Mr Odell recently returned from G2E, the casino industry's biggest trade show in Las Vegas, with a casino product of the year gong for Aristocrat's The Walking Dead poker machine. About 250 units of the machine, based on the drama series that introduces viewers to a world of flesh-eating zombies, have been installed in US casinos in the first six months after release.

Mr Odell said the success of The Walking Dead comes as a result of Aristocrat's focus on the segment of sales called participation or gaming operations.

The practice is prohibited in Australia, but in the United States casinos and poker machine makers can enter into revenue sharing agreements. The deals are reserved for a casino's most profitable machines.

From having no business in this segment four years ago, Aristocrat now has about 10 per cent of the US participation market.

In the regular US market for straight sales, Aristocrat has a share in the mid-teens.

US-based analyst Todd Eilers said Aristocrat "had the best overall showing at this year's G2E.

"We would expect to see another year of share gains in both sold product and premium leased games," he wrote in a note.

Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Wilson said Aristocrat had a pipeline of participation titles to be released "well into the 2016 financial year". New releases to come include Sons of Anarchy and Big Bang Theory.

Mr Odell said the US, which is the world's biggest machine for pokies – although the Americans call them slots – is not in growth mode. A lack of new casino openings is putting a lid on new sales, while replacement sales are depressed.

Mr Wilson said the North American market is "flat to slightly down".

"We do not expect a meaningful improvement in the replacement cycle until gaming revenues improve, and they are currently down 4.1 per cent year to date," he wrote in a wrap up of G2E. On gaming operations Mr Wilson said casino operator focus on the segment but "show no willingness to increase it as a share of their floor".

Mr Odell said a recent run of industry consolidation will mean his rivals are distracted by bedding down mergers and acquisitions. This will allow Aristocrat to steal market share, he said.

US giant IGT was bought by Italian comany Gtech in July. Bally bought SHFL, previously known as Shufflemaster, in July 2013. And Scientific Games bought Bally in August this year.

Mr Odell said the flat conditions in the US had driven the consolidation.

"Over $600 million of synergies have been called out," he said. "There's no doubt one of the reasons [for the acquisitions] is the core 'for sale' market has not grown in line with expectations."

Aristocrat made its own $US1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) acquisition of American operator VGT in July. But Mr Odell said his objective was not to strip out costs, so he will have a clearer path than his rivals.

"I certainly believe that we will not be nearly as distracted on integration as the other deals," he said. "We haven't called out synergies and cost savings."

VGT supplies slot machines that run jackpots on a network, as opposed to individual random number generators within each machine. It has strong links into American Indian tribal casino markets, especially in Oklahoma.

Mr Odell said in time there will be an opportunity to push VGT's products into tribal casinos in other states like California, where Aristocrat already supplies software and administrative systems. The deal is set to close in the coming weeks, subject to regulatory approvals.

Aristocrat shares have gained 25 per cent in the past year, compared to one per cent rise in the S&P/ASX200 index.