Many fruit machines have a 'hold' button. This lets you pause certain reels during play, increasing the chances of winning. For example, if you had two lemons in a row, you could hit 'hold' and continue spinning the remaining reel in the hope of getting another lemon.

A fruit machine with 3 dials and 20 symbols (not all different) on each dial is illustratred opposite. Each dial can stop on any one of its 20 symbols, and each of the 20 symbols on each dial is equally likely to occur. The machine costs 10p a go. The three symbols highlighted determine how much, if anything, is won.