Gaming industry veteran Ron Babini, died unexpectedly on May 26 in Kiev, Ukraine. Over the course of an 18-year career in sales, Babini worked for IGT, Inspired Gaming and Amatic. He was 56 years old.
Babini, who was born in the Netherlands, is survived by his wife Julia and three children, Rosa, Lorenzo and Luca.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, Babini joined the gaming industry in 1993 when he joined the sales team at IGT Europe. During 12 years at IGT, he specialized in relationship-building, “and pursued each sale with the same passion whether it was a single machine or many hundreds.” As sales manager for Europe and Russia, he worked closely with John Gomes at IGT Asia, visiting Asia on numerous occasions.
He moved to Inspired Gaming, where he was sales director for Europe, then joined Amatic as a sales manager in a role that extended beyond Europe to Asia. Most recently, he worked for Scientific Games in the Ukraine.
The AGB obituary stated, “His enthusiasm for opening up new markets was limitless, often going to places where others would rarely dare to. Ron was the type of person who lit up the room when he walked in, the type of personality that you had to meet only once to remember for a lifetime.
“Ron will be fondly remembered for his joie de vivre, his love for people, his passion for Alfa Romeo and Harley-Davidson and last but not least, BarCo’s. We look forward to celebrating his life in Babini style at a memorial service in the Netherlands, in the next few months.” For more information, email RBjoiedevivre@gmail.com.
