William Hill Gambling Site
- William Hill Gambling Sites
- William Hill Gambling Site Official Site
- William Hill Gambling Site Websites
- William Hill Gambling Site Games
- William Hill Gambling Site For Real
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 is one of the oldest names in the betting industry. It was established in 1934 in London, England. It grew and opened land-based betting shops throughout the UK before launching online. The new William Hill sportsbook will be located inside Onyx, the property’s on-site sports bar. It will also have a satellite location at the tribe’s second casino, Leelanau Sands, located about 25 miles away.
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.
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.
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.
People can visit William Hill on the Internet today to bet on
sports, play poker, gamble online in a virtual casino, and even
play real money poker. This gambling site has everything in one
convenient location. With a single account, members of
WilliamHill.com have access to every type of gambling the
Internet has to offer.
Deposit Methods
Introduction
Because I have a lot of really nice things to say about the
site, its parent company, and their betting services, I’d like
to start my introduction to William Hill with the things I don’t
like.
The Site’s Layout Is Disorienting
Go ahead, point your browser to the site and click around the different
sections. Even the game categories are weird. What the heck is
the category called “Vegas” all about? How is it different from
the “Casino” tab? Why are “scratchcards” given a category all
their own? Are we meant to think of lotto-style scratchers as
being on the same level as poker and sports betting? It looks to
me like William Hill is somehow still having growing pains after
switching to the Playtech casino game platform in 2009.
Promotions Are Not a Priority
You may not be that big on bonuses and other promos, but a ton of players
are, myself included. I like that as a blackjack player I can
pretty easily earn $10 in free bets after my first deposit, but
after that, I’m not sure I’d ever see a reload offer, since none
is available at this time. I see nothing in the way of a
referral program, and what bonuses are available seem to have
tougher-than-average rollover requirements.
Questions Exist About William Hill’s Affiliations
with Rogue Betting Sites
The site inherited some rogue
operators when it made a huge deal with Playtech in 2009.
Some sites are still up, giving WillHill heck about this issue,
but as far as I can tell, the whole thing was resolved a few
years ago and had nothing to do with this specific
sportsbook/casino’s operations.
And now for the William Hill features I do like:
The Site and Its Games Are Extremely Easy to Access
WillHill gives customers access to bets and games four different
ways: online, via mobile, via text, and by phone. The site’s
customer service and software are available in twenty-four
languages (listed below in the Customer Service review).
The Site Is Operated by a Reputable Business
William Hill is a household name in its native United Kingdom.
The company has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since
2002 as part of the exclusive FTSE 250 index of the
highest-grossing UK-based companies. WillHill reported revenue
of more than $1.5 billion in 2014. The entire past calendar year
has seen the company make big financial gains, to the point that
its stock price is higher at the time of this review than it’s
ever been.
Most Impressive Lists of Available Markets I’ve Seen
I’ve put a list together of all available bets at my last visit in the Sports
Betting section just below, so look for yourself.
Here is an overview of each section of William Hill’s
gambling options.
Banking Options
Because this company does business with millions of people
from all over the world, they authorize a number of withdrawal
and deposit methods. Banking is a little different in different
parts of the world, and the cosmopolitan set of banking options
at WillHill is a reflection of that fact.
Rather than list all forty-two methods accepted as of this
review. Instead, I’ll share ten of the most popular, along with
a few facts about them, taken directly from WillHill’s own
cashier landing page. See that page for all current available
funds transfer methods.
Method | Transfer Time | Maximum Amount |
---|---|---|
VISA | Instant | $99,000 |
MasterCard | Instant | $99,000 |
Electron | Instant | $99,000 |
Maestro | Instant | $99,000 |
Paypal | Instant | $5,500 |
Skrill | Instant | $88,000 |
Local Bank Transfer | Within 5 days | $10,000 |
Check | 2-10 days | $100,000 |
Western Union Transfer | Within 2 days | $10,000 |
CashDirect | Instant | $5,000 |
Sports Betting
SportsbookReview gives the sports betting section of WillHill
an overall “A” rating, based on the size of the company and its
holdings, its customer base, overwhelming number of good
reviews, and a lack of any funny business on the customer
service and payouts end of things.
