Electronic bingo units cleared after scandal

Friday, Dec. 27, 2002 | 11:45 a.m.

Nevada gaming regulators have concluded an investigation into a bingo scam by a former GameTech International Inc. employee and have also returned to service all of the company's game consoles.

A former GameTech employee tampered with the company's fixed-based electronic bingo units in Nevada, obtaining more bingo cards than he had actually paid for and significantly increasing his chances of winning. The employee, software engineer Brett Keeton, committed suicide in San Francisco Sept. 20 after the scam surfaced.

The Reno-based company agreed to shut down all of its electronic bingo units in late September after the activity was discovered.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board determined that Keeton "acted alone" when he illegally modified the games, the company said.

GameTech's hand-held bingo units, which make up the vast majority of its products in Nevada, were returned to play within a few days of the shutdown, the company said.

The fixed-based units remained inactive while the Gaming Control Board conducted their investigation.

"We are pleased to put this incident behind us and concentrate fully on addressing the needs of our customers," GameTech Chief Executive Officer Clarence Thiesen said. "We have emerged a stronger company due to the evaluation of, and improvements to, the security of our systems."

The devices were used in bingo parlors in more than a dozen Las Vegas casinos, including those of locals' operators Station Casinos Inc. and Coast Casinos Inc.

Many bingo halls in Las Vegas feature hand-held computers by Game Tech and others that allow players to hold dozens of cards at a time. Rather than marking real cards, players only have to punch in their bingo numbers on a keypad.

Game Tech's stand-alone consoles, called GTI computers, require very little participation by players. Once information is entered into the computer at the beginning of the bingo session, players may sit back and watch television or even play solitaire on the screens while the game is played.

Stand-alone consoles at six Station Casinos' properties were approved for play, the company said this week. Station Casinos contributed additional funds to the bingo jackpots to assure that bingo players were not affected by the manipulation of game outcomes, the company said.

"We're pleased the board has completed its investigation and found that Game Tech's internal controls ensure the integrity of the game," Station Casinos Chief Operating Officer Steve Cavallaro said.