Hold

The term hold or hold percentage is the opposite from the term payback percentage.

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A slot machine’s hold is the amount of money that a machine keeps after it has dispensed its winnings. The term hold percentage is more often used by casino executives than by players.

If a machine has a payback percentage of 90%, then the hold percentage for that machine would be 10%. That would work out to $10 held for every $100 played over a period of time at the casino. This is not an absolute, though. A slot machine does not hold back exactly $10 for every $100 paid. The hold is calculated over thousands of spins.

However, not every machine has the same hold percentages. Every machine is different and is preset at the factory before it ships to the casino. A slot machine’s hold percentages are not usually public knowledge but are revealed in a casino’s annual report.