I count thirty-one different ways to place sports-style
wagers, including some real oddballs like lottery betting,
political and entertainment futures, and virtual sports.
Here’s that long list of markets that I promised:
- Horse Racing
- Football
- Tennis
- Cricket
- Golf
- Greyhounds
- American Football
- Boxing
- GAA Football
- Lotteries
- Politics
- Snooker
- Virtual World
- Australian Rules
- Cycling
- GAA Hurling
- Motor Racing
- Rugby League
- Reality TV
- TV/Specials
- Volleyball
- Baseball
- Darts
- Handball
- Motorbikes
- Rugby Union
- UFC / MMA
- Winter Sports
- Basketball
- E-Sports
- Ice Hockey
- Olympics
William Hill is a UK company, advertising in the UK to a
mostly British customer base, so clearly there’s going to be
major emphasis on spots popular in England, Scotland, and Wales.
But professional and amateur US sports make the list, as do
up-and-comers like e-sports and UFC/MMA. It’s nice to see a list
of available markets that doesn’t plainly emphasize one canon of
sports more than another.
It’s important for sports bettors thinking of doing business
with WillHill to understand how their betting maximums work.
Rather than limiting the size of your wager, the site limits how
much you stand to win. This is especially true in the
sportsbook, racebook, and virtual sports wagering section.
How does it work? A new sportsbook customer is limited to
winnings of $10,000, which means you can only bet $10 on a 1,000
to 1 proposition, or up to $1,000 on a 10 to 1 prospect.
I know for sure that limits can be increased – I read it in
several reviews and customer comments on forums and message
boards. I haven’t experienced it for myself, and I can’t tell
you how it works exactly, but I imagine that big spenders will
find themselves suddenly able to chase a win of more than
$10,000 after a couple of generous losses.
Esports
William Hill definitely takes their eSports betting seriously with a list of
games offered equal to the other top providers in the industry. Here was the
list of games offered the last time we updated this review. As is the industry
standard, William Hill only shows the leagues and games that have active bets to
avoid too much clutter. If you don’t see the games you want to bet on here, we
highly recommend checking the site as they just may not have been in session
when we last updated this review.
- League of Legends – EU LCS Summer Split
- League of Legends – LPL Summer Season
- League of Legends – Secondary Pro League
- League of Legends – LMS Spring Split
- League of Legends – LJL Summer Split
- League of Legends – NA LCS Summer Split
- League of Legends – LCK Summer Split
- CS:GO – ECS
- Dota 2 – Epicenter Group A
- StarCraft
- Halo Championship Series
While the game selection was good, we didn’t see anything outside of straight
match bets. You could bet on who was going to win the match but not anything
else. Other sites (we checked at the same time) were offering prop style bets on
kill amounts, individual map winners, etc. These would have been nice to have in
case you have a hunch or prediction on the game that might not fully affect the
final outcome. To be fair, though, the majority of sites only offered the match
style betting and a very select few offered the prop style bets.
If you’re looking for the prop style bets, we recommend checking out Bet365.
Financials
The Financials section of WillHill is where bettors can
“trade” (read: bet) on foreign currency markets, commodities,
and popular market indices.
The site has a special download-only interface available for
this form of betting. Called WillHill Day Trader, the
application gives bettors access to “132 betting opportunities”
daily, and allows for traditional as well as binary betting. Day
Trader also promises interactive charts and graphs, regular
updates from markets around the world, and news and tips for
financials betting from experts.
At the time of my visit, the site was offering financial
bettors a first-time deposit bonus of $25 in free wagers.
Casino
The best thing I can say about the casino gambling options at
William Hill is that plenty of casino games are available. The
library is large, and includes one of the biggest mobile
libraries I’ve reviewed yet, as well as a long list of live
dealer-capable titles and mobile exclusives.
