Coming round full circle

Of all the gaming equipment suppliers exhibiting at the NIGA Indian Gaming Tradeshow in San Diego this year, AGS is likely to be the exhibitor with the deepest roots in tribal gaming.

Founded in 2005, the company – then called American Gaming Systems – focused its early years as a small Class II supplier with strong markets in Oklahoma and other tribal jurisdictions. For years, AGS operated primarily as a Class II distributor with a small but powerful content library.

Founded in 2005, the company – then called American Gaming Systems – focused its early years as a small Class II supplier with strong markets in Oklahoma and other tribal jurisdictions

Things really started to move forward for us in late 2013 when we were acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Apollo’s first move was to place veteran gaming executive David Lopez at the helm as President and CEO, charged with transforming the company from a Class II supplier into a full-service gaming supplier. Lopez, who had led Global Cash Access (now Everi) as its CEO and before that, served at Shuffler Master as COO – spent the next four years executing the transformation.

To become a full-service gaming supplier, Lopez fortified AGS through a series of acquisitions – acquisitions of Colossal Gaming and Cadillac Jack substantially increased AGS’ library of Class III and Class II titles. He then hired longtime Shuffle Master veteran John Hemberger, now AGS’ Senior Vice President – Table Products, to form a table products division and within a few short months, AGS had acquired and developed its first proprietary table game titles.

Along the way, Lopez added experience to his executive team, including Shuffle Master veterans Kimo Akiona, Julia Boguslawski and Hemberger. Sigmund Lee, AGS’ Chief Technology Officer, was the CTO at Cadillac Jack; General Counsel Vic Gallo and Executive Vice President Matt Reback came from Konami Gaming; Robert Perry from Aristocrat; and Drew Pawlak from BMM. Andrew Burke, who leads AGS’ Slot Products division, officially joined the company in 2010, but had been involved much earlier through private equity oversight.

In February, the company completed the acquisition of Integrity Gaming, circling back to its strong roots in Oklahoma and Texas tribal country to add approximately 2,700 games to its installed base with a promise to help tribal operators optimize game performance.

At NIGA 2019, AGS will showcase its suite of slot games, table products, social and real-money online casino products, with a focus on its Class II and Class III portfolio of slot cabinets and game content. So for AGS, a company that has been synonymous with Class II and tribal gaming for years, NIGA is like coming full circle – back to its roots.