Erik Lindholm
Founder of SlotLab & slot maths analyst · studio-side background · CasinoReview.Click
Erik Lindholm spent years on the studio side of slot maths, building the models and paytables that decide what a slot is supposed to return. He founded SlotLab and owns CasinoReview.Click, where he now checks that maths from the player's side: he reads the paytable and rules against the stated RTP, runs several demo sessions per title, and publishes the observed return next to the stated one, with the sample size, the hit frequency and the droughts that never make it into marketing.
How I review slots
I came to this from the other side of the glass. For years my job was to build the maths inside slots: paytables, RTP models, the numbers the player never gets to see. The maths was correct. What bothered me was how it reached players: a single percentage on the box, read as if it were a promise about tonight. It is not. It is an average over millions of spins, and almost nobody will ever live it.
So my reviews measure the gap. I read the full paytable and the rules first, to see what the game is built to do and what it claims to return; a paytable on its own does not yield a theoretical RTP, since that needs outcome weights and a bonus model the studio keeps to itself. Then I run a fixed sample (usually two to three demo sessions per title, 1,000+ spins each, and recent sessions run 1,600 to 3,000, at a fixed stake I set before the first spin, with any exception labelled in the session report) and I publish what actually came back: the observed RTP for each session, combined where the money totals allow it, the hit frequency, the longest drought, and how often the bonus or jackpot landed against its 1-in-N odds. I decide the sample plan before I start and I do not extend it because a run looks bad. One session proves almost nothing, and I say so every time.
Everything I publish comes from demo samples, and that is deliberate: the moment my own money is on the table, my win or loss starts to bias the very number I set out to measure. The sample stays clean, and the figures stay honest.
By the numbers
What I cover
My home ground is anything whose maths can be computed from the rules: fixed-jackpot Hold & Win ladders, classic 3-reelers, clean line games. I take modern engines too: the method does not change, only the arithmetic gets longer. What I care about on every game is the same three numbers: what the paytable says it should return, what my sample actually returned, and how wide the spread was between sessions. If a paytable is published in full, I can review the game.
Reviews by Erik Lindholm
Everything below is built on logged demo sessions and the paytable itself. The list is short on purpose: it grows one finished sample at a time.
Game reviews
- 777 Coins · 3 Oaks; three sessions, 5,806 spins, observed 86.92% / ~99% / 97.95% vs stated 95.75%
- Coin Princess x1000 · 3 Oaks; three sessions, 6,135 spins, observed 90.35% / 107.17% / 124.3% vs stated 95.72%
- Alien Invaders · Pragmatic Play; three sessions, 6,196 spins, observed 121.29% / 106.0% / 110.09% vs stated 96.50%
- Sweet Rush Bonanza · Pragmatic Play; three sessions, 5,425 spins, observed 93.6% / 90.0% / 99.63% vs stated 96.50%
- Forge of Wealth · PG Soft; three sessions, 6,473 spins, observed 98.01% / 106.63% / 106.50% vs stated 96.74%
Guides
- What RTP really means · the number on the box, translated
- Slot volatility explained · the small print of the short run
- Observed vs stated RTP · what a real session shows, and what it cannot prove
How I play - responsible gambling
I test in demo, and I think about real money the way the maths says to: the long-run average is not a promise about tonight, and volatility can hold a session under water far longer than feels possible. Set your limit before you spin, treat the budget as spent, and never chase: the distribution does not remember what it owes you, because it owes you nothing. If gambling stops being a choice, GamCare and BeGambleAware can help. 18+.
Pseudonym and privacy notice
Erik Lindholm is a permanent editorial pseudonym used by the owner and editor of CasinoReview.Click. We work in a legally and professionally sensitive industry, so contributors here do not publish their legal names or personal social profiles. The person writing as Erik Lindholm conducts the sessions attributed to him, and the biographical statements on this page describe his real experience; identifying details are withheld for privacy. The avatar is an illustration, not a photograph.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Erik Lindholm?
Erik Lindholm is the founder of SlotLab and the owner of CasinoReview.Click: a former studio-side game mathematician who built RTP models and paytables before moving to the player's side. He reviews the maths of a game: what it is designed to return versus what logged demo sessions actually returned.
How does Erik test slots?
He reads the paytable and the rules first, then runs a pre-planned sample (usually two to three demo sessions of 1,000+ spins each at a fixed stake, recently 1,600 to 3,000 per session, with exceptions labelled) and compares the stated RTP with the observed return per session, combined where the money totals allow it, along with the hit frequency, the longest drought, and jackpot frequency against its 1-in-N odds. He never draws a conclusion from a single session.
Does Erik play with real money?
In his own time, occasionally, but never for a review. Every published figure comes from a demo sample, and that is deliberate: once his own money is in play, a win or a loss starts to bias the very number he set out to measure. A clean sample is the whole method.