Lyle Bell, one of the most committed gaming technology executives, passed away last week at the age of 69. Bell was noted for introducing the first mag-stripe card cashless gaming system with electronic fund transfer to and from games.
A Stanford graduate, Bell joined Caesars Palace in 1984 as vice president of information systems where he helped develop the players card system that would follow the player from game to game. He worked at Caesars Palace for 10 years. He later joined IGT for five years as vice president of gaming systems where he was responsible for all casino management systems produced by IGT.
In 2002, he was named CIO responsible for 6 casinos including two Hard Rock casinos. During that time, Bell introduced a new generation of Class II games that looked and played like Class III games. He developed floor communications that was completely TCP/IP network-based with no proprietary communication controllers.
He became chairman of the board of the Gaming Standards Association in 2006, where he navigated through the delicate process of establishing industry standards for communication between slot machines and systems. He spent six years leading GSA.
Bell was a pilot and an avid railroad enthusiast and belonged to the South Florida Railroad Museum. He is survived by his wife Jane and three children.
