Key points
- The Gambling Commission has initiated a crackdown on illegal betting operators in the UK
- Black-market customers pointed to affordability checks and account restrictions as reasons they engaged with an illegal operator
A man has been charged with providing facilities for gambling and advertising unlicensed gambling in the UK.
Haydon Simcock, 39, of Weston Coyney, Stoke On Trent, is charged with providing facilities for gambling to consumers in Great Britain without holding an operating licence between 18 October 2023 to 11 September 2024. These facilities were advertised between 26 May 2023 and 1 March 2024.
Simcock, who is due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday 24 March 2025, was arrested in September 2024. The investigation was led by the Gambling Commission, supported by Staffordshire Police.
In February 2024, the Racing Post published an undercover interview with a Haydon Simcock, who claimed to be working for “The Post Bookmakers,” an illegal horseracing bookmaker in the UK. The players’ bets were taken via WhatsApp.
Simcock told the Racing Post that he was Commercial Manager for The Post Bookmakers, which was confirmed by the Commission to be an unlicensed operator. During the interview, Simcock said the firm had up to 10 employees and 1,300 customers.
Simcock explained how many of The Post Bookmakers’ customers could no longer bet with regulated operators, blaming affordability checks and account restrictions as reasons they chose to engage with the illegal operator.
Good to know: In the last year, the Gambling Commission has issued over 770 cease-and-desist and disruption notices. This includes 262 cease-and-desists to operators and 205 to advertisers
Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes said the regualator has initiated a crackdown on illegal operators in the UK, as they offer no protection for players.
“The illegal market is bad from a human point of view,” Rhodes said in a blog post last year.
