He Cheated at Bingo, Killed Self
By Steve Friess
September 27, 2002

Nevada is agog and aghast over the latest scandal: A computer programmer who allegedly rigged a small payoff bingo game, learned he was a suspect and apparently killed himself. Steve Friess reports from Las Vegas.

Here's a story for which the label "geek-noir" should be coined. It is the story of Brett Keeton, a software engineer for GameTech International, a Reno, Nevada, developer of interactive electronic bingo systems.

Brett worked on machines which generate bingo cards before each game. The gambler buys a certain number of cards and then enters into the machine the numbers as they are called. "By all accounts, [Brett] had been an exemplary employee," according to GameTech's CEO. And yet, Brett decided to hack the machines and give himself a little bonus: he modified their software so he coud get extra cards without paying for them.

The specifics of the operation are still unclear. No one knows for sure how Brett activated his easter egg to get the extra cards. As for how he delivered the hack, another programer theorizes he "sent out the altered software code in a routine software upgrade, which is done remotely from the Reno company to every unit..."

Alas, Brett got cold feet when he sniffed fraud investigators coming towards him. Brett punched his card one last time at GameTech on September 20, when he was fired. That night, around 8:25 pm, he jumped from the Golden Gate. Did his last thoughts go to his wife and two children as he rushed towards the waters below? Only Brett would know.

No, Brett's story is not an exciting story. He was, for all his ingenuity, a small-time crook. And small-time crooks only earn a pittance:

"You always figure they're going to try to get away with something at the blackjack table or on the video poker machines, but rigging a bingo game?" asked Frank Cilletti, a retired security expert who worked with several Las Vegas casinos. "The payout just isn't that big on bingo. It's sort of a waste of criminal talent, actually."