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IntroductionWilliam Hillare one of the oldest bookmakers in the business, having established themselves through a series of betting shops in 1934. Sixty-five years later, Hills not only have over 2,000 licensed retail outlets in the UK, they also have a burgeoning telephone betting operation and a website which services over 500,000 customers. They have been listed on the LSE since 2002 and have over 15,000 employees.Customers from over 175 countries have signed up at WilliamHill.com, which is now available in seven different languages. In October 2008, the company joined forces with Israeli software company Playtech, with the latter helping Hills to improve their gaming offering. In return, Playtech enjoy a cut of the sportsbook profits that the company achieves. The company became known as William Hilland a month later, the site was relaunched using Orbis technology.BrandDue to a massive high street presence,William Hillis a trusted brand due to the longevity of the company. It's possibly seen by some as being old-fashioned, especially in the modern age of the internet, with the company name switching toWilliam HillOnline to create an aura of dynamism. There is little brand recognition outside of the UK right now, although they do feature regularly in the UK media, who regularly quote their prices when something significant is taking place in the sporting or political world.
WebsiteWilliam HillOnline certainly aren't afraid to push their gaming products on the sportsbook homepage, with the Playtech influence certainly shining through. The right-hand margin is populated with roulette and blackjack graphics, which is possibly the first thing that will catch your eye. The company take the unusual step of listing all the available sports in rows across the top of the page, with a neat In-Play console taking centre stage underneath. Also included are upcoming highlights and the next few horse races if you continue scrolling for long enough!When you click on a sport from the menu, this quickly loads the relevant page, although the customer still has to scroll down to view the latest markets (with any In-Play events featuring at the top again). There is the option to select different tabs, which is not dissimilar to the Ladbrokes website, although Hills would benefit from having the Daily Match List as a default option for football. That said, the pages are very quick to load and the Betting Slip is integrated nicely.
Free BetsThere is a £25 free matched bet available for customers who enter the code F25 when they register. The odds on the qualifying selection must be 1/2 or bigger.
OddsWhileWilliam Hillaren't massively adventurous with their odds for football, horse racing and tennis, they are prepared to lay bets for large stakes for big-hitting customers. However, their current policy appears to be going best price on the outsider in a football or tennis match, illustrating that they don't want to incur too many liabilities on the favourites. Where you should find some value with the Hills prices is on markets like Anytime Goalscorer and Correct Score, where the traders are prepared to stick their neck out.
Like several other top bookmakers,
MarketsThere's a pretty healthy list of sports featured on the website, roughly 25 at the time of writing. In fairness toWilliam Hill, most of them have more than just the token coverage often attributed by bookmakers, with some real depth given to US sports such as NFL, ice hockey and basketball in addition to the 'big two' of horse racing and football.
With regard to football,
PromotionsA big shout out to the live streaming that's available for horse racing, soccer and tennis. It's a surprise that Hills don't make more of this on the website, with any UK or Irish race available to view providing you place at least �5 before the off. They also have their very own radio coverage devoted to the racing.
In addition,
Customer ServiceThere's a sophisticated customer support in place for customers, who are first channelled towards an FAQ page before getting the chance to contact Hills directly. As you might expect, staff are on hand 24 / 7 to deal with queries, with a tight ship being run by the guys in Gibraltar. There seems to be a lot of experience on board and someone will get back to you pretty quickly.
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