“Latin America is opening up to online gaming and should be a huge market”

What is the current situation of the online gaming industry in the countries where Shuffle Master operates?
Shuffle Master operates in hundreds of jurisdictions so I'll answer in a global context.
Europe is undergoing a change from open online gaming served by licensed jurisdictions to regulated and taxed jurisdictions requiring independent licensure.  This is commonly referred to as the .com to .country transition.  Needless to say it is causing great disturbances in the world wide online gaming business but this change is one we welcome at Shuffle Master.  One of our companies strengths is operating in a wide variety of regulatory environments.  With each new regulated market the overall online space becomes less crowded and we have a competitive opportunity to be first into a newly regulated space.  This will be especially true in the US which, in our opinion, is likely to be initially fragmented similar to the European transition.

What markets have more potential in online gaming?
Each new market that opens has different potential both in overall gaming activity per capita and in the kinds of games that are most successful. Clearly the US will be a huge poker market where Asian countries are far more likely to be interested in Baccarat etc.  Again, Shuffle Master's business activity and gaming licenses in virtually every jurisdiction in the world becomes an invaluable strength in understanding local tastes as well as regulatory environment.

How do you see Latin American online gaming market?
Latin America is opening up to online gaming and should be a huge market. Regional tastes are unique and each country has it's own approach to what types of gaming are socially appropriate.  We are actively distributing our land based products in Latin America so we are determining what the appropriate products and partners are for expanding into online for the market.

What products do you have to offer for this market segment? Do you have products for players or your business is only b2b?
We are 100% B2B which include Business to Government (B2G).  Our online products, poker, table games, slots and more, will be offered through regional brands and will be customized to appropriately address each operator and market's needs.

What can you tell us about the acquisition of Ongame Network?
Our pending acquisition adds a seasoned, world class, B2B poker network to our offering of proprietary and public domain table games and slots.  The team at Ongame are the most valuable asset as they understand how to manage a massive B2B poker ecology.

Last year, you have signed a deal with OpenBet. How do you evaluate this partnership so far?
Open Bet have been great partners and we are in the process of bringing our game systems to the RGI platform for use by any operator that uses the Open Bet API.  We are looking forward to expanding the products available on RGI over the coming months.

What are Shuffle Master main objectives and plans regarding online and interactive gaming for the coming months?
Our main objective is to be the very best, trusted source of our intellectual property (table games, slots etc.) and high quality non-priprietary games online, just as we are one of the most trusted names in land based gaming supply world wide.  We are eager to do business with all companies that seek to operate in affirmatively legal jurisdictions.