Gaming Tech Expert Roy Student Dies
The industry remembers a pioneer whose innovations in player tracking and server-based gaming still shape casinos today.
Roy Student, a pioneer of gaming technology, passed away on September 5 after a long illness, surrounded by family and loved ones. Student played many roles in gaming but was especially known for his advocacy and recognition of trends in technology that impacted the gaming industry.
Student arrived in Las Vegas in 1972 when MGM acquired a casino in Las Vegas and was looking for a system to easily automate accounting functions on the casino floor, for players utilizing markers and the bankrolls at the table games. Student’s company got the contract and that was the start of his career in gaming. He later helped to form Gaming Systems International (GSI) which developed the player rating systems that are so prevalent in the gaming industry today.
Student sold GSI in 2001 and later became president of Cyberview Technology, the industry’s first company to develop server-based gaming systems, linking slot games to a central server. The company was bought by IGT in 2007 and today systems like this are commonplace in casinos around the world and in online gaming.
Applied Management Strategies became Student’s next venture, where he consulted with many of the leading gaming companies around the world about their introduction to the gaming industry or their growth strategies going forward. During this time, Student became one of the leading advocates of non-gaming revenue and the recognition of that additional spend by customers who were also gamblers or didn’t gamble at all. Today all major casino player rewards systems include this variable.
Student’s career spanned the time when players and casinos had personal relationships to today’s reliance on technology to communicate with players. Despite his expertise in technology, Student was a strident advocate for the latter. He advocated the use of technology combined with the personal touch to make the player feel special.
In his later years, Student consulted with Clarion Gaming and helped to deliver the highest level of speakers for the conferences at the ICE tradeshow.
As important as Student’s professional life was to him—and the industry—family and friends were at the center of his life. He was exceedingly proud of their accomplishments and was always there for advice, opinions and encouragement.
Student is survived by his wife Judy, son Darren Student and wife Michal Student, son Glenn Student and wife Sophia Student, granddaughter Tali Student and husband Itamar Labouz, grandson Ben Student and Sonia Popova, grandchildren Kylee and Kim and six great grandchildren. Student was pre-deceased by his parents, Pauline and Morton Student, and his brother Larry Student.
Funeral services will be held at King David Memorial Chapel & Cemetery, 2697 East Eldorado Lane, Las Vegas, NV, on September 9, 2026, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.