What I don’t like about the casino games in the site’s
library – they were all designed by Playtech. I’m not really
down on Playtech in particular, I just don’t like when a site
(especially a big one like WillHill) refuses to vary up their
offerings. It makes more sense to pick and choose from a variety
of platforms – I enjoy most of Playtech’s casino games, for
instance, but not their slots.
Here is a breakdown of each of the game categories collected
under the site’s Casino tab:
Table Games is a weird name for this category. Out of the
nineteen titles listed, fifteen are variations on the classic
game of roulette. I like roulette as much as the next guy, but
I’m not sure anyone needs fifteen different versions of it,
especially since it’s a pretty simple game. The other titles are
craps, Sic Bo, and two blackjack variants.
Card Games is where you’ll find classic casino games using
cards rather than other props like a roulette wheel. It’s a nice
collection of titles, because it’s the first with any real
variety, but I still think it’s a bit heavy on one or two games
(with a ton of weird variants) rather than a true cross-section
of popular casino-style card games.
Card Games
- Double Attack Blackjack
- American Blackjack
- Blackjack Super 21
- Perfect Blackjack
- UK Blackjack
- Blackjack
- Baccarat
- Caribbean Stud
- Casino Hold ‘Em
- Tequila Poker
- Blackjack Switch
- Pai Gow Poker
- Blackjack Surrender
- Wild Viking
- Red Dog
- Progressive Blackjack
- Pontoon
- Stravaganza
- 21 Duel Blackjack
- Lucky Blackjack
Slots is the section where the site hosts its online slot
titles. Playtech, the design firm that produced all these
titles, has a huge collection of slot games to offer its
licensees. It looks like William Hill licensed every available
title – the slot collection is huge.
WillHill breaks up their complete slot library (made up of
nearly 200 different titles) into a variety of categories, by
the number of lines, special features, and game complexity.
Missing from this list – licensed titles, which are popular all
over the world, and which Playtech is not known for. I also find
the progressive selection to be lacking compared to competitor
sites.
Video Poker gathers all the site’s video poker style games
under one heading.
Poker Variants
- Jacks or Better Multi-Hand
- Jacks or Better
- Aces & Faces
- 10’s Or Better
- Deuces Wild
- 4-Line Jacks or Better
- 10-Line Jacks or Better
- 25-Line Aces & Faces
- 50-Line Jacks or Better
- Joker Poker
- 4-Line Aces & Faces
- MegaJacks
- 2 Ways Royal
- 4-Line Deuces Wild
- All American
- 50-Line Joker Poker
Scratch Cards
Surprisingly, this is the newest section added to William
Hill’s gaming library.
It’s surprising because scratch-off lottery cards have been
popular all over the world for some three decades. Why the
sudden turn to these niche products? I’m not a fan of scratch
cards in real life, so I can’t even imagine spending time or
money online playing virtual versions, but apparently there is a
market for this type of betting. The addition of new scratch
card products to this game library is an indication of that.
The site currently offers fourteen different scratch cards,
but the game play is almost identical no matter which product
you choose. The only differences between the different cards are
the symbols used and the prize packages. I got so bored after a
few minutes of pretend money play that I wandered off to another
section.
I should mention that WillHill offers a special Scratch Cards
bonus, promising refunds on losing scratch cards up to a limit
of $5 on each loss, but the terms and conditions associated are
atrocious.
Poker
William Hill’s poker room is part of the iPoker network,
which boasted a twenty-four hour average of 2,600 or so cash
players, which is enough to make it the fourth-busiest network
or site in the world.
I found a couple of different opinions about the quality of
competition on the iPoker network. Some say that because of the
prominent sportsbook facilities on site at WillHill, bettors
from the sports and casino sections tend to wander into the
poker rooms and get slaughtered. These reviewers say you’ll find
plenty of wild and loose play all over the site. This is
apparently particularly true in microstakes games.
