Hill Gambling
William Hill is the world’s largest betting brand. In the UK
alone, they have 2,325 betting shops. They also operate an
online gambling site available in 24 languages and 10
currencies. The site offers sports betting, horse race betting,
financial betting, casino, poker, bingo, and skill and arcade
games all from a single website and player account bank. As a
company publicly-traded on the London Stock Exchange (WMH.L), it
can be verified. In 2011, they serviced more than 1.3 million
gamblers with profits exceeding £146.5 million. How does a
company get to be this size? All will be revealed in our history
of William Hill.
William Hill (founder) Born in 1903
The William Hill story begins with the July 16, 1903 birth of
their founder and namesake, William Hill. He was born in
Birmingham, England, the second of 13 children in a strict
family. As a young lad, he attended Oldknow Road School before
leaving to work on his uncle’s farm at the age of 12. He later,
still as a child, worked for BSA works in Birmingham. Perhaps
rebellious over his strict upbringing, overcrowded home, and
working life, at age 16, Hill lied about his age and jumped on a
wagon to join the Black and Tans.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) avoids Denver Broncos cornerback A.J. Bouye (21) in the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Dec. William Hill is a one of the biggest names in gambling. The company has a chain of bookmaking shops throughout the United Kingdom, where it’s based, and is also a major online gaming enterprise. Created by William Hill in 1934, today the organization offers online betting along with casino, poker, and bingo games. (Reuters) - U.S. Casino operator Caesars Entertainment agreed on Wednesday to buy British-based gambling group William Hill for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) to expand in the fast-growing U.S.
Legend has it that William Hill developed a passion for
horseracing and bookmaking at a young age. During his days with
BSA works, he was introduced to betting. While with the Black
and Tans, he was stationed in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland. From
here he spent his free time taking bets from Moss Foley’s pub.
Returning from duty, he remained in the bookmaking business on a
small scale.
- Sports betting has come to the south. SEC Sports Betting States Alabama Arkansas Auburn Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi South Carolina Tennessee Texas Sportsbooks Coming To The.
- William Hill Sportsbook also provides the following unique betting options: In-play betting. Also called live betting, in-play betting gives you the chance to bet on games that are already underway. The odds adjust throughout depending on the time, the score and the situation. William Hill sports betting options.
Hill’s first attempt at legal bookmaker came in 1925 as an on
course bookmaker at the Birmingham tracks. Due to the inability
to lay off a couple large bets, he soon lost all his capital. In
1929, he moved to London to begin taking bets on greyhounds,
which allowed him to save up enough capital to invest and become
a part owner in Northolt Park Racetrack (that would become
famous for pony races).
William Hill (Company) Founded 1934
In 1934, William Hill opened his first off-track betting shop
in Park Lane, London. This was the start of the company known
today as William Hill. At the time, cash bookmaking was still
illegal. Hill used a loophole in the law that required “credit
only” betting by having punters provide checks (in person or via
post) weeks in advanced. These were cashed only after the event
had taken place, making it fully legal while he also retained
lawful recourse against any bounced checks.
Hill then continued to build his business on “trust”. At the
time, gambling debts weren’t enforceable by law, so bookies
didn’t even need to legally pay punters. While there were many
scams, his business grew to some 500,000 serviced by the 1960’s
because of his reputation as an honest businessman who pays
winners.
The Invention of Fixed Odds Football Betting
In 1944, William Hill became the first bookie to offer fixed
odds on football betting. The
history of Ladbrokes reported elsewhere often fails to give
him credit. No doubt Ladbrokes was the first UK- licensed
betting shop to offer fixed odds; however, William Hill was
doing so as a credit bookmaker much earlier. In fact, court
records indicate he preceded Ladbrokes, and he successfully sued
them in the early 1960’s for copying his ticket. Being the good
sport that he was, he asked for only £1 damages plus costs,
which the House of Lords granted.
