UK man charged for operating illegal gambling service
Staffordshire police arrested Haydon Simcock of Stoke-on-Trent in September after an investigation by the UK Gambling Commission.
The 39-year-old now faces charges related to running an unlicensed gambling operation and advertising betting services without authorization.
Simcock has been charged with providing illegal gambling services across the UK between 8 October 2023 and 11 September 2024, with authorities also alleging that he unlawfully advertised betting offers between 26 May 2023 and 1 March 2024.
He is set to appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 24 March.
Links to illegal horseracing bookmakerIn February 2024, the Racing Post conducted an undercover interview with a man identifying himself as Haydon Simcock, who claimed to be the commercial manager of an unlicensed UK horseracing bookmaker known as “The Post Bookmakers.”
The operation reportedly took bets via WhatsApp, and had around 1,300 customers and up to ten employees — far and away from the traditional betting avenues traditional bookmakers use.
During the interview, Simcock suggested many of the customers turned to illegal betting after facing affordability checks and account restrictions from licensed operators.
Regulator’s crackdown on black market betting
The UK Gambling Commission has ramped up efforts to disrupt illegal gambling, with CEO Andrew Rhodes emphasizing the risks unlicensed operators pose to consumers.
“The illegal market is bad from a human point of view,” Rhodes wrote in a 2024 blog post on the official Gambling Commission website. “We remain particularly vigilant and active in our work to disrupt this market, and through collaboration with others, have made significant progress.”
Since the start of the financial year, the Commission has issued over 770 cease-and-desist orders, including 262 notices to operators and 205 to advertisers.
A report analyzing black market gambling activity in the UK is set to be published in the summer, incorporating web traffic data from unlicensed sites along with player spending trends.
Authorities continue to monitor and disrupt illegal gambling networks as part of broader efforts to maintain consumer protections within the UK’s regulated market.
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