Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | August 2008 18 Shuffle Master I n 1982, having heard about US casinos’ problems with blackjack card counters, truck driver John Breeding began work on creating a device that could shuffle cards between games to thwart the counters. It took many years of persistence in overcoming design and financial setbacks before, in 1992, Shuffle Master’s first shuffler was ready to market. The first batch of shufflers were innovative, but had limited demand. To increase their use, Shuffle Master invented Let It Ride®, a poker-style game that incorporated a shuffler into game play. Thus, the company’s two core product categories—Utility and Entertainment Products—were born. The automatic shufflers became increasingly advanced, culminating in the multi-deck continuous shuffler. In a market such as Macau, where speed is of the essence—for both excited players, and casinos looking to maximise revenue by increasing the number of hands played per hour—automatic shufflers are de rigueur . Shuffle Master supplies an estimated 90% of automatic shufflers worldwide. The company website proclaims: “Automatic shufflers and other Utility Products are designed to increase a casino’s productivity, profitability and security.” Born of seeking innovative solutions, Shuffle Master continues to develop cutting-edge technologies such as card recognition, which is a key feature of its latest shuffler, the i-Deal™. Showing off the i-Deal™at G2E Asia,ShuffleMaster Vice President Born of Innovation Shuffle Master continues its founding ethos of providing casinos solutions through cutting-edge technology. Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Kirsten Clark was on hand at G2E Asia to present the company’s latest high-tech products The i-Deal™ shuffler