Industry icons inducted to AGA’s Gaming Hall of Fame at G2E

Victor Salerno of William Hill US, Lynn Valbuena of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and Navegante Group founder Larry J. Woolf will be officially inducted at an invitation-only ceremony at MGM Grand as part of G2E in Las Vegas later this month.

“Victor, Lynn and Larry are pioneers in the gaming industry and worthy of induction into a very special fraternity. Victor has been on the cutting-edge of the sports gaming industry for decades, Lynn has been a staunch advocate for tribal rights and Larry’s business acumen has been the driving force for the success of several renowned properties,” said Geoff Freeman, AGA CEO.

Victor Salerno, originally a dentist by trade, moved to Las Vegas in 1978 to take the reins of Leroy’s Horse & Sports Place from his father-in-law, Leroy Merillat. Over the next three-plus decades, he became one of sports gaming’s great innovators and the pioneer in satellite race and sports books statewide.

In 1984, he replaced handwritten betting tickets with a computerised betting system called Computerized Bookmaking Systems. Salerno was one of the first sports book operators to offer telephone account wagering and developed the first self-service sports wagering kiosk in 2002. In 2010, he was the mastermind behind LEROY’s® App, Nevada’s first mobile sports betting app.

Lynn Valbuena is Chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and is in her 20th year as the Chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations (TASIN). In her role, she works to advance tribal sovereign governmental rights, cultural identity and the interests of tribes located in the Central District of California. As executive secretary of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) from 1997-2011, Valbuena was liaison for the largest organisation of gaming tribes in the US.

Larry J. Woolf has a gaming career spanning over 40 years that includes many firsts that changed and improved the industry nationwide. As President of Caesars Tahoe, he initiated the first company-wide drug hair-testing program, which has become a standard. As Chairman, CEO and President of MGM Grand, his input was integral in the design, planning and construction of the first billion-dollar integrated resort, which opened in 1993 with more than 5,000 guest rooms and 9,000 employees.

New ground was also broken by Woolf at MGM Grand when it became the first to open a Las Vegas casino with a roster of celebrity chefs, a trend that has exploded. He also introduced TITO, another first and now an industry standard. Woolf founded Navegante Group in 1995, which provides development, management and consulting services for casinos worldwide. He is also an investor/owner in several casinos.