In the review that follows, we consider each of our findings and expand on them: providing a clear and thorough insight into the William Hill online bookmakers and casino.
For customers eager to enjoy a secure betting environment that covers an enormous range of sporting and live events, William Hill remains one of the most reliable, innovative names in the industry.
William Hill Highlights in Test
- Nearly 40 sportsand about 25,000 individual offers daily
- Very good app better than desktop
- Highroller suitable
About William Hill
With the modernisation of the UK gaming industry, William Hill has expanded its operations to include telephone and online betting, casino-like features for customers across the web, and in-store fixed-odds betting machine terminals, among other innovations.
While the business remains based in London and Leeds, William Hill is today active in nine countries across the globe. Since 2009, its online and fixed-odds interests have been based in Gibraltar, and regulated by the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association.
In 2012, William Hill entered the US marketplace with the purchase of three Nevada-based bookmakers. The buyout represented a 55% share of the state’s sports betting market and, therefore, a significant portion of the entire US industry: Nevada being the only US state where sports betting is permitted. The enterprise then entered the Australian market in 2013, with the purchase of a further three regional bookmakers.
Today, the William Hill gaming empire employs a workforce of 16,600 staff worldwide, and generated net profits totalling close to £190 million in 2015. This figure accounts for roughly twenty five percent of the domestic UK gambling market, and makes the company the industry leader. William Hill has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2002 (LSE: WMH), and is a FTSE 250 company.
In Review: Betting Markets, Odds, and Earnings
Every online bookmakers is judged primarily for its betting services and the potential earnings on offer for winning punters. After all, if members cannot place the bets that they want, when they want – and enjoy attractive winnings on a successful wager – then the enterprise will not remain in business for very long.
As an established name in the industry, customers expect an exemplary service from William Hill. In this respect, the service meets those high expectations, with many of the online features proving to be worthy of a market-leading brand.
Football
Sports betting is the core activity of William Hill, and it is all but impossible to find a sporting competition that does not receive at least some degree of coverage on the website. While the company made its name in horse racing, today football is the top earner for the website, and this is reflected in the resources spent to cover every aspect of the beautiful game. In the last year alone, the site made markets in more than 60,000 individual matches: covering everything from competitive international fixtures and the English Premier League, to non-league and reserves matches, and the lower divisions of overseas contests.
Each event provides options for members to place diverse bets, and punters can pick from an exhaustive list of real-time betting opportunities, with more than a hundred individual markets open on many of the top matches at any given time.
Other Markets
International competitions such as the Olympic games, the Super Bowl, and Grand Slam tennis tournaments are also responsible for attracting large volumes of betting activity, and these contests feature heavily on the website. But William Hill is just as keen to promote niche interest sports such as dog racing, handball, ice hockey, and European basketball – with multiple betting options available for each.
The site has recently expanded into the emerging area of eSports, or competitive video gaming. It is currently possible to place wagers on several top titles, including: Call of Duty, Counter Strike, and League of Legends. While the range of games makes William Hill one of the leading mainstream supporters of eSports betting, the individual markets for each tend to be confined to simple outcomes or selecting the winning side of every contest.
Odds and Earnings
With the high volume of bets placed on the website, and the dominant market share, William Hill holds a comfortable position in online gaming. This has allowed the site to pass on attractive margins and bonuses to its membership. Account holders can enjoy competitive odds, individual bonuses on winnings of 25% under certain conditions, and an average margin of 5.4% on football.
- Widely respected industry leaders and innovators
- First class customer care: fast, responsive, and multi-lingual service
- Extensive live streaming of events
Website and Mobile Support: Review of features and usability
The initial impression of the William Hill website is that its vastness has not been hidden away. The landing page presents account holders with not only a complete overview of current live events, but also a wealth of menus detailing upcoming fixtures, sports by category, and user account options and promotional offers.
In fact, the user interface (UI) is one aspect of the William Hill online brand that has come in for criticism over the years. The sheer volume of data that is on-screen at any one time is considerable, and can appear cluttered and overwhelming. This problem is only exacerbated when placing bets while streaming the live content. Although much of this data is something that veteran gamblers will expect – and rely upon – the complexity of the UI is such that newcomers may find navigating the service slow and disorientating.
Downloading and using the William Hill mobile app
In contrast to the website, the mobile app enjoys an elegant and streamlined design, which provides all of the functionality of the main site – but with a reduction of on-screen clutter, and the option to place bets while on the move. It is no surprise that many customers choose to rely on the mobile app to place their bets by default – even when they have access to the desktop site.
Betting Coverage, Live betting, Live Stream Services
The website hosts its own streaming service (called WHTV), which provides punters with fast access to hundreds of live events every day – all in real time.
The quality of the live stream is exceptionally high over a fast broadband connection, and the production values and presenting of the programming is impressive for a free, online service. The list of available content is extensive: WHTV allows customers to access full coverage of football, darts, horse and greyhound racing, tennis, cricket and more: across multiple video and radio channels, and with one-touch access to betting markets within the same desktop window. In down-time, the William Hill In-Play radio station broadcasts every week day between 1400 and 2200.
Promotions, Offers, and Bonuses
There are plenty of opportunities to score a bonus on the William Hill website, with many of the offers providing an incentive to join or lay an initial bet, and others which act as a relatively generous insurance against lost deposits.
For instance, a new account holder can deposit just £10 and instantly receive a £20 bonus in free betting stakes when using the F20 sign-up code. An enticing 40% bonus on league and cup accumulator slips makes William Hill the most attractive place to lay a speculative bet with enormous potential for returns. Equally, cautious gamers are rewarded with partial refunds against specific spots (such as first goalscorer, or next substitution), if their chosen player was next-but-one to complete their chosen action.
Overall, William Hill favours a standardised selection of bonuses that remain available at all times, rather than one-time offers, or promotions that are generated by real-time events. What this system lacks in spontaneity, it makes up for in reliability: customers can bet, knowing they are able to access a partial refund on lost stakes, or boost their earnings using a tried-and-tested strategy.