William Hill as a Breeder
By the late 1930’s, William Hill had become the first ever
self-made millionaire bookie. While continuing his bookmaking
empire, he became passionate about breeding horses. He purchased
a stud at Whitsbury in Hampshire in 1943 (Nimbus) that in 1949
won the Two Thousand Guineas and Derby. In 1945, he purchased
Sezincote stud in Gloucestershire that won the 1953 Derby. He
also won a Classic with Cantelo in the 1959 St. Leger and the
Gimcrack Stake and Champagne Stake in 1958 with Be Careful.
William Hill the First Ever PLC Bookmaker
In 1954, William Hill moved his business to a shell company
called Holder’s Investment Trust to secure a position as the
first bookmaker ever publicly-listed on the London Stock
Exchange. From 1955 to 1961, he sold portions of his shares for
in excess of £5 million.
William Hill Personal Life
In order to explain William Hill’s late move into the betting
shop business, it’s important to cover his personal life. In
1923, he married Ivy Burley (nicknamed Daisy), who was a
hairdresser in Birmingham. They had their first and only child
the following year, Kathleen Hill (nicknamed Bubbles) who later
became Kathleen Lavinia after her marriage. She passed away at
the age of 37. The Saint Leonard’s Parish Church of Whitsbury,
located near the track where he purchased his first stud, to
this day bears the words:
“To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of their daughter
Kathleen Lavinia, Born 10th Feb 1924 Died 27 Nov 1961. This
church was restored and refurnished in 1963 by William and Ivy
Hill”.
Hill was not a money hungry coldhearted bookie. During his
lifetime, he raced and bred horses with a passion, took regular
fishing trips, and sponsored youth cricket leagues. He was a
devout Roman Catholic and Socialist. When the UK legalized
betting shops, effective May 1, 1961, he was outspoken against
them. He went as far as calling them a cancer on society that
preyed on the working man. In his opinion, betting was a
recreational activity and competition for those who could afford
it. He was a good bookie and made millions many times over in
his lifetime due to hard work, trust, and running an honest
shop.
By 1966, however, betting shops had become so widespread in
the UK, that traditional bookies had no choice but to adapt.
Hill began investing in the betting shop empire known today. In
1970, he retired and passed away the following year.
Ownership After William Hill’s Death
When William Hill died on October 16, 1971, the business was
taken over by Sears Plc. Many William Hill history articles
associate it with Sears Holdings Group, which has 4,000 retail
locations under Sears and Kmart brand names. This is NOT the
same Sears. The Sears that took over William Hill is a UK
conglomerate in the retail shoes business. Their current brands
include Barratts and Priceless Shoes. While under Sears’
ownership, the company grew to 1800 legal betting shops by 1988.
In 1989, William Hill was purchased by Brent Walker. The same
year, they became the official bookmaker of Golf’s PGA European
Tour with betting shops located on course. During the 1990’s,
betting shops became more socially acceptable in the UK. They
were no longer required to blackout their windows, and instead
could display odds and advertisements for all to see. The law
prohibiting them from being open on Sundays was also repealed; the ability to advertise in newspapers, on television, and
on the radio was granted. Private Scratchcards were legalized and soon
were offered at William Hill shops.
With betting now mainstream, Walker cashed in, selling them
Nomura (Grand Bookmaking Companies) for £700m. They sold it 2
years later in 1999 to Cinven and CVC Partners for £825 million.
Finally, in 2002, William Hill was successfully floated on the
London Stock Exchange for approximately £1 billion.
William Hill Online
In 2000, William Hill launched an off-shore phone-in betting
shop. It used a call center in Athlone, Ireland, which accepted
bets for William Hill International based in Antigua where the
tax was only 3%. That same year, they became the first UK
bookmaker to offer tax-free betting via the Internet. Oddly
enough, despite being known by all bettors alive as William,
they had to use the domain willhill.com. The domain
williamhill.com was already in use by a winery in California.
The winery stopped using it in late 2005, and William Hill the
bookmaker acquired it in 2009, redirecting the brand they had
built.
