William Hill sponsor key events at Kempton Park
December 22, 2008 by mbates
The UK bookmakers William Hill have today announced a new sponsorship deal at Kempton Park Racecourse. The new deal will see William Hill sponsor the williamhill.com Lanzarote Hurdle in January and the Williamhill.com Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle on Saturday 21st of February, which will form part of the gala Racing Post Chase day card
Hills will also sponsor the Williamhill.com Roseberry Stakes and williamhill.com Masaka Stakes on the 28th March which will team up with the £150,000 William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster the same day ensuring that Hills feature prominently during the flat season.
The managing director of Kempton Park Racecourse Amy Starkey said: “I am thrilled with this enhanced association for the racecourse with William Hill. We are looking forward to an excellent year in 2009, and this gets us off to a flying start.”
William Hill Sports Book of the Year Winner
November 25, 2008 by mbates
Marcus Trescothick has been awarded the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, for his autobiography, ‘Coming Back To Me’, winning the £20,000 prize from William Hill (along with his co writer, Peter Hayter) along with a £2000 William Hill bet and a hand-bound copy of the book by master binder David Sellars.
The former England batsman was announced as the winner at Waterstones bookstore in Piccadilly by panel judge John Inverdale, the award was present by the Olympic Gold medal winning athlete, Michael Johnson.
The founder of the event Graham Sharpe and also William Hill spokesman said “This is only the second autobiography to win the Award. The judges felt it fearlessly tackled one of the great taboos of elite sport.‘ The other five finalists for award all collected £2000 cash, a £1000 William Hill bet and a leather-bound copy of their books.
William Hill prepare for largest ever horse racing jackpot
November 21, 2008 by mbates
This Saturday there will be the largest jackpot in horse racing betting history when a possible £5 million plus is available in the Tote Scoop6 bet. To be in with a chance of winning you need find a winner in all six of the televised races on Saturday.
It costs just £2 to select one horse in each race and punters are also allowed to pick more than one horse in each race to further increase their chances of winning. There are only 19 tickets that made it through to the final leg at last weeks Cheltenham and none had selected the winner which enabled to he jackpot pool to be rolled over for its consecutive 11th week.
UK based bookmakers William Hill have seen a large increase of customers in their shops seeking advices on how to place their Scoop6 bet. Customers who have placed bets through William Hill may have a better chance of winning as they have made four millionaires in the last year!
Kate Miller from William Hill said; “The Tote Betting Scoop 6 is the hottest bet in racing! Punters know they have a much greater chance of winning the Scoop6 than the National Lottery and this is the biggest Jackpot in Racing history!”
UK bookmakers getting ready for reality TV betting onslaught
November 13, 2008 by mbates
William Hill the UK based bookmaker is getting ready for one of the busiest fortnights of reality television betting and they have estimated that there will be over £10 million worth of bets will be staked on reality TV shows such as X Factor, I’m A Celebrity and Come Dancing in the coming weeks.
When last years I’m a Celebrity Betting was won by the outsider Christopher Biggins it cost the bookmakers millions of pounds as many had expected Janince Dickinson to win the event. Already for this years I’m a Celeb event the former tennis player Martina Navratilova has been the best backed contestant with William Hill who have cut her odds from 10/1 to 7/1, with Kilroy Silk attracting just one bet in the first twelve hours of betting.
A spokesman for William Hill said “Biggins cost us big last year and we are out to get our revenge this year as there is no obvious stand out yet.“
William Hill announces growth amid UK recession fears
October 20, 2008 by mbates
William Hill the United Kingdoms second biggest bookmaker has reported an increase of 9% in gross win in the 15 weeks ending October 14th in a statement today. This combined with earlier news about the recent Playtech announcement has seen an increase in the share price of William Hill of 21%.
The strongest growth Hills has seen is in online bingo and games while poker has been seen to suffer to due weak player take up which has been attributed to William Hill being built mainly on sports betting and having only a limited online gaming experience.
Shares in William Hill have hit just over 200.00 today compared to a year low on Friday of 164.25 following the global slump of the past two weeks.
William Hill disappointed with increase in Ireland’s betting tax
October 14, 2008 by mbates
Ireland’ss minister for Finance Brian Lenihan announced today that the Government will double the current 1 per cent tax on bookmakers turnover to 2 per cent, this will net the exchequer an extra €40 million. The move was condemned by the Irish Bookmakers’ Association who said it will drive small bookmakers out of business.
