2007 GREAT WOMEN OF GAMING
Proven leader
Diane Breeding
Co-Founder of Shuffle Master
Honorary Great Woman of Gaming 2007
It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the industry standard is set by an individual outside the industry. The Great Women of Gaming 2007 includes an honorary member who did just that, turning a vision into a reality and making her mark on the gaming industry. Although she passed away in 2002, we are pleased to honor Mrs. Diane Breeding, co-founder of Shuffle Master, as an honorary Great Women of Gaming this year.
Diane's road to greatness began in 1983 when she borrowed $3,000 against her house to invest in an idea by her future husband, John Breeding. John's automatic shuffler is now a staple in the gaming industry, but its success was not immediate. John and Diane raised money here and there along the way, totaling $1.3 million from 141 investors by the time Shuffle Master's first machines were installed at Bally's Las Vegas in 1992.
Working countless hours virtually unpaid through the beginning years of their Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company, John and Diane eventually gained a foothold in the industry. In the five-year period before Shuffle Master went public, the two worked in conjunction with investors, inventors, and legal and regulatory officials to make their dream a reality. Ever the optimist, Diane was instrumental in the development and expansion of what has grown to be the top table games supplier in the gaming industry.
"John was the creator, the motivator and the face of Shuffle Master in the early years," said Joseph J. Lahti, who became Shuffle Master's CEO when John retired in 1997. "Diane, for a long time, was everything else. At some point in her career, she was the accounting staff, the human resources staff, the head of operations, receptionist, etc." Throughout her 15-year career at Shuffle Master, she also held titles of co-founder, director and secretary-treasurer.
In addition to keeping the business running, Diane played a critical role in Shuffle Master's continued growth throughout the Breeding's tenure at the helm. "As the story goes," Lahti said, "one day John was bemoaning the fact that there were not enough table games that required automatic shufflers, which at the time was Shuffle Master's only source of revenue. Diane, with what was probably a little more than gentle prodding, said, 'If you're so smart, invent a game that requires a shuffler.' Later that day, John met the challenge by showing Diane a game he originally called Take It Back, now known as Let It Ride. The game Let It Ride kept Shuffle Master in business and allowed Shuffle Master to successfully complete a second round of public financing."
Outside of Shuffle Master, Diane was a board member of and major contributor to the Minneapolis Foundation, a charity that promotes education, human service, public benefit, health and the arts throughout Minnesota. She and John established a $5.2 million charitable remainder trust for the foundation in 1995.
Diane retired in 1997 and passed away from leukemia in 2002. She would be proud to see the increasing number of prominent women in the gaming industry and would surely be honored to know she has been selected as a Great Women of Gaming award winner.
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