Shuffle Master to form TV production company

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the TV poker craze and its own series of proprietary games, Shuffle Master Inc. announced today it would form a subsidiary television production company.

Shuffle Master, whose signature product is a line of automatic card shuffling machines used in various table games, said it hopes to develop a series that would conclude with an event in Las Vegas in which the winner gets a $1 million prize. The Shuffle Master subsidiary would be known as Shuffle Up Productions Inc.

Details of the format of the event, when and from where it would be broadcast and other specifics were not immediately available. Executives of the company could not be reached for comment after the announcement of the formation of the new company in a news release issued this morning.

"Now is the perfect time to leverage our intellectual property and develop live and broadcast events as well as merchandise based on our extremely popular gaming offerings," said Shuffle Master Chief Executive Mark Yoseloff in the release. "The popularity of televised gaming events is at an all-time high and Shuffle Master's ownership of many of the most popular games in casinos should lead to some very exciting broadcast events."

Shuffle Master already conducts casino tournaments for some of its games, which include Let It Ride and Three Card Poker.

"We have been involved with tournaments that draw over 1,000 participants competing for a grand prize of $10,000," said senior vice president Brooke Dunn in the release. "Imagine how many players will want to compete for a grand prize of $1 million."

The company intends to develop an event called the Three Card Poker National Championship that is expected to culminate in a Las Vegas casino. The release said casino sites have yet to be selected and the company would meet with regulatory agencies to seek approvals to conduct the event.

The company said it would announce tournament gaming destinations, casino sites, sponsorships and television production details at a later date.