Yasushi Shigeta is not one for the spotlight, but his impact on the modern-day casino business is undeniable. Taking over the family business due to his father’s ailing health, Shigeta recognized an opportunity to delve into the casino industry for what he saw as an array of unique needs that were not being addressed by other suppliers.
Angel’s early innovations included the production of plastic playing cards rather than paper, enabling days of use per deck rather than hours, while factory pre-shuffled cards proved a game-changer for operators. The Angel Eye electronic shoe took this concept to a whole new level by adding new layers of security to gaming tables across the region – ensuring Angel dominates the APAC playing card market.
More recently Angel has become a major player in the rise of smart gaming tables across the Asia-Pacific region, counting Marina Bay Sands and Sands China among its major clients. The Angel smart table solution is unique in that it adopts hybrid RFID and AI technologies to track chip movements and identify those responsible for them – yet another key step in the optimization of today’s gaming floors.
Notably, Shigeta told IAG in a recent, rare interview that he was unlikely to take Angel public because he enjoys the nimbleness of innovation and capital deployment that his full ownership of the company allows. Smart thinking indeed.
