Simon took at least 40 ships and sank many others during the 3 years that followed. The people on the Barbary coast and the Turks gave Simon the nickname Dali-Capitan which means Devil-Captain. After three more years of pirating he had become quite rich and even lived in a Palace. The Dancer attacked ships of any nation and made trading in the Mediterranean Sea increasingly difficult of every nation. Many a nation, therefore, looked for ways to stop his attacks (by attack, bribes for safepassage or employing him as a privateer in the navy. Eventually, a French fleet under the command of De Beaulieu de Pairsac, while being assisted by eight Spanish Galleys, almost managed to capture him, but because of a sudden storm he was able to escape; he sailed along the coast with his ships where the other ships could not reach them. Eight more Spanish men-of-war, under the command of Don Luiz Fayzardo, and an English Squadron, under the command of Sir Thomas Shoreley, were also trying to capture The Dancer at that time. Some of the exploits of Simon Dancer are mentioned in a Report written by Edward Barker in 1609.
In 1609 he fled from Algiers with his posessions, because of the simultanuous attacks by three squadrons. He arrived in Marseille with four ships after having captured a rich Spanish ship on the way. He was given temporary permission to enter the port by the King of France (Hendrik IV) (perhaps in the hope of enlisting him in his service?). The dancer offered the king to attack Algiers and destroy the Corsair stronghold there in return for a pardon, but this proposal was turned down. He was, however, enlisted for a voyage against the corsair stronghold Tunis. What happened to the Dancer remains unclear, but he died while he was on this mission.