Compliance, identity, and anti-fraud solution provider GambleID has appointed Dr. Laila Mintas to its advisory board. Mintas is an industry leader with over 20 years of experience in the gaming sector. However, long-time Bonus readers may remember her name due to her high-profile falling-out with the owners of PlayUp while she was serving as the company’s American CEO. Her other experience as an industry executive includes positions at Sportsradar, Bet.Works, and PlayEngine.
JD Garner, founder and CEO of GambleID, is excited about what Mintas can bring to the company.
Dr. Mintas brings a wealth of experience and leadership from her time as CEO of PlayEngine and PlayUp US, and as Deputy President at Sportradar. Her remarkable background in the gaming industry — coupled with her deep commitment to integrity and regulatory compliance — will be instrumental as GambleID continues to innovate and lead the charge in advancing solutions in the gaming industry.
The Texas-based company provides an array of compliance and fraud-prevention services for the gaming industry. These include:
- Age & identity verification
- Geolocation
- Player screening
- Payment processing.
According to its website, GambleID’s services have protected and verified 33 million players. One recent addition to its services is the Athlete Response Monitor (ARM), which helps sportsbooks detect and decline prohibited bets from athletes, saving them and the sportsbook from regulatory consequences.
GambleID’s US-facing corporate partners include DraftKings, Betsson, and Pointsbet, although Betsson is withdrawing from the market, and Pointsbet has been acquired and rebranded by Fanatics.
A Gaming Industry Veteran
In addition to her executive positions, Dr. Mintas runs a consulting agency, advising tech companies in the sports, sports betting, and cryptocurrency industries. She frequently speaks at industry events like the Global Gaming Expo (G2E).
Mintas’ ill-fated time with PlayUp lasted from 2019 until the end of 2021. The company ultimately closed its US operations in July 2023 after its unregulated online historical horse racing product PlayUp Slots+ landed it in hot water with regulators.
Since 2021, according to her LinkedIn bio, Mintas has served as a non-executive Director at Sports Information Services (SIS), a UK-based betting technology provider.
Her role includes supporting SIS’s global growth of fixed-odds horse racing and eSports. Before PlayUp, she served as the CEO of PlayEngine, a sports betting and iGaming technology provider that operated in New Jersey and Colorado before ceasing operations in July 2023.
Mintas was also an investor and chairwoman at BetWorks, a sports-betting platform that Bally’s acquired for $125 million in 2020. She was the Deputy President of the sports data provider Sportsradar. Finally, she has held leadership positions at FIFA and CONCACAF related to sports integrity in soccer.
The PlayUp Fiasco
Dr. Mintas’ tenure with PlayUp was an unfortunate dark spot in an otherwise impressive career. In 2021, the company’s directors were negotiating the sale of the company to the now-infamous cryptocurrency exchange FTX in a deal worth $450 million.
Ironically, given its own fate, FTX pulled out of the agreement, telling Mintas that the deal was too “messy,” and the company’s global CEO Daniel Simic appeared “dodgy.”
PlayUp’s founders proceeded to take legal action against Mintas, accusing her of sabotaging the deal. Mintas responded with a countersuit. Both sides blamed the other for the failed transaction.
The company’s troubles continued after Mintas’ departure. A subsequent attempt by PlayUp to go public through an SPAC deal also failed. Adding to the company’s woes, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, Ohio’s gaming regulator, denied PlayUp’s sportsbook application due to the PlayUp Slots+ app. Although the operator eventually settled with the regulator and discontinued Slots+, any momentum it had in the US had evaporated, and it soon pulled out of New Jersey, the only state in which it had begun regulated operations.
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