Le Bandit Hold & Win

Le Bandit Hold & Win: Slot Overview

Another day, another Le release? It's getting that way, as Hacksaw Gaming adds yet another title to its elephantine range of Smokey Le Bandit slots. This one remakes the first 2023 Le Bandit slot, but instead of expanding the original, Hacksaw Gaming has gone in the opposite direction, squeezing the action onto a 3-reel grid and peeling off some of the features. As the title suggests, instead of Golden Squares, a different method is used for delivering Coins and other special symbols to the reels, resulting in a leaner interpretation that tones down some of the original's complexity for a more streamlined Hold & Win experience. Some may love the change; others, well, let's see.

Le Bandit Hold & Win circles the series back to the start, leading players on a stroll through the sepia streets of Paree. Smokey stands in his usual corner spot, gripping a crowbar, dastardly schemes no doubt swirling around in that noggin of his. A jolly swinging tune adds to the frivolity, and the overall atmosphere is reminiscent of the first Le's playful vibes. One clue that you're not playing the original title is the reduced play area, which might cause concern considering Le slots are built around landing Coins and special symbols, so the more room to do so, the better. However, the game has a grid refresh component which helps provide more space, but the smaller play area is indicative of a smaller game on the whole.

Le Bandit's gaming grid has shrunk down to a 3x3 matrix, landing 3 OAK wins only along its 9 paylines. Volatility holds steady at a medium setting, while 96.27% is the highest of the four RTP configurations. Winning potential has taken a hit, which explains why it is possible to wager from $/€0.05 up to $/€400.

The five regular pay symbols are K, A, a trap, a bag of baguettes, and a top hat. When landing a 3 OAK combination, the payout varies from 0.2x to 3x the stake. Wild symbols are not present in this game.

Le Bandit Hold & Win: Slot Features

The lineup of features in Le Bandit Hold & Win is Coins, Jackpot Marker wins in the base game, the Rainbow Fortune Hold & Win, the Rainbow Epic Drop Hold & Win, and feature spins.

Coins and Jackpot Markers

When three or more Coins or Jackpot Markers or a combination of them land on the grid, they award their values after any regular wins are paid. Bronze Coins are worth 0.2x-2x, Silver Coins 3x-9x, and Gold Coins are worth 10x-50x the stake. The four Jackpots are the Mini (5x), Major (25x), Mega (250x), and Grand (2,500x).

Rainbow Fortune Hold & Win

Landing a Rainbow symbol triggers the Rainbow Fortune Hold & Win with 3 initial spins. Only Coins, Jackpot Markers, Pot of Gold, Clover and dead symbols may land. When any new, non-dead special symbol lands, it sticks to the grid and resets the spin count. When Clovers are present, they activate at the end of the round by multiplying Coins and activated Pots of Gold by x2-x20. If a Pot of Gold lands, it activates any Clovers, then it collects the values from Coins and activated Pots of Gold, storing the values. Collected Coins are removed from the reels. Jackpot Markers reveal after the Pot of Gold activates, and are awarded before the next spin.

If there is a full grid of Coin, Clover, and Jackpot Markers, or an activated Pot of Gold is on the reels with a grid full of special symbols, Coins are revealed, Clovers activate, and Jackpot Markers reveal. After this, the values are awarded, and all special symbols are removed before the next spin. When spins run out, all values in view are awarded and the feature ends.

Rainbow Epic Drop Hold & Win

Landing an Epic Rainbow symbol triggers the Rainbow Epic Drop Hold & Win. This feature has the same mechanics as Rainbow Fortune Hold & Win, except that a full grid of Coin, Jackpot Marker, Pot of Gold, and Clover symbols in any combination lands from the start, with at least one Coin and one Pot of Gold. When Coins hit, they are worth at least 1x.

Feature Spins

In this part of the game, players can activate Rainbow Fortune Hold & Win FeatureSpins for 35x to trigger the Hold & Win event, or Rainbow Epic Drop Hold & Win FeatureSpins for 100x, which is the Hold & Win with a full grid made up of a Pot of Gold and special symbols from the start.

Le Bandit Hold & Win: Slot Verdict

This is getting a little odd now, though some may argue we reached odd status several Le releases ago. Hacksaw Gaming is showing extraordinary loyalty to its Le range of slots with a new one popping out of the woodwork every other week, it seems. Where once upon a time the studio blazed an impressive streak of dropping something brand new on a regular basis, it has now fallen into a French baguette-lined groove and refuses to give its law-bending raccoon a break. It might not have reached Big Bass levels of overload quite yet, but Hacksaw Gaming is doing its darndest to catch up.

The high frequency at which these games are released is helped by the way the studio is willing to clone previous titles, since Le Bandit Hold & Win is a reskin of Le Sortudo, or is Le Sortudo the reskin? It's hard to say. What's clear is the two games are identical beneath the skin, leading to practically a repeat performance. Choosing one over the other comes down to which exotic locale excites you more, Brazil or Paris. That is, if you have the desire to choose either one. They both come across as diminished versions of the Le formula, reproducing the experience on a smaller set of reels, and are ultimately watered-down versions. In some ways, the studio has done quite well to capture the Le spirit on a 3-reeler, but the result is more of a snack than a sit-down with napkin and cutlery multi-course feast, reflected by a max win of 2,500x, which easily puts it on the lower side of the series.

And so, gamblers suffering from Le fatigue are likely to reject Le Bandit Hold & Win out of hand. It does morph the Golden Squares idea into a hold 'n' win one fairly well, but gamblers have access to loads of hold 'n' wins already. They've also got access to loads of Le slots, too, meaning that new Smokey releases have to do something really special to justify adding yet another Le slot to the pile. Le Bandit Hold & Win doesn't add anything unmissable, though at the same time, there may be jackpot-focused, mobile players who prefer gambling on the more petite side that it brings.