LAS VEGAS (June 15, 2026) – David Lucchese and Marcus Prater have been named recipients of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers’ (AGEM) 2026 Memorial Awards. Lucchese will receive the Jens Halle Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Commercial Gaming Professionalism and Prater will receive the Peter Mead Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Gaming Media & Communications.
AGEM created the unique annual awards program to acknowledge Halle’s and Mead’s lasting impacts on gaming. AGEM formally recognizes the honorees each year at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, and this year’s awards ceremony will take place at an exclusive event during G2E on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 30.
David Lucchese is a gaming industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience spanning sales, operations, and executive leadership. Beginning with Bally, Casino Data Systems, Aristocrat and then Global Cash Access, Lucchese served in leadership roles within key gaming suppliers as the industry matured and grew. Most recently, he served as an Executive Vice President at Everi, where he led sales and marketing initiatives, managed the strategy and development of the company’s interactive division, and played a key role in the planning and execution of Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of Everi and IGT in 2025. Since 2015, Lucchese also served as both a President and key board member of AGEM.
AGEM Board of Directors Chair Ryan Comstock, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer at Ainsworth Game Technology, said, “Dave Lucchese is someone who epitomizes what AGEM wishes to honor with this award, through his sense of humanity in a competitive business, his willingness to go the extra mile and his longstanding dedication to the health of our industry, among his many qualities as an executive. He has remained a reliable friend to countless colleagues, co-workers, competitors and customers in the gaming industry throughout his career. As we turn to this next decade of our annual AGEM Memorial Awards, I am so proud that we can celebrate the contributions and career of Dave in this small way.”
Marcus Prater is a respected gaming industry executive with nearly three decades of experience spanning both casino operations and gaming manufacturing. While he began his gaming career in marketing, first for operator Ameristar and then suppliers Sigma Game and Bally Gaming, Prater transitioned from board involvement at AGEM via his role at Bally and became AGEM’s Executive Director in 2008. There he helped transform the organization into a globally recognized trade association and elevate the influence of gaming suppliers worldwide until his departure in 2022.
AGEM President & CEO Daron Dorsey said, “AGEM is not where it is today without Marcus Prater. What started as a relatively small group of companies forming a trade association, AGEM became a global organization that found its voice through Marcus’s leadership and established long-term relationships that remain in place today. Our industry, and AGEM, are both stronger today due to seeds Marcus helped plant and grow and we will continue to benefit from those endeavors well into the future. We are so happy to recognize Marcus with this year’s Peter Mead Award.”
Previous winners of the Jens Halle Award are Len Ainsworth, Rick Meitzler, Gavin Isaacs, Tom Nieman, Robert “Bob” McMonigle, Sebastian Salat, Roy Student, Bob Manz, Steve Sutherland and Eric Fisher. Previous winners of the Peter Mead Award are Howard Stutz, Roger Gros, Frank Legato, Dave Palermo, David Orrick, Alan Feldman, Frank Fantini, Victor Rocha, Lori Nelson-Kraft and Rick Velotta.
Halle, a longtime Bally and Novomatic executive in Europe, was most recently CEO of Gauselmann Group’s Merkur Gaming before his untimely passing. Similarly, Mead was the founder and publisher of Casino Enterprise Management magazine.
Gaming professionals are considered for these memorial awards based on the following criteria that aim to capture the unique attributes displayed by Halle and Mead during their storied careers:
Jens Halle Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Commercial Gaming Professionalism
Nominees must have experience working in the global gaming supplier sector for a minimum of 10 years and possess the following traits and qualities that Jens displayed throughout his working life: Professionalism; business success; international scope; attention to detail and timely follow-up; a willingness to ‘go the extra mile,’ both figuratively and literally; a sense of humanity in an oft-times cutthroat business; a recognition of the importance of a handshake and a fair deal for all; and a dedication to the health of the industry as a whole.
Peter Mead Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Gaming Media & Communications
Nominees must have experience working in the mainstream media, gaming trade press or individual gaming company PR/communications for a minimum of 10 years and possess the following traits and qualities that Peter displayed throughout his working life: Quality reporting and communication with an emphasis on personal contact to generate ideas and gather information; taking risks and questioning the status quo; challenging the industry to consider new ideas; and identifying trusted partners to improve the overall product.
About AGEM
AGEM is a non-profit international technology trade association representing manufacturers and suppliers of electronic gaming devices, lotteries, systems, iGaming / online, game content, table games, sports betting, key components and support products and services for the gaming industry. AGEM works to further the interests of gaming equipment suppliers throughout the world through political action, regulatory influence, trade show partnerships, educational alliances, information dissemination and good corporate citizenship to create benefits for every company within the organization. Together, AGEM has assisted regulatory agencies and participated in the legislative process to solve problems and create a business environment where AGEM members can prosper while providing a strong level of support to education and responsible gaming initiatives. For more information, visit www.AGEM.org.