GMB - Real Poker is the most important Brazilian company in the manufacture of table and tokens. How did you get this? Tell us a little bit how you started ...
Gabriel Castro - Our operation started at the end of 2011 when I went to buy a professional poker table to play at home with my friends. There were few companies in Brazil offering the service and none of them met my expectations of quality and to deliver in my city. Seeing this gap in the market and the potential of poker I looked for how to make the first poker table for my home game, and then started to produce for sale.
Throughout our trajectory, we manufacture high-quality products, at a fair price, and giving security to the customer from the order to delivery. Several innovations such as design, USB at the tables to charge the mobile phone, automatic shufflers and other items were also very important for our market positioning.
How many customers do you have today and what is your difference compared to other companies to have such a strong position in the market? In the online store we can see that you have a different kind of clients, from the WSOP to an amateur player who wanted to install a table in his house to invite friends…
In the last year, we have served more than one thousand customers. In addition to our core values (Commitment - Efficiency - Quality - Innovation - Honesty), from the beginning, we worked very hard not only in sales campaigns but also in campaigns to arouse the desire of players to have a professional table in home. In addition to being one of the first companies in the segment in the country, Real Poker works hard for the growth of poker, investing in several fronts that help in the expansion of the sport.
We believe that poker is democratic and we work so that it can be played by everyone, regardless of social class, age, gender. When it comes to home game, we serve from groups of friends who share the value of the table and chips to big business owners or celebrities like Neymar. And when it comes to clubs and tournaments, we also serve and help small regional businesses to large groups like WSOP, BSOP and Enjoy.
In what part of Brazil is your factory and how many people does it employ?
We are strategically located in Goiânia (GO), right in the middle of the country. Because the tables are large and heavy, they depend mostly on land transportation. Brazil is a big country, so our location allows us to deliver in all corners of Brazil in an agile and low cost.
The entire process, from the time it is manufactured until the product, is delivered, is it entirely done by Brazilian employees? I suppose there is also a strong investment in technology also…
Our production has many machines for automation, and all are operated by Brazilian employees. Real Poker today employs 18 employees.
Do you also export? In which countries are your products present?
Yes, we export. We have already shipped products to the Enjoy group in Chile and Uruguay, PartyPoker in London, some other casinos in Paraguay and Colombia, and several home game customers in neighboring countries.
Due to the quality of your tables and chips, we have the feeling that it is a Brazilian company, but, that nothing owes some international ones and that your quality is equal or superior. Can you tell us a bit about this competition with foreign companies?
I am always visiting casinos and fairs around the world, I consider our tables better than most foreign companies. On the chips, I agree that our mix is still simple compared to those used in casinos, but it is enough to meet the current poker market. Real Poker is already poised to change our product mix to fit the new casino and bingo market.
In addition to the quality aspect, Real Poker works with 100% Brazilian tables and 60% Brazilian chips. This factor of the national raw material together with the devaluation of the Brazilian currency helps us a lot in the competitiveness with foreign companies.
More and more Brazilian players participate in the best tournaments in the world and even many poker clubs are opened in the country. Is this a great time for Brazilian poker?
The numbers are very good and continue to grow, but if you look at the number of inhabitants of Brazil you can see that it is still only the beginning.
Can you talk a little bit about some of your projects or goals for this year 2018?
For 2018 we are working on our new line of casino tables, we have already made some units. We believe that if one of the goals of the future gaming law is to stimulate the domestic market, it makes perfect sense for a company like Real Poker 100% Brasilian to operate in this market, with Brazilian employees and Brazilian raw material.
What is your opinion about the legalization of the activity in Brazil? Do you think this is the year of market opening?
I believe in the opening of the gaming market in Brazil still in 2018 before the presidential election.
Is Real Poker ready to produce tables, roulettes and other elements for future casinos? I imagine this would mean growth and more job creation in your company, right?
We already have the designs and we manufactured some units of black jack, roulette, craps and baccarat tables. With future casinos and bingos this means not only a job growth of my company but also of the entire supply chain. All suppliers of wood, foam, leather, and all the more than 200 items we use are national.
Will your knowledge of the country and the customer network be a differential compared to other companies that will arrive to compete?
I am sure we will have a competition at a much higher level than we have today. I just hope that the government also looks at it and somehow protects domestic production, as it already does in some other segments. Brazil has many peculiarities of which we already have a lot of experience, maybe this is a differential not to compete, but a differential to join strategically with a great foreign company. This idea seems good to us, even we are not working for it, but to enter the market and compete aggressively.
Source: Exclusive GMB
