William Hill Sports

What makes William Hill one of the leading bookmakers in the country?

William Hill have over 2,400 shops across the UK, a betting website which is one of the most recognised in the industry, and a mobile app that allows its customers to bet on the move with just the touch of a button. They are also one of the oldest bookmakers still around today, which means they are reliable and can be trusted.

As one of the leading bookmakers in the UK, you’d expect William Hill to offer an array of markets across a vast range of sports and they certainly do not disappoint in that regard.

The firm advertise their site during the ad breaks of a lot of televised football games, which ensures that their brand reaches far and wide.

Website design

The first big difference with William Hill’s sportsbook website, in comparison to the majority in the industry, is that the A-Z of sports runs horizontally from left to right at the very top of the page, rather than vertically down the left-hand side. The site is easy on the eye and there appears to be a neat and tidy design to it.

Choices on offer

Horse racing has traditionally been the core product which William Hill offers and although football now rivals that claim, the sport is still very important to the firm. Not all online websites offer a market on the horse racing but this is a problem you will not have with William Hill as you will be able to place a bet on any race in the UK, Ireland and a host of other meetings from around the world.

In terms of its football offering, William Hill has outright and match betting from nearly all the recognised leagues on the planet. These include the Japanese J-League, Indian Goa Professional League and South African Division. If you have an opinion about any football match around the world, the chances are you can have a bet on it with William Hill.

Live streaming

One of the advantages of betting in-play with William Hill is that in a number of events, you can stream the game you have bet on free of charge through their website. This means you don’t have to repeatedly press F5 and refresh a live scoring website to keep up to date with your bet!

William Hill also show all live UK and Irish racing on their site, but you need to bet £1 or more on the race to qualify for these pictures.
In addition to the live video streams, the firm provides live horse racing commentary from meetings in the UK and Ireland, greyhound commentaries and an in-play radio channel which discusses the best bets from the sporting action each day.

Cash in my bet

William Hill are late to the party when it comes to cash out/cash in but they do now offer punters the chance to take cash out on football singles and multiples in their 90 minute and correct score market. This means that if you do have a bet that is in a winning position, you can pick up a return and not worry about the result staying in your favour at the end of the 90 minutes.

Ways to deposit and withdraw

It is very easy to deposit funds into your William Hill account as they accept most major cards including Visa, Mastercard and Maestro. You can also play online with a voucher from any William Hill shop. Any returns accumulated from this voucher can then be collected back in the shop where you will be paid instantly rather than waiting the 3-5 working days for it to clear into your bank account.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do bookmakers work?

Bookmakers are traditionally known as the ‘accountants of the horse racecourse’ and this is for good reason. They take money as stakes on various outcomes of a race or contest and they pay out money to those who predicted the outcome correctly.

The aim of this ‘accountant’ is of course so that when the balance sheet is drawn up, a profit has been made by the bookmaker. To achieve this, they try to offer odds that are actually smaller than the probability of the outcome actually turning out that way.

The odds offered by the Bookmakers when a given event is added up are therefore higher than 100%.
How are odds determined by Bookmakers?

If a bookmaker offered odds of, say, 6/5, it would always be to the bettor’s advantage. You would then bet, say, £50 on ‘heads’ and £50 on tails and you would make a profit regardless of the result. Bookmakers are, of course, far too smart to let this happen. However, it is possible that comparing odds at bookmakers can create such a win/win situation.
How are the odds determined for a particular event?

Below is an example of how prices are set based on the nature of the event. Let’s take two horse races, same venue, same type of race.

Race 1: Big well-known race, well-known names competing, high stakes spread across the various player. Bookmakers can then compile odds easily and without much adjustment.

Race2: Small race, with unknown participants. Is unlikely to generate as many stakes, so betting a high amount on 1 horse causes more headaches for the Bookmakers than race 1. To secure the Bookmaker’s margin, the odds per horse will go down, to have a higher ‘over-round’ percentage overall, so this acts as a buffer for the Bookmaker.
Why do bookmakers restrict your accounts?

Bettors like to have multiple accounts because it ensures they get the best price on all their bets. It can be very frustrating to see your accounts very restricted or even closed. The official reason for restricting accounts is almost always a ‘trading decision’; actually, it is the reasons below that make your accounts get tackled.
Are there any bets that bookmakers don’t like?

Bookies love it when you place multiple bets. That’s why they offer so many enhancements (odds that are increased in between) and money-back specials with multiple bets. After all, any kind of bet with more than one outcome reduces your chances of winning.

Although you get a few wins from these bets; the bookies will generally leave you alone because they assume they are going to make money from you in the long run.

There are some bets that bookmakers dislike, such as singles, for example. Or bad each way bets (each way bets in races where a short priced favourite is running and bettors are more likely to take advantage of the market) and each way bets on relatively short priced selections (3 on 1 or 4 on 1 shots).

These are some examples of bets that bookmakers are not happy about and – even if you are losing – can cause restrictions on your account
What does it mean when your account has never been restricted?

Don’t worry if you have never had to deal with bookmaker restrictions. Be happy! Most gamblers bet for fun and usually the amounts involved are so small that bookmakers are not worried at all. Besides, most punters lose regularly or bet on the type of bets bookmakers love (especially multiples).
Is it fair for the bookmaker to restrict my account?

Don’t forget that a bookmaker runs a commercial business. That is why bookmakers make sure their terms and conditions allow them to restrict big winners at any time.

Naturally, it would be much fairer for bookmakers to treat their big losing customers the same as their big winning bettors. The chances of this happening are slim, especially since the government has no legislation on the matter.

It is relatively easy for bookmakers to monitor customers so having restrictions imposed on them is unfortunately one of the things to consider when gambling.
How do I prevent my account from being restricted?
Of course, ideally you should not have to deal with restrictions from bookmakers. So the question is, can you do anything about this or are you powerless? There are some things you can do to reduce the chances of restrictions. We have put them here for you, take advantage of them!
- Set rounded amounts
  The more arbitrary your bets are, the more you will resemble an arber. Arbers bet with exact amounts to guarantee their winnings. Betting with 40 euros instead of 39.99 makes you look more like a real gambler. Whether you are or not…
- Write off money
  Don’t write off your money from your account too often. Make sure it doesn’t look like you have a regular betting bank, because the more strategy the bookies think they see in you, the more likely they are to restrict your accounts. If you’re winning; let your balance go up.
- Lose!
  Believe us, this advice is not as weird as it sounds.
  If you have a good run in an account and it’s all running smoothly, back some selections that they lose and then trade them on the exchanges. Of course, make sure your potential debts do not exceed your potential profits.

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