William Redd, also known as Si Redd (1911–2003) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of International Game Technology, a slot machine manufacturer and distributor. He was the owner of the Oasis, a hotel and casino in Mesquite, Nevada.[1][2] He was the rightsholder of video poker, and he became known as the "king of slot machines".
Redd was born on November 16, 1911, in Union, Mississippi.[3][4][5] His father was a sharecropper.[3]
Redd attended East Central Junior College in Decatur, Mississippi,[3] and he graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.[4][6]
Redd began his career in college, when he invested in a pinball machine in a small eatery in Mississippi.[3] He subsequently founded Northwestern Music Co., and he distributed Wurlitzer jukeboxes in Sterling, Illinois, and Dixon, Illinois, with his brother-in-law.[3][6] He subsequently became a distributor for Bally Manufacturing in Boston, Massachusetts.[4] In 1967, he moved on to the Reno, Nevada, market.[3] Redd founded a subsidiary, Bally Distribution Co.,[3][7] and he distributed jukeboxes in Carson City, Nevada, and Las Vegas.[4] He also acquired the rights to video poker.[6] In 1975, he founded Sircoma,[7] later known as the International Game Technology, a slot machine manufacturer and distributor based in Reno, Nevada.[3] He sold it to Gtech in 1986, and he served on its board of directors until 1991.[3]
Redd developed Pride of Mississippi, a gaming boat off the coast of Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico,[4] but it went bankrupt and he lost US$20 million in it.[3] He was the owner of Oasis, a hotel and casino in Mesquite, Nevada, from 1976 to 2001.[6] He sold it for US$31 million.[3] Meanwhile, he founded the Mesquite Vistas Land Development Co. and the Oasis Golf Course.[4]
Redd was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1991,[6][8] and the Nevada Business Hall of Fame in 2002.[9]
Redd made charitable contributions to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,[3] where he was a member of the UNLV Gift Club Palladium Society.[4] Moreover, the Si Redd Room and the Redd Vision video screen scoreboard at the Thomas & Mack Center are named in his honor.[4] He received the Chin's Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 2001.[6]
Redd founded the Las Vegas International Cultural Trade Center and Wild Animal Conservancy.[6] He donated US$150,000 to Problem Gambling Consultants, a non-profit organization for gambling addicts.[4]
Redd was married three times. His first wife, Ivy Lee, died in 1974.[3] His second wife, Marilyn, died in 1996.[3] His third wife, Tamara, outlived him.[3] He had two daughters, Vinnie Copeland and Sherry Green.[3] He resided in Las Vegas, Nevada, and summered in Solana Beach, California.[4][3] He was a member of the Las Vegas Country Club.[6]
Redd died on October 14, 2003, in Solana Beach, California.[3][7] He was 91 years old.[3][7] His funeral was held at the Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas, Nevada.[4]
