Betting shops were legalised on the 1st May 1961 but prior to that in the early days sport betting was seen as seedy and mainly took place behind closed doors. In 1934 William Hill founded his company, this was an age when there wasn’t a governing body to oversee the industry. In some incidences bets would be placed without money changing hands and this could lead to all kinds of friction when accounts were to be settled. On the other hand, without a governing body, bookmakers weren’t legally obliged to pay out winnings to their punters and many abused this.
When William Hill started his betting odds business he was determined that he was going to run it in a honest manner, many bookies were not to be trusted and he saw this as a great business opportunity for himself to make a good reputation. That is exactly what he did; a reputation built on honesty, trustworthiness and knowledge. The only way you could place a bet at this time with William Hill was by telephone or post. The customer would have to send their bet along with a cheque weeks before the sporting event. By staying true to his honesty, William Hill became the business we know today.
Even though betting shops were legalised in 1961, Hill didn’t open his first shop until 1966. At this time high street betting shops were very tightly regulated against people loitering outside. A lot of the non gambling public saw these shops as blots on their landscape and objected to them even being there. The windows were closed and blacked out and the atmosphere inside was smoky to say the least.
As television became more widely available, so did sporting events on TV. This was a great coup for the bookies as many more Joe Public started to appreciate sport and the thrill of backing their favourite team or a punt on the horses. How many of us 40 something’s remember our Mum or Dad never gambling apart from putting 50 pence on the Grand National. Not only was television more abundant in peoples homes, but also in betting shops. People could now see the odds, place a bet, watch the event and collect their winnings without leaving the bookmakers shop.
1994 saw the beginning of the National Lottery Draw. All of a sudden sports betting had became acceptable and even encouraged.
In 1998, William Hill became the first bookmaker to open his online sports book which goes from strength to strength bring in younger punters who bet on a huge range of sporting events, television events such as Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing and Political events.
William Hill Bookmakers still pride their reputation with honesty, trustworthiness and knowledge. Maybe this is why this king of bookmakers has stood the test of time to be around in today’s society