As you can imagine, this was already the largest betting
brand in the world, and their growth as an online company was a
natural transition. These days there are many multiple language
betting sites, but when William Hill entered the market full
scale in 2000, there were few. They already were popular
internationally and were the biggest bookmaker in the UK. Their
growth came fast when launched in 2000 supporting English,
Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese,
Norwegian, and Finnish languages. In late 2000, they added an
online casino to their offering and then an online poker room in
2003. On April 17, 2002, William Hill signed a deal with the
British Horseracing Board for the commercial use of data. This
made full racing data available on their online website.
After successful floating on the London Stock Exchange in
2002, numerous acquisitions followed. In September of 2002,
William Hill purchased Sunderland Greyhound Stadium. In March
the following year, Brough Park Greyhound Stadium was added. In
2005, it acquired 624 betting shops from Stanley Leisure for
£504 million, although it had to sell 78 of them due to an
anti-competitive practice ruling. In 2008, it went into
partnership with the world’s largest casino software provider
and poker network operator, Playtech.
As mentioned above, William Hill remains the world’s largest
betting brand. The website is available in 24 languages, 10
currencies, and it supports sports and horse race betting, financial
betting, casino, poker, bingo, skill games, and arcade games. This is
no doubt one of the safest and most well-regulated websites for
online gamblers.
William Hill is still, by far, the Washington DC sports betting leader in the latest non-shocker update out of the nation’s capital.
For the third straight month, William Hill’s results were far better than those from the DC Lottery‘s mobile platform.
If the success of mobile elsewhere is instructive, the William Hill lead via retail could have more to do with what DC Lottery platform operator Intralot is doing wrong.
William Hill Gambling Site
Intralot isn’t just struggling in the DC sports betting market either. A spokesperson for the Montana Lottery recently said handle on their Intralot-powered platform is just $11 million since Montana sports betting launched in March.
Representatives from Intralot did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
William Hill controls DC sports betting market
William Hill took $14.4 million in handle during October, up 17.8% from its September results, according to the DC Lottery.
That’s compared to just $4.2 million in handle for GambetDC.
It’s no surprise William Hill continues to dominate as nothing has changed in the DC market. Intralot is still offering over-juiced odds on the only mobile sports betting app available throughout the district. The district’s council controversially decided in 2018 to license only one provider for mobile wagering.
William Hill, meanwhile, is still working out of a temporary sportsbook at the Capital One Arena‘s box office. Lines routinely wrap around the block waiting for the book to open, William Hill US CEO Joe Ashersaid in an interview last month.
No sports betting changes expected for Lottery
William Hill Gambling Commission
While many in the US sports betting industry recognize there’s a problem with how the DC market is shaking out, officials don’t intend to make changes anytime soon.
In fact, the Lottery sounds content with its results so far, according to a spokesperson:
“[GambetDC] is not designed to pay out like a casino-style sports book or to attract high-stakes bettors and odds shoppers. Our aim is to maximize revenue returned to the District by offering a convenient and exciting form of entertainment to casual bettors. While there is a disparity in the handle between the private operated and lottery operated sports books, as expected, the lottery operated is returning a higher revenue to the District, also as expected. Our mission is to maximize return to the District, and we strive to fulfill that every day in all areas of our gaming portfolio.”
Fact-checking the Lottery
About 50% of GambetDC’s gross revenue amounts to profit for the Lottery, according to the spokesperson. That means GambetDC has brought in about $890,000 in profit since it launched in late May.
William Hill, on the other hand, has paid $545,018 in taxes.
On the surface, the Lottery’s statement is true. But William Hill also launched July 31, meaning it had two fewer months of operation than GambetDC.
In its five full months of operation between June and October, GambetDC averaged about $180,000 in profit for the lottery per month. That’s lower than the $181,615 in average taxes paid per month over William Hill’s three full months of operation.
William Hill taking more bets
The failure of GambetDC to use its mobile advantage to control the market can be seen in the monthly details.
Silent Hill Gambling Machine
William Hill again took more bets than GambetDC in October. The retail location handled 144,882 bets while GambetDC took just 113,407 bets on its app.
Hill Gambling
That amounts to an average of nearly $125 per bet at the William Hill kiosks compared to just $36.83 for GambetDC.