"Brazil has a gaming culture, but it is repressed"

How did Cassinera begin its activity and how has it evolved to become more than a company that only organizes parties, but a gaming business?
Cassinera came about after I returned from the US in 2007. I worked there for casinos as a dealer. I really liked the game itself, but the possibility of losing money was completely frustrating in my head, so when I returned to Brazil I decided to structure an idea where there was a casino with the possibility of winning / accumulating something without the possibility of losing. That’s how Cassinera was born, as a company that takes games of casino for parties and events with intention to amuse and entertain its guests. Over time, we have been specializing in gaming and gaining experience that helped us to become a reference for different international casinos.

What is the greatest difficulty in working with a product that, because it does not have legislation that supports it, is treated with a certain prejudice, such as casinos? What was your strategy to overcome this barrier?
The Cassinera company has been around for nine years, in the first two years of life the business was "door in the face" all the time. The brands were afraid to associate with gambling and were also afraid of misinterpretation if they hired Cassinera. At last, it was pure prejudice, which soon ended.

The strategy was to disseminate the idea to spontaneous media that could propagate that this was no illegal activity, and that was how we managed to break the first preconception of our activity. In 2009 we appeared in a great article of Veja São Paulo, with the title "It's all a joke”, and it seems that from then on the matter became a legal approval of the offered service.

Have you been following the process of legalizing gaming in Brazil? What is your assessment of what has been done and how are you preparing for a future legalized gaming market?
We follow the process. Our business is not tied to the gaming legalization. It does not depend on it to grow or diminish. However we end up being searched weekly by businessmen, lobbyists and dreamers who want to build a casino in Brazil. I believe that we are the company in the country with the highest skilled labor of the sector and the largest number of casino tables, which makes us a reference for many who want to enter this market.

Cassinera has provided the casino experience to Brazilians. From what you've seen of the people you worked with, do you think that casinos may have good acceptance when the gaming law is approved?
Playing in a society is part of the culture. I believe that the Brazilians, until 2010, did not experience it too much. However in the last seven years the situation changed. Poker, even though it is considered a sport, has boosted this culture in the country. That is, we have the culture, but, it is repressed. We see this in Cassinera events, the vast majority of people do not know how to play, but when they learn they go crazy and want more.

The hotel industry is also a customer of Cassinera. How is the casino attraction received in the resorts, not only by the guests, but also by the businessmen of the sector?
The hotel industry is an important niche for Cassinera. We work with 8 hotels in Brazil with recurring contracts, in addition to more hotels and resorts that hire us for special events, and that number grows every year. The host has a lot of fun at our tables, making the hotel replicate the attraction again. We have a fixed operation inside the Sofitel Jequitimar that works every day, the thermometer is our guest comment extremely positive. You can also see this in Trip Advisor, with lot of positive mentions that the guests of Jequitimar do to the casino (Casino Jequiti).

Preparing people to work at the Cassinera events, you created Dealer Pro, a professional dealer school. What is Dealer Pro's main focus today and what are the future projects aimed at legalizing gaming and the vacancies that will arise?
Today the focus is on modalities and variations of poker to employ professionals in the local market or even for jobs in ships or abroad. The goal is to be a full dealer school with all the games, but for that we need to have a local job market to offer these professional courses.

You have mentioned that your next goal is for the company to grow 30% a year and reach northeast Brazil. Is this goal close to being achieved? What are the next steps for Cassinera?
The 30% target is beating and the biggest news is that Cassinera will be in Salvador in the next 60 days, to start the regional market. We are signing a new contract with a local operator in partnership model that will explore the northeast.