Gaming Commission fines video poker maker

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 9:52 a.m.

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Gaming Commission has fined a video poker game manufacturer for closing on a loan without the commission's approval, a gaming violation.

Gamecraft Inc. of Huntington Beach, Calif., developer of a Windows-based gaming platform and the video poker game Heads Up Poker, was fined $20,000 on Wednesday.

Gamecraft closed on a $1.5 million loan on March 11, 2002, with a slot machine manufacturer based in Las Vegas.

Gamecraft violated a Mississippi gaming regulation because it didn't have approval from state regulators for the loan, said Britt R. Singletary, a Biloxi lawyer who represents Gamecraft.

Gamecraft had submitted to the commission information about a $2 million loan it sought from the Nevada company, but the would-be lender pulled out of the deal before the commission could approve the loan, Singletary said.

Singletary said unbeknownst to him, Gamecraft later closed on the $1.5 million loan from the Las Vegas firm.

Singletary said Gamecraft was strapped for cash for software development.

"Basically, it was a desperation situation," he said.

Singletary said the violation is a technical one.

"There wasn't a single problem with the loan," he said.

Singletary said Gamecraft will pay the fine.