Automatic Card Shuffler Inventor Picked For Gaming Hall Of Fame

John Breeding, the man who transformed the world of gambling when he invented the first automatic card-shuffler, is among four people chosen to join the Gambling Hall of Fame this year.

Inspired by a Wall Street Journal story about Atlantic City Blackjack card-counters, Breeding borrowed an initial $30,000 and set about developing a mechanical shuffler, which would allow every hand to be dealt from a fresh deck, thereby nullifying the advantage of card counting.

It took him 10 years and a whole lot more investment before the first prototype became a reality, Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas the site of a field trial by the Nevada Gaming Commission, required to get the machines approved for use in casinos.

The casino also became Breeding’s first customer for the machines, named Deck Mate, produced by his Shufflemaster company. The American Gaming Association press release for the upcoming inductions into their Hall of Fame states:

“The company he started in his home evolved into one of the most influential casino suppliers in the history of the industry.”

With his various jobs - selling cemetery plots, check-writing machines and encyclopedias before becoming a long-haul truck driver – behind him, Breeding also invented Let it Ride, a poker-style casino card game which helped to boost sales of his automatic shufflers.

Forbes magazine included Shufflemaster in its list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America for at least five years in a row, although its name, and then ownership, has changed several times over the past few years.

Breeding, who retired from business in 1997 due to health issues, will be joined in the Hall of Fame this year by fellow industry legends Diana Bennett, Joe Kaminkow and Melvin B. Wolzinger with the ceremonies due to take place at the annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas.

“The Class of 2017 was instrumental in shaping the casino-gaming industry,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the AGA. “From revolutionizing the way games are seen and experienced, to reshaping employee operations and business development, these leaders’ achievements extend throughout the nation, and even the world.”

Bennett, according to her alma mater University of Nevada, is ‘CEO and co-founder of Paragon Gaming, a developer and operator of gaming-based properties - a second-generation casino operator and one of the most effective and respected executives in the gaming industry today.’

Kaminkow serves as a Senior Vice President of Games, Slots at Zynga Inc. the US video game developer running social video game services, and he describes himself on Twitter as ‘Pinball designer; slot machine designer; online slots creator; adventurer; husband; father; son; collector of fine automobiles; and Playboy aficionado.’

The fourth inductee, Wolzinger, is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force who was the principal owner of various privately held restaurants and gaming establishments in Las Vegas.