runs from the start of a game until all the money staked is lost or all winnings are made available. On a plain reading, respins started by a paid spin sit inside that spin's cycle, although the guidance doesn't address features directly. Our slot stake limits page and wider game design rules page set out the rest.

How to read a slot's respin rules before you play

A minute in the help screen tells you more about a respin feature than any number of spins. Look for these points.

• The RTP of this version. Many respin slots exist in several RTP settings; the help screen shows the one the casino runs. UK RTP information rules say what must be shown.
• What triggers the respins and how many special symbols you need.
• The starting counter and whether it resets when a symbol lands.
• What the special symbols can be worth, including collectors, multipliers or jackpot labels.
• Whether a full grid pays a fixed prize and whether the game has an overall max win cap.
• The volatility rating, if the developer gives one. A high rating means long quiet spells are normal.

If the casino offers a demo, it still needs age verification first under UK rules, and it shows how the round looks rather than how often it arrives. Need support with your gambling? The National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 is free and open 24/7, run by GamCare (opens in a new tab).

Where to play slots with respins in the UK

Our partner offers are all slot offers, which fits this topic, but none of them is tied to a respin game in particular. Which titles each casino carries changes over time, so check its game lobby for the slots in the table above. All offers are for 18+ new customers and terms apply.

• PlayOJO: 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza with a first deposit of at least £10, worth 10p each, with no wagering, so winnings are paid in cash. New UK customers only, excluding Northern Ireland; can't be combined with other offers and available only through the designated offer link. See our PlayOJO review.
• Coral: deposit and bet £10 or more on slots to get 100 free spins at 10p each on selected games, with 48 hours to accept and 7 days to use them, and no wagering on winnings. The offer runs from 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027; Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards don't qualify.
• Ladbrokes: deposit and spend £10 or more on slots to get 50 free spins a day for the first 10 days (up to 500), 10p each on selected games, claimed before 23:59 each day and valid for 7 days, with no wagering. Prepaid cards, PayPal, Paysafe, Neteller, Skrill and Moneybookers deposits don't qualify.

Coral and Ladbrokes are both run by LC International Limited, so one person may not be able to open new accounts at both. Whatever you play, the house edge applies to every spin, so think of slots as paid entertainment.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.