Table Trac’s recent executive realignment will speed development of new technology and raise the company’s visibility in the gaming industry, its new CEO says.
“A company that has already been really nimble in staying with the needs of the market is going to get even more nimble, and upgrades are going to come faster,” predicted Randy Gilbert, who became CEO in January while continuing as chief financial officer. “We will be on the leading edge.”
Gilbert said technological advancements, such as the AI-enabled Table Trac Table Games Manager/Trainer announced in March, will accelerate because founder and former CEO Chad Hoehne remains president and chief technical officer, allowing him to concentrate almost exclusively on the vision that led him to launch Table Trac in 1995.
Hoehne agreed. “I couldn’t be more supportive of this choice,” he said. “This has given me the ability to focus on the technology. This is a big benefit to Table Trac and its future value opportunities. Technology has always been my primary love.”
Although Gilbert wasn’t one of Table Trac’s first employees, the veteran finance professional was among its original shareholders. Company headquarters are in Minnetonka, Minn., where Gilbert lives, and he became acquainted with Hoehne through shareholder meetings and Gilbert’s work as an outside auditor. He said Hoehne notified him when the CFO position was about to open, and Gilbert started that job in 2018.
“For Table Trac, I always want to be the example that other people follow,” the new CEO said. “I want our system to be the system that everybody else wishes they had. I want our new developments to be the things they want to do. We should be an IP producer for the industry.”
Gilbert said that since January, the company has filed for three patents, including the Table Games Manager/Trainer, and has a goal of seven to nine filings per year. “Technology has sped up so much in our industry,” he added. “The last three years, it feels like it’s in hyperdrive.”
He said one challenge facing the company is a low public profile.
“The market’s not always aware of us,” he said. “I think it’s because we’ve played under the radar a little bit.” He noted that Table Trac produced the first casino management system capable of managing both tribal and commercial operations. “Once everybody caught up to us, they (said), ‘Oh, Table Trac’s just a small company.’ I’m looking forward to when people no longer say that.”
More than 300 casinos, representing more than 100 commercial operators and more than 40 tribes, use Table Trac’s suite of management systems and kiosks. The Table Trac system works with most third-party software and hardware to provide player-tracking data, slot and table game accounting, kiosk promotions, and cage controls.
“I just want the world to know that (when) you want to buy games, go to our competitors,” Gilbert said, citing slot manufacturers IGT, Light & Wonder, Konami, and Aristocrat. “But if you want a (casino management) system, don’t bundle it. … You pick the games to get players to play. You pick your (management) system to understand what the players did.”
He said he wants the company to pursue growth in the U.S. market and beyond. “The market is a funny beast. She will only let you have so much, and I don’t think we’re at that point. I want to make certain we earn our (U.S.) portion and fight for just a little bit more, and then we’ll start taking a look at the other markets.” Table Trac also could increase its presence in Latin America, he said, “and then there’s all of Europe and Asia.”
“I think we could do even more with our system and become the premier system, not just of the United States, but of the world.”
