Gambling Exec Appointed to Head SportingBet

Nigel Payne, former Group Chief Executive at SportingBet was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman at GameAccount. Payne, 47, qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1984. He is married with 2 young children.

Payne is a native of the UK and has long been an outspoken critic of bans on online gambling. He is an ardent supporter of legalization and regulation of the industry. An ace table tennis player, he was once ranked 5th in the UK.

GameAccount boasts a major list of shareholders such as Andrew Black, founder of Betfair, Dermot Desmond and the Smurfit family. Kevin Dale, CEO of GameAccount said, "We are delighted to have Nigel with us. He has wide knowledge and experience of the gaming industry and we look forward to working with him."

A gambling career
Payne originally joined SportingBet in 2000 as the Group Finance Director. He was appointed Group Chief Executive the following year. He held this post through 2006, steering the company through various expansions ending with a highly successful floatation on the London Stock Exchange.

Company ID
GameAccount offers a diverse portfolio of games which attracts both recreational and serious gamers. The company powers such leading online partners such as William Hill, Sportingbet Europe, Stan James, Victor Chandler International, BlueSquare, Boylesports, Paddy Power and Gala Coral.

The company is based in London and is licensed by the UK's Gambling Commission to operate online games for real money prizes.