Inside Asian Gaming

July 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 37 Shuffle Master they’re stuck with something. We’ll do lots of things to bring their risk down to a marginal level and, again, if they’re not happy we’ll deal with it very quickly by replacing a product or taking it out [from the floor].” It helps, of course, that Shuffle Master is pre-eminent when it comes to table games, and table games rule in Asia. “We’re the market leader in every category we’re in. That’s certainly the case in the utility business with our shufflers and shoes,” states Mr Parrott. “Globally, out of the top ten table game titles, eight are ours including Three Card Poker and Casino War. “We’re hoping we carry that same ratio over to emerging markets like Singapore,” he adds. Merchandising approach Traditionally, gaming in Macau was the domain of high rollers and still is in terms of VIP play’s contribution to gross gaming revenue. An element of resort entertainment arrived with the opening of Dr Stanley Ho’s Casino Lisboa, in the 1970s, but the junkets and VIPs maintained the balance of economic power. In Singapore, and to some extent Cotai, a reclaimed piece of land with integrated resorts that forms the backbone of the ‘new’ Macau, the focus is aimed more at entertainment and mass tourism. Mr Parrott says this trend plays to Shuffle Master’s strengths, because mass gaming floors are all about diversity. He argues that the best operators look at casino floors the way that merchandisers look at supermarket floors. “There has to be a diverse range of products, from everybody’s favourites through to things that appeal to impulse buyers. In a gaming sense, just as in a department store, rows and rows of the same thing do not create excitement and diversity,” he explains. This way of thinking, he says, combined with the global economic downturn and operators’ need to reduce costs and bring more people in, makes clever casinos more open to innovation as they seek new sources of revenue. “Operators have the challenge of high fixed costs and these can only be reduced so far. Then you have to look at various ways to extend the play of people, or to find revenue from new players,” points out Mr Parrott. Innovation To that end Shuffle Master is constantly developing games to keep its new product pipeline exciting. “We’re only as good as the product we have,” he acknowledges. “You always have to come up with a new hit movie or hit record. Now, and in the future, we have very good products in the wings.” At this year’s G2E Asia, the product creating a particular buzz at Shuffle Master’s booth was the company’s new i-Table, a combination of electronic gaming table and live dealer action. The equipment is just launching commercially in the US and Mr Parrott believes i-Table will be very well The i-Table in full swing