Las Vegas Business Press : Shuffle Master gains mobile partner

Shuffle Master gains mobile partner

By DAVID MCKEE
BUSINESS PRESS

Local manufacturer Shuffle Master has inked a strategic alliance with Sona Mobile Holdings. Under the terms of the pact, Sona is to develop a wireless system for delivery of Shuffle Master game products.

The Shuffle Master/Sona products are intended for use within casino properties, thereby complying with Nevada's recent legalization of on-site, portable gambling.

Shuffle Master markets a number of live table games in addition to a pair of electronic ones, Rapid Roulette and Table Master. Its core business centers on a variety of table-management tools, including shufflers, chip sorters, RFID-chip technology and drop boxes. Sona sells handheld devices -- including a Star Trek communicator phone -- that can be gaming-enabled, using wi-fi technology that the company says can be restricted to public areas, as determined by the casino.

Under the wireless-gambling regulations currently being finalized by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, on-site mobile gambling would be conducted only on machines owned and issued by the participating casinos, the target market for Sona and its new partner.

Other companies vying for a piece of the handheld-gambling action are Baton Rouge-based Diamond I, which will be field-testing its system at the Palms Casino Resort, and Cantor Gaming, whose parent company lobbied for the mobile-gambling bill that the Nevada Legislature passed during its 2005 session.

dmckee@lvpress.com | 702-871-6780 x318

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