Shuffle Master

Shuffle Master is not your typical slot machine supplier. As the name indicates, it has its roots in shuffling machines for live casino tables. Founded in 1983 by John Breeding, the company set out to develop the first ever mechanical single-deck shuffler. It came to the market in 1992 and allowed to have every hand to be dealt from a fresh deck without losing playing time and on top nullified the advantage of card counters. While it was very successful after the launch, it soon transpired that the market for single-deck shufflers was very limited as casinos started using mainly multi-deck shufflers. To create more revenue for the company, they developed what would become an absolute hit on casino floors. The Let It Ride table game is a version of poker where players wager on a five card poker hand formed by three own cards and two community cards.

In 1998, the company moved from Minneapolis to Las Vegas and started developing slot machines. Their biggest succes was though the launch of Deck Mate, a shuffling machine capable of shuffling a deck in 45 seconds. This was even bettered in 2012 by the sequel, Deck Mate 2, which does it in 22 seconds. The company became a virtual monopolist for shuffling machines, raising the company value past the $1 billion mark. After an initial failure with slot machines, they sold the part of the company in 2004 to IGT but returned to the market in 2006 when they bought the Australian games company Stargames.

Today, the company is still very much focussed on table games technology but also releases the occasional video slot such as Very Fruity, Dancing Drums and 88 Fortunes. In 2012, the company changed its name to SHFL Entertainment, Inc. and just a year later it was aqcuired by Bally Technologies for a huge $1.3 Billion. Scientific Corporation in turn bought Bally Technologies in 2014, which made Shuffle Master the fourth gaming studio under the newly created subsidiary SG Digital.

Games

Casinos

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