Vision and Innovation: The Shuffle
Master Story
In 1992, Shuffle Master, Inc. dared to take one man’s dream
and turn it into a million-dollar success story. Today the
company’s Utility and Entertainment Products enjoy world-wide
popularity, its commitment to quality and customer satisfaction
make it respected among peers and clients alike, and the
creativity and forward thinking of its management team and
staff ensure its continuing growth and development.
In 1982, after reading an article describing Atlantic City’s
frustration with blackjack card counters, truck driver John
Breeding envisioned a device that could shuffle cards between
games and prevent card counting. After developing a wooden
prototype to show to potential investors, he began working
with engineers to make his idea a reality. After struggling
through design flaws, changes and financial setbacks, Shuffle
Master’s first shuffler, the BG-1, went on field trial in
1992, and in the months that followed, the BG-2 and 3 were
licensed in Nevada and began being used by casinos.
Although innovative, the BG series’ use was limited and
it took almost five years to place 500 units. To increase
demand, Shuffle Master invented Let It Ride®, a poker-style
game that incorporated a shuffler into game play and the
company’s two core product categories-Utility and Entertainment
Products-were born.
Automatic shufflers and other Utility Products are designed
to increase a casino’s productivity, profitability and security.
As placements of the BG series increased, Shuffle Master
expanded its first-generation shuffler offerings by introducing
the MD1™, the industry’s first multi-deck batch shuffler,
and continued to innovate by developing additional features
that enhanced the shuffling process. With the introduction
of the Ace®, a quicker, more versatile alternative to the
BG-3, and the King®, the company’s first multi-deck continuous
shuffler, Shuffle Master’s second generation shuffler replacement
cycle began, and the industry rapidly welcomed the advanced
productivity and security features the second generation
shufflers provided.
Today, Shuffle Master offers shuffling solutions for nearly
every card game including the third-generation one2six™
continuous shuffler or the Deck Mate®, a groundbreaking
product used for hand-pitched games like poker and blackjack.
As the industry’s leading Utility Products supplier, Shuffle
Master continues to innovate by developing cutting-edge
technology enhancements like card recognition, a key feature
of the MD2® batch shuffler and the i-Deal™ third generation
single deck specialty shuffler. Card recognition is also
an important part of the company’s intelligent shoes that
minimize dealing errors and cheating and will be incorporated
into the Table iD System currently in development with IGT
and Progressive Gaming.
Shuffle Master also offers other Utility Products including
the Easy Chipper® roulette chip sorter and the MD2 Workstation™
which rapidly performs back-of-house deck checking and verification.
Valued for their high-quality, reliable performance, the
company’s Utility Products are used by casinos all over
the world, and have helped drive a table game revolution
by paving the way for new table games whose performance
and game play is dramatically enhanced by their use.
Today’s savvy casino visitors demand more excitement from
their gaming experiences, and Shuffle Master’s Entertainment
Products have been instrumental in broadening the pit beyond
traditional games like blackjack and poker. Offered both
as felt-based games as well as electronically on the Company's
electronic content delivery systems, Shuffle Master’s Entertainment
Products are rapidly growing in popularity, especially among
players within the 21 to 45 age range who want an interactive
casino experience beyond that offered by slot machines.
Featuring popular titles like Three and Four Card Poker®,
and appealing side bets for blackjack, pai gow poker, baccarat
and craps, the company’s Entertainment Products attract
a broad range of players and are demanding more and more
floor space as casinos realize the financial benefits of
adding them to the pit. In fact, there are over 8,000 specialty
table games in the market today compared to less than 1,000
fifteen years ago, making specialty games the fastest growing
segment in the casino industry, and Shuffle Master leads
the pack with four of the top five titles.
But Shuffle Master doesn’t stop there—it continues to
broaden the specialty table game market with constant innovation
that enables the company to consistently introduce new Entertainment
Products that are in-line with public demands. A new felt-based
game, Three Card Poker Bad Beat Bonus™, takes the popular
Three Card Poker® game to a new level with an exciting bonus
wager that pays if the dealer and player are involved in
a bad beat. Featuring an interactive video dealer, Table
Master™’s electronic platform provides casinos with the
ability to offer their lower stakes players today’s hottest
games at a fraction of the live table cost, and makes it
possible for Shuffle Master’s popular game content to be
offered in industry segments like casinos and video lottery
markets where live tables are not permitted.
Shuffle Master also expands the reach of its table game
portfolio by offering live tournaments like the Three Card
Poker World Championship™ where players from all over North
America have a chance to compete for a million dollar grand
prize and the chance to be part of a television program
featuring the tournament.
About the extraordinary success the company has enjoyed,
Mark L. Yoseloff, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board and Chief
Executive officer says, “We bring more to the table by providing
products that help our customers with productivity, security,
cost savings, and we give the public innovative table games
that they really want to play. This has made us the industry
leader in table games and related technology, and as such
we play an integral role in the success of the gaming industry,
we will continue to innovate, continue to create new products
and continue to lead these categories by developing new
and better ways to enhance the gaming experience.”
As the gaming industry continues its rapid expansion, Shuffle
Master is well positioned to capitalize on this growth by
providing both the popular game content and the delivery
systems that ensure secure, efficient game performance.
As Shuffle Master continues to bring more to the table with
its Utility and Entertainment Products, it looks forward
to continued success that will ensure the vitality and growth
of the company.
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