William Hill has become the latest bookmaker to declare several ante-post bets void at short notice. The firm is currently in the process of refunding the voided bets through their Swiss platform.
The bookmaker recently reached out to their Swiss players to inform them that all Swiss ante-post bets are being voided due to a regulation change in the market. Hill will be refunding around 400 bets as a result of this move. According to William Hill Communications Director Ciaran O’Brien, all affected player will be given a refund equivalent to the appropriate cash out value if they were sitting on a profit, which means they won’t simply be getting their original stake back. For bets that were not sitting on a profit, the original stake will be given back.
O’Brien said: “All customers will receive refunds, or if they are sitting on a major price change, we will refund them at the latest cash out value, even if there’s no cash out market. A vast majority of the bets will be sitting at a lower cash out, so a refund will be better for them. We are currently manually going through the bets now and refunding all customers.”
William Hill is one of the most well-known names in betting, and this move to void ante-post bets is said to be a reminder to punters of the extent to which the terms and conditions of bookies allow them to cancel bets. They can typically cancel bets several weeks or months after acceptance.
The Guardian has revealed that one of the bets William Hill has decided to void was made on Wimbledon, which began on Monday. The client wagered €1,500 each way on Ashleigh Barty winning the women’s singles at odds of 33-1, with a €77,000 potential payout. Barty has just won the French Open, and since the bet in question was placed, she has become World No. 1. She is now William Hill’s 7-2 favourite to win in Wimbledon.
The punter was not offered a chance to cash out when the bet was initially made. That would have given him the opportunity to reinvest at current market odds and still achieve the same or a similar payout. William Hill says they typically do not offer cashouts on each-way bets, which is why the punter did not have that option.
William Hill’s decision to void all Swiss ante-post bets comes after a similar move by BetBright and 188BET. It also comes after their own move to suddenly stop taking bets from Switzerland-based customers. At present, there seems to be no sign of anyone coming to the rescue of Hill’s affected customers, and this development reminds everyone that bookmakers are legally allowed to void bets and refund stakes without the Gambling Commission getting involved.
The UK Gambling Commission has said they are satisfied with how BetBright handled the ante-post bets situation. People are therefore looking forward to William Hill handling their own ante-post bets situation in a satisfactory manner as well.
