Dominic Tiberio and Robert Allen recognized and honored at the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame ceremony
Scoop: Two Gaming Legends Inducted into EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame
Kick back and let's talk about the latest in the gaming world! The pioneers of the gaming industry, Dominic Tiberio and Robert Allen, are gonna be showered with well-deserved praise at the 2025 EKG Slot Awards in Vegas, baby!
On February 27, these legends will be feted at the Palms Casino Resort, joining an exclusive club of industry extraordinaires. Dominic's in under Game Development, the seventh inductee, while Robert Allen is a slot ops shark and the fifth inductee under that category.
Let's dive right into these titans of the gaming biz!
Dominic Tiberio
Born in the Windy City on January 11, 1940, Dominic's got a mechanical engineering degree from Chicago Technical College in ’62. He served a brief stint in the army, brushed up on his skills, and then joined Bally Manufacturing in Chicago. This (not so) young pup started designing slot cabinet outer castings, but quickly made a name for himself.
One of his first big hits was the groundbreaking Money Honey, the industry's first electro-mechanical slot machine. This bad boy catapulted Bally to the top of the slot machine supplier rankings in the late ’60s. Dominic moved up the chain, leading or overseeing the development of some killer slot games like Game Maker, Black Gold, Diamond Line, Bonus Frenzy, and more. He also masterminded Bally's Betty Boop slot theme for the Thrillions Wide Area Progressive link, which, if you don't know, was the first-ever Wide Area Progressive link.
Dominic eventually retired from Bally in 2008 and now calls Las Vegas home.
Robert Allen
Robert Allen, born in Akron, Ohio in 1955, has a thing for tuneful sounds. He attended the University of North Texas and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in ’78. But his brother Mike, a gaming exec at Harrah's, had other ideas. So, in 1984, Robert shifted gears and became a Slot Floor Supervisor at Harrah's Marina Casino.
Two years later, he moved to the Tropicana Casino & Resort, where he rose through the ranks to become the Executive Director of Slot Operations. In 2000, he took the reins as the Corporate Director of Slot Operations for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, overseeing slot operations for their two casinos in Minnesota.
Under his leadership, the casinos leveraged Ticket-in-Ticket-Out technology, upgraded their slot product, and saw a colossal boost in slot revenue. He was right on the money when it came to implementing the latest slot games on the casino floor and sharing performance data with vendors, paving the way for better games that benefited all parties.
In early 2010, Robert joined Pinnacle Entertainment and started wielding his gaming might across 16 casinos, including the Ameristar properties. He fostered solid relationships with casino management teams, oversaw gaming analytics, and, like a true pioneer, helped design the gaming floor for the new L'Auberge Baton Rouge casino.
After nearly 35 years in the gaming industry, Robert called it quits in 2017 and now resides in Boise, Idaho, with his wife, Mary Jane.
So, that's a wrap! Congrats to these heavies of the gaming world, Dominic Tiberio and Robert Allen, for their induction into The EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame - Class of 2025. Kudos for your lasting and meaningful contributions to the gaming industry!
In the esteemed gaming industry, Dominic Tiberio and Robert Allen are set to be honored for their groundbreaking work, as they join the Hall of Fame at the 2025 EKG Slot Awards. Tiberio, inducted under Game Development, designed iconic casino-games like Money Honey, Game Maker, and Black Gold, revolutionizing the slot machine industry. Allen, in the slot ops category, leveraged innovative technologies like Ticket-in-Ticket-Out and boosted slot revenue for casinos under his leadership, earning him a spot as the fifth inductee. Their contributions to the casino-and-gambling sector, spanning decades, will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on the gaming industry.