I liked the way the poker software looks – which was a rare
occurrence for me on any William Hill platform.
Games Offered
- Texas Hold’em
- Omaha
- Omaha Hi-Lo
- Seven-Card Stud
- Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo
- Five-Card Stud
William Hill offers new poker players a special $75 gift bag
when they deposit $25 or more. A first-time deposit match bonus
is also available, a 200% bonus worth up to $1,200.
Customer Support
Customer support is available in the following languages:
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Finnish
- German
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Swedish
- French
- Greek
- Romanian
- Russian
- Turkish
- Slovenian
I haven’t seen a lineup of European languages that diverse in
about a decade, going back to when WillHill was (at one time)
available in Magyar, a language spoken by only a few thousand
people. While support for Magyar is gone, it’s fun to see other
obscure European tongues still going strong – I’m looking at
you, Slovenian.
Everything else you need to know to get help from William
Hill’s customer support staff is available at the site’s “player
support centre.”
Phone support is available around the clock at the following
numbers:
- Casino customers in the UK: 1-800-014-9469
- Poker players in the UK: 1-800-014-9470
William Hill Gambling Sites
Some members will need different numbers based on where they
live, and that information is available at the player support
centre link listed above.
You can send an email for customer support
via their online form or by sending an email to any of the
following addresses:
- Casino Customers:[email protected]
- Poker Players:[email protected]
- Sportsbook Customers:[email protected]
Live chat with customer support staff is also available
around the clock.
Contact William Hill through the post at this address:
William Hill Online 6/1 Waterport Place Gibraltar
Summary
William Hill Gambling Site Official Site
William Hill is one of the best-known names in betting in the
UK and throughout Europe. The site has millions of customers in
countries all over the world, handing out billions in dollars in
winnings every year, with very little to complain about in the
way of customer service issues.
The only downsides, in my opinion, are the lack of access for
American customers, and a confusing user interface that tended
to overwhelm me with choice. That’s not a terrible problem to
have, I know, but it still made using the site a bit of a chore,
especially in its way-too-busy mobile incarnation.
I don’t think the bonuses available at the time of this
review are all that exciting. I didn’t see a traditional deposit
match bonus at all, which seems like a strange move for a modern
online casino. I’m not in love with the site’s casino gaming
options, either, except to say that I’m impressed with the sheer
variety of titles (including lots of mobile-exclusive games)
they make available to mobile bettors.
Verdict
If you are allowed access to William Hill, and you
enjoy betting on a variety of world sports or trying your hand
at slots and table games, you should give the site some
consideration. The list of promotions is not that impressive,
but the site makes up for that with its large variety of betting
options and access points.
William Hill FAQ
What Devices Are Compatible with WillHill’s Mobile Game Library?
William Hill Gambling Site Websites
Players can access the casino and sports betting
properties, as well as bingo, poker, and other games, on any of
the following devices: iOS phones and tablets, Android phones
and tablets, Blackberry devices, and Windows phones and tablets.
Is It Safe to Play Casino Games and Bet on Sports at William Hill?
The site uses a high security SSL server with 128 bit
encryption and a state of the art firewall for all financial
information. WillHill is a registered Thawte-secured site. The
site runs a giant security section to answer questions of this
nature.
The site uses a high security SSL server with 128 bit
encryption and a state of the art firewall for all financial
information. WillHill is a registered Thawte-secured site. The
site runs a giant security section to answer questions of this
nature.
William Hill Gambling Site Games
I Live in ___; Can I Open an Account at William Hill?
William Hill Gambling Site For Real
The list of restricted countries maintained by WillHill is so long
that I’m loathe to copy it here. The best way to check if your
country is allowed at the site is to point your browser to the
homepage – if you aren’t allowed as a customer, you won’t be
able to access the website. Don’t worry, you won’t get in
trouble or anything. You’ll just see a big warning sign and be
unable to interact with the site itself.