William Hill Director Of Racing & Public Relations David Hill commented; “We are surprised and disappointed that the Irish Government is increasing betting tax at a time when the man in the street continues to feel less change in his pocket day after day. As a turnover tax, rather than a Gross Profits Tax, which is now the model adopted in the UK and other territories, it will make running large estates of betting shops and particularly an internet or telephone business in Ireland very unattractive. William Hill customers can continue to bet ‘tax free’ because we will absorb the cost on their behalf for the time being. Our initial thoughts are though, that some operators will have to consider passing on the cost to their customers through reduced odds and trading concessions. It may make the ownership of some betting shops in Ireland unsustainable and could lead to redundancies.”
William Hill and other leading bookmakers will not pass on the tax increase to their customers.
William Hill closes book on X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing
October 9, 2008 by mbates
William Hill have stopped taking bets on which show out of the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing will come top in the TV ratings this weekend following a large amount of bets being placed on the X Factor. A spokesperson for William Hill said “Strictly is on at the same time as England’s World Cup qualifier and is bound to suffer as a result. We also feel that to gain brownie points, long suffering football widows will be allowed to watch the X Factor in peace after the football finishes,”
William Hill are making the group Girlband the favourite to be the first band to be voted off the X Factor, live betting will be available throughout the show.
X Factor First Elimination Odds:
- 9/4 Girlband
- 7/2 Scott Bruton
- 5/1 Bad Lashes
- 6/1 Danny Evans
- 8/1 Ruth Lorenzo
- 12/1 JLS
- 16/1 Rachel Hylton, Eoghan Quigg, Diana Vickers
- 33/1 Austin Drage
- 40/1 Laura White, Alexandra Burke
Federer Vs Nadal Generates £10 Million
July 6, 2008 by mbates
Following the record breaking £8 million turnover for the Andy Murray vs Rafa Nadal showdown last week records have again been broken for the Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal early estimates are putting the betting turnover at £10 million.
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said “This game has the potential to smash the current record and become the first time that an eight figure sum has been riding on the outcome of a single tennis match”, Sharpe continued “‘You have two of the most popular sportsmen in world sport who look evenly matched about to play a game about which every sports fan will have an opinion as to the outcome. We have already taken bets of £30,000; £25,000 and £15,000 for Federer, and a £10,000 bet for Nadal, who will cost us more if he wins.”
William Hill currently have Roger Federer as the favourite to win and claim the £750,000 men’s single prize with odds of 4/5 with Nadal being quoted at even money to collect his 6th title of the year.
Bookies expect £100 million Wimbledon Betting Bonanza
June 22, 2008 by mbates
William Hill are expecting up to £100 million to be staked during the Wimbledon fortnight with Hills already receiving bets of up to £30,000 on Roger Federer and £11,000 on Rafa Nadal. The hopes of Britain lie with the Scottish player Andy Murray who is showing odds of 9/4 to make the quarter finals.
“Wimbledon is by far the biggest betting tournament of the year with William Hill expecting to turnover double the nearest rival the French Open. At present a Nadal victory is the worst result for the bookies, who have six figure liabilities on the Spaniard but a good run for Andy Murray will create a million pound plus liabilitie on the British number 1,” said Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams.
Betting on the women’s singles final is a completely different affair, Hills have taken more money on the confirmation of the existence of the Loch Ness monster than they have for a British girl to win Wimbledon, a female British winner is currently on odds of 1000/1.
Britains first Betting Shop Millionaire
February 25, 2008 by Robert
William Hill have reported that one of its punters is Britains first betting shop millionaire following a successful eight horse accumulator bet on placed in the company’s Thirsk, North Yorkshire branch on Friday 22nd February 2008.
The lucky punter, believed to be in his 50’s has been placing the same type of bet for years without much luck. However, he will never need to place another bet in his life following winning the biggest amount ever claimed in a British betting shop. A William Hill spokesman said “the punter want to keep a low profile following his win. he didn’t realise that he had won until he came to place his bets on Saturday, when shop staff informed him of his luck. He still placed £2.50 worth of bets but didn’t have the same luck”
The customer’s winning selections were -
Isn’t That Lucky - 2.55pm Sandown (8/1)
Mutamarres - 3.05pm Nad Al Sheba (7/2)
Mutasallil - 3.40pm Nad Al Sheba (11/2)
Racer Forever - 4.15pm Nad Al Sheba (4/1)
Ede’s 4.50pm - Warwick (10/1)
Rio L’Oren - 7.50pm Wolverhampton (15/2)
Guadaloup - 8.20pm Wolverhampton (11/2)
A Dream Come True - 9.20pm Wolverhampton (5/2)
