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 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 two of the company's four product categories - Utility Products and Proprietary Table Games - 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^TM continuous shuffler and 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 are offered as stand-alone products or are incorporated into the Company's i-Table and Rapid Table Games platforms.

In addition to its shufflers, Shuffle Master also offers other Utility Products including the Easy Chipper® C roulette chip sorter and the MD2 Workstation^TM 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 Proprietary Table Games 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 Table Systems, Shuffle Master's Proprietary Table Games are rapidly growing in popularity, especially among players within the 21 to 45 age range who want a more dynamic, volatile table game experience.

Featuring popular titles like Three Card Poker® and Ultimate Texas Hold'em® and appealing side bets for blackjack, pai gow and baccarat, the Company's Proprietary Table Games 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 9,000 proprietary table games in the market today compared to less than 1,000 fifteen years ago, making these games one of the fastest growing segments in the casino industry, and Shuffle Master leads the pack with seven of the top ten titles.

But Shuffle Master doesn't stop there–it continues to introduce new products that are in-line with player demands and industry needs. As gaming continues to experience worldwide growth, alternate ways of delivering table games are becoming important contributors to the casino bottom line, and Shuffle Master's Electronic Table Systems division includes a variety of fully electronic and hybrid e-Table platforms.

Table Master features a video dealer and five player positions and nearly doubles the number of hands played per hour. Entirely electronic, it can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week even in markets where live table game play is not permitted. Vegas Star, another fully-electronic table game platform, combines an animated virtual dealer with individual touch screen betting terminals, making offering high-traffic table games like roulette and blackjack electronically a profitable option.

In addition to its two fully-electronic e-Tables, Shuffle Master also develops two hybrid e-Table products that combine a live dealer with an electronic betting interface. The Rapid Table Games platform uses this interface to dramatically increase game frequency and security on popular games like roulette and sic bo, and the recently introduced i-Table dramatically increases live card-based table game security, accuracy and speed, resulting in an estimated 30% increase in rounds per hour.

Shuffle Master's fourth product category, Electronic Gaming Machines, is developed by the Company's Australian subsidiary Stargames primarily for the Australia, New Zealand and Asian gaming markets. With over 22,000 units currently installed, the Company's EGM game library features an extensive range of high performance titles and progressive links that can be configured as a network of machines or as stand alone units.

As the gaming industry continues its worldwide 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 products and innovation, it looks forward to continued success that will ensure the vitality and growth of the Company.