Texas machines cleared

Monday, Sept. 30, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

RENO -- GameTech International Inc. said over the weekend that Texas regulatory officials have allowed the reinstatement of the company's fixed-base electronic bingo units.

On Tuesday GameTech said the Nevada Gaming Control Board was investigating the possible misuse of electronic bingo units by a GameTech software developer who died in an apparent suicide. The Control Board cleared the company's portable units, while the fixed-base units in Nevada remain out of service.

The company said Wednesday that it voluntarily shut down its fixed-base electronic bingo units in Texas and Mississippi while gaming officials in those states investigated the machines.

GameTech hasn't yet received word from Nevada or Mississippi regulators on whether it can reinstate machines in those states, company spokeswoman Cheryl Walsh said today.

"We're still looking at those machines and they're still out of service," Nevada state Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said.

Mississippi regulators could not be reached for comment this morning.

In a weekend statement, the bingo-equipment company reiterated that it believes the misuse was limited to the Las Vegas area.

The engineer, Brett Keeton, 38, died on Sept. 20. Keeton plunged from the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge, said Ken Holmes, coroner in Marin County, Calif.

Investigators have alleged Keeton altered GameTech software to obtain free electronic bingo cards and increase the number he could play at once.