'People don't want to provide bank statements. We've got so many people betting with us'

An undercover reporter for the Racing Post contacted Haydon Simcock, the commercial manager for 'The Post Bookmakers', an unlicensed bookmaker that claims to serve more than 1,000 customers in Britain. Posing as a prospective customer, we asked him about their services and reproduce sections of the conversation below

Listen to the full conversation

• Listen to part one
• Listen to part two

Haydon Simcock explains how The Post operates and the preferred way for customers to place bets

"Everything is done through WhatsApp. It's run by a guy called David. He runs the business, it's his business. There is a phone number for him. Then there's me as commercial manager. There's a phone number for me on WhatsApp Business and then there's a team of people who take your bets and they're all behind another number. So, essentially, there's three numbers.

"We don't set our own odds but what we do is we match whatever you find online. So you find the best price. We use four main bookmakers, bet365, Sky Bet, William Hill or Paddy Power. You find the best price on there and we match it for you.

"The best thing to do is take a screenshot. Go on bet365, find your bet, enter your stake, don't place the bet. Just take a screenshot, send it in to the team and that's it. Your bet will be on and they will just reply with 'bet confirmed'."

Simcock highlights The Post's matched deposit incentive – and predicts a busy Cheltenham Festival

"Let's just say you were putting in £2,000. We double it, so you've got £4,000 to bet with. You'll have a £2,000 cash balance and a £2,000 free bet balance. It's up to you how much you put in but, obviously, with Cheltenham coming up, if it was me, I would be making the best use of it and getting in as much as you can, just so you've got funds ready for Cheltenham.

"We do get ridiculously busy through Cheltenham. We are putting messages out shortly, just to make sure that you've loaded up your accounts ready for Cheltenham. We're offering matched deposits to all our existing customers as well with the festival coming up, just so we're not getting dragged down with people putting money in during the festival when we're really busy. We would rather people load up, have money in your accounts and then you're free to go and do whatever you want."

How can The Post afford to match customer deposits? Simcock explains and claims the firm has numerous clients within racing

"Listen, we can afford to do it. That's why we do it. A lot of our customers at the moment are owners and trainers and racing managers within horseracing, ultimately because everyone is struggling to get on and people don't want to provide bank statements and affordability checks.

"I know what it's like as well, trying to get a bet on. Obviously I don't bet with The Post. I have to go and use what I can. They are restricting everybody nowadays. It's hard to get on and we are taking them bets. That's why we're busy. We've got so many people betting with us.

"We've been going since 2017. It isn't as if we've just started up and we're not going anywhere any time soon. We are trying to grow the business, although we are a relatively small bookmaker. We've got 1,300 customers and we don't really want to go any further than 1,500, just because of our infrastructure.

"We've got a small team of around ten people, so we can't overload the team. We want to make sure everyone is getting a decent service, so we're capping it at 1,500. I imagine there is going to be quite a big influx of players coming in before the festival, with our matched deposit, but we are going to cap it, so we've time for everybody and everybody can get a decent service."

Simcock stresses that the identity of customers will not be revealed

"We are the same as any other bookmaker, in a sense. You get your bet on and you get paid. Nobody will know that you're betting with us. We only take ID from you when we're paying you out."

In response to a further question about the nature of The Post, Simcock reveals his own involvement in racing

"I'm in the racing industry. I've run a syndicate for the past five years and had horses in Newmarket and this, that and the other. I started betting with The Post. I was betting with them for about 12 months before David offered me a job. I said, 'Yeah, let's give it a go', so I've been working for them now for eight months or so.

"I've seen it from both sides. I've been a punter using The Post. It's a good service, especially if you like your racing and you're struggling to get on anywhere else. It's a good place to bet. You do it all in one go. We've got owners that are struggling to get on. They've got a horse running the next day and they're trying to get £100 . . . some online, some here, get your friends to do it, different accounts. With us, you can get it all on in one place."

Another financial inducement is offered at the end of the conversation

"If you've got anybody else that might need our service, bring them along, refer them to me. We pay you as well for that. Anybody that you bring to us, we've got a referral system. Whatever they deposit, we give you 20 per cent of that deposit in free bets, so if you bring a friend to me, they sign up and deposit £1,000, we'll put £200 in your betting account as free bets."

Read this next:

Revealed: the racehorse owner fronting an illegal bookmaker with more than 1,000 customers  

How black market bookies have spread through racing - and even solicit business at Cheltenham 

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