Aristocrat, Shuffle Master and Ongame Network enter into strategic relationship to offer premier online poker solution

LAS VEGAS -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Aristocrat Technologies, already firmly established as a leader in providing casino management and online gaming solutions to customers in North America, announced today it has entered into a strategic relationship with Shuffle Master, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: SHFL) and Ongame Network Limited that will bring together Aristocrat’s award-winning iGaming platform (nLive) with a premier online poker solution.

Under the agreement, Aristocrat will make available to its casino customers Ongame’s poker content to further enhance the more than 30 proprietary games already included in the nLive package.

The addition of the Ongame product will provide operators with another solution, in that it will allow them to access and share in a larger liquidity pool and network.

Aristocrat’s Vice President of Systems Sales & Marketing Kelly Shaw said, “We already created one of the best online gaming solutions in nLive, and now we wanted to further enhance the product by giving operators the ability to access and offer to their players Ongame’s premier poker content.”

Shaw continued, “Today both Aristocrat and Bally Technologies have agreed to offer Ongame as one of their preferred poker solutions. We have already begun work on integrating the Ongame poker solution into our nLive platform, and it is our intent to offer customers the opportunity to participate in a combined liquidity pool that will be beneficial to their customers and to the operators themselves.”

“We are very excited that Aristocrat has selected Ongame. Deals such as this are part of our strategy for Ongame upon our closing of the acquisition, and we are very excited that they are starting these integration opportunities prior to our bringing Ongame into the Shuffle Master family,” said Gavin Isaacs, Chief Executive Officer of Shuffle Master.

Aristocrat’s nLive solution was recently recognized by Casino Journal on its list of the Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products Awards for 2011. nLive was the only Internet Gaming System to make the list.

Aristocrat’s innovative nLive is a comprehensive, turnkey solution that empowers casinos to take their brand to players online. nLive sites are branded to the casino, not to Aristocrat, so the casino’s players can extend their experience with the property brand they know and enjoy.

Adding to the power of the nLive casino is nLiveLink, which links a casino’s online casino to its land-based CMS via Aristocrat’s Oasis 360 casino management system. nLiveLink is the first online-to-CMS convergent system to launch in the U.S., capturing customers online and registering them in a land-based property’s Oasis 360 system.

Earlier this year, Shuffle Master announced the company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ongame Network Ltd. (“Ongame”), from bwin.party Services (Austria) GmbH.