03/21/2010

Shuffle Master CEO Takes Temporary Medical Leave of Absence

Shuffle Master, Inc. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Timothy J. Parrott will be taking a temporary medical leave of absence, effective immediately, while he continues treatment for an intestinal infection. Mr. Parrott contracted the infection in the course of ongoing treatments for a cancerous growth on his liver. It is expected that Mr. Parrott will be on leave for approximately 4 to 6 weeks and will resume his normal duties upon his return. During his leave, Mr. Parrott will continue to serve as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors.

The Company also announced that, in the interim, a Management Committee consisting of Messrs. Linster Fox, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; David Lopez, Executive Vice President; Jerry Smith, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary; and Roger Snow, Executive Vice President, has been selected by the Board of Directors, with Mr. Parrott’s full support and approval, to be responsible for the day-to-day business decisions for the Company, and to perform the principal executive functions of the CEO position during Mr. Parrott’s absence. Mr. Parrott will continue as the Company’s CEO and remain involved in major strategic decisions during his absence.

“My doctors have advised me that my cancer treatments have been effective thus far and that treatment of my infection is going well,” said Mr. Parrott. “With time to focus on making a full recovery, I should be able to resume my normal activities. I am confident that our executive team, with over 30 years of experience at Shuffle Master, will continue to successfully execute our strategic plan while I am recovering.”

The Company’s Board of Directors, management and staff all wish Mr. Parrott a full and speedy recovery and look forward to his return as soon as possible.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current beliefs and expectations about future events, as well as on assumptions made by and information available to management. The Company considers such statements to be made under the safe harbor created by the federal securities laws to which it is subject, and assumes no obligation to update or supplement such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, the following: changes in the level of consumer or commercial acceptance of the Company’s existing products and new products as introduced; advances by competitors; acceleration and/or deceleration of various product development, promotion and distribution schedules; product performance issues; higher than expected manufacturing, service, selling, administrative, product development, promotion and/or distribution costs; changes in the Company’s business systems or in technologies affecting the Company’s products or operations; reliance on strategic relationships with distributors and technology and manufacturing vendors; current and/or future litigation or claims; tax matters, including changes in tax legislation or assessments by taxing authorities; acquisitions or divestitures by the Company or its competitors of various product lines or businesses and, in particular, integration of businesses that the Company may acquire; changes to the Company’s intellectual property portfolio, such as the issuance of new patents, new intellectual property licenses, loss of licenses, claims of infringement or invalidity of patents; regulatory and jurisdictional issues (e.g., technical requirements and changes, delays in obtaining necessary approvals, or changes in a jurisdiction’s regulatory scheme or approach, etc.) involving the Company and its products specifically or the gaming industry in general; general and casino industry economic conditions; the financial health of the Company’s casino and distributor customers, suppliers and distributors, both nationally and internationally; the Company’s ability to meet its debt service obligations, including the Notes, and to refinance its indebtedness, which will depend on its future performance and other conditions or events and will be subject to many factors that are beyond the Company’s control; and various risk related to the Company’s customers’ operations in countries outside the United States, including currency fluctuation risks, which could increase the volatility of the Company’s results from such operations. Additional information on these and other risk factors that could potentially affect the Company’s financial results may be found in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K.

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