Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) announced Thursday that Thomas Mikulich and the late William “Si” Redd have been inducted into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame (HOF) Class of 2024. Both Mikulich and Redd will be honored at the 2024 EKG Slot Awards in Las Vegas on February 29th, 2024.
Mikulich is the fourth inductee to the EKG Slot Awards HOF under the Slot Operations category while the late Si Redd is the sixth inductee under the Game Development category.
“Once again our distinguished Board of Advisors has selected two outstanding individuals to be inducted into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame,” said Todd Eilers, Principal at Eilers and Krejcik Gaming. “Both Thomas Mikulich and William “Si” Redd have made substantial contributions to the gaming industry and are well deserving of this honor.”
Mikulich has been a leader in the gaming industry for over thirty-seven years, excelling in multiple roles and overseeing many divisions, including both gaming development and property operations. He joined Station Casinos in 2017 as Senior Vice President of Innovation Gaming for the company. His responsibilities also include overseeing the individual casino slots departments.
Prior to Station Casinos, Mikuclich held the position of Senior Vice President of Business Development at MGM Resort International, overseeing business development, MGM Resorts loyalty program M Life, and direct marketing programs, together with interactive and social gaming strategy. Under his management and expertise, the company developed innovative gaming technologies and expanded into interactive and social gaming.
Before joining MGM, Mikulich served as Senior Vice President at International Game Technology (IGT), overseeing the Mega-Jackpot Division. In his long career, Mikulich also held various positions such as President and Chief Operating Officer of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Senior Vice President of Gaming at the Mirage, and Vice President of Slot Marketing and Slot Operations at the Beau Rivage and Golden Nugget.
Early in his career, he worked at the Dunes Hotel and Casino where he served as an analyst and later the Assistant Director of Planning and Control. Prior to that, Mikulich started his hospitality career as a desk clerk at the Ambassador Motel on Freemont Street at the age of 15 years old.
“Mikulich is well recognized in the gaming industry for his pioneering approach and expertise leading to the introduction and development of several innovative gaming technologies and applications as well as thriving gaming products and rewards programs,” says EKG. He was born in Las Vegas, NV, and is a graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).
William “Si” Redd is known in the gaming industry as the “King of Slots” and was the founder of International Game Technology (IGT). Redd was born in 1911 in Union, Mississippi. After running a route business for several years, Redd moved to Illinois with his wife and started another coin-operated machine business which placed Bally pinball machines and Wurlitzer jukeboxes in bars and taverns across the state. He then moved to Boston in 1942 to run a Wurlitzer jukebox distribution business.
After another successful venture, Redd was looking for a new opportunity and his previous relationship with Bally Manufacturing proved fruitful as he was offered an opportunity to purchase a 70% stake in Bally Distribution Co to serve the Nevada casino market. He then moved to Reno Nevada in 1967.
Although Redd was successful in selling Bally’s new electromechanical slot machines, he believed the future of casino gaming would be video-based games. In 1978, he sold his company to Bally while retaining the rights to develop video gaming devices including video slots and video poker.
In 1979, after selling his business, he formed a new company called Sircoma, which later became known as IGT. That same year the company launched the gaming industry’s first video poker game named Fortune 1 video draw poker. Video slots would soon follow, and the company’s video poker and video slot products became instant hits with players.
IGT went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1981. At its peak in the 1990s, IGT held roughly 70% market share of the US slot machine market. Si Redd sold his controlling interest in IGT in 1986 and served as Chairman of the Board until he stepped down in 1991. Si Redd passed away in 2003 in Solana Beach, California.
EKG congratulated both Mikulich and the late “Si” Redd as inductees into The EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame – Class of 2024.
