How a dodgy bank loan led to nearly 40 years as a pro punter - proving old-school methods still have their place

In a five-part series, we have profiled the people who strike fear in bookmakers; the ones who all punters aspire to be. They are the Masters of Betting – Don Johnson, Steve Lewis Hamilton, Phil Bull, Alan Potts and Tony Bloom – and they are about to be put under the spotlight by the Racing Post like never before. 

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If you were to cut Steve Lewis Hamilton there's little doubt he'd bleed the colour of bank notes; the old paper ones, brown, purple and pink, like you used to give to the bookies on the racecourse back in the day. Chop off a leg and he'd have 'Old-School Punter' written right through him like a stick of rock.