William Hill Sportsbook Takes Back $2,500 Parlay Win, Citing ‘Terms And Conditions
Jeff Edelstein
3/25/21
Captain Jack Andrews — the pseudonym of a prominent East Coast bettor and analyst — has heard it all before, so when a man from the Midwest reached out to him in December of 2020 saying he felt like he had been taken advantage of by William Hill sportsbook, Andrews decided to take a look, but with trepidation.
“I tend to vet these claims pretty harshly since the last thing I want to do is be stuck defending an angle shooter,” Andrews told CO Bets via email.
So he vetted. And what he found was a straight shooter who won a $500 parlay (taking it down for over $2,500) and then, when he attempted to withdraw his winnings, watched as the sportsbook took the winnings away, leaving him with only the $500 he initially deposited.
On March 23, some three months later, and after repeated attempts to figure out just what happened with both William Hill and the Colorado Division of Gaming (CDG), the bettor received the final word from the CDG: No dice.
So what, exactly, happened out in Colorado?
“I travelled from my home in the Midwest to Colorado in December to do some early season skiing,” the bettor said, via email. “I was excited to do some sports betting while I was there because I knew there were some good promotions that most of the sportsbooks were offering for new users. One of the books I signed up for was William Hill. They offered a $500 free bet if you deposited $500. I deposited my $500 and placed my $500 free bet on a 3 leg parlay.”
Which, as stated earlier, he won.
At this point, the bettor decided discretion was the bettor part of valor, and went to withdraw his winnings.
“I believe I elected to use PayPal for my withdrawal method,” the bettor said. “It asked me how much I wanted to withdraw and stated my balance available to withdraw as $3,057.19. I typed in the full amount and submitted it. The next day I checked my PayPal account to see if it had processed yet and did not see my funds. I went back into the William Hill app and saw that the full amount was back in my account. Thinking that there must have been some sort of issue, I attempted to withdraw again using the same method and for the same amount.”
And this is when things turned sour.
“A few minutes after this attempt I got two emails from William Hill,” he said. “The first was notifying me that my account has been suspended indefinitely and the second informing me that I am no longer eligible for bonuses and that all my current bonuses and free play has been voided. I initially assumed this just meant I couldn’t do any bonuses in the future, which I found annoying but not that big of a deal. I soon found out that they meant I would not be getting the funds from my winning parlay. I combed the T&Cs and found the section in question. If I remember right, it basically states very vaguely that they reserve all rights and can withhold winnings if you abuse the bonus and try to immediately withdraw it. After a few days they lifted my account suspension and I could see that my balance was only the initial $500 I had deposited.”
At this point, the bettor reached out to William Hill customer support, got nowhere fast, and was told the decision was final.
And that’s when he reached out to the Captain.
Rest of story....
Jeff Edelstein
3/25/21
Captain Jack Andrews — the pseudonym of a prominent East Coast bettor and analyst — has heard it all before, so when a man from the Midwest reached out to him in December of 2020 saying he felt like he had been taken advantage of by William Hill sportsbook, Andrews decided to take a look, but with trepidation.
“I tend to vet these claims pretty harshly since the last thing I want to do is be stuck defending an angle shooter,” Andrews told CO Bets via email.
So he vetted. And what he found was a straight shooter who won a $500 parlay (taking it down for over $2,500) and then, when he attempted to withdraw his winnings, watched as the sportsbook took the winnings away, leaving him with only the $500 he initially deposited.
On March 23, some three months later, and after repeated attempts to figure out just what happened with both William Hill and the Colorado Division of Gaming (CDG), the bettor received the final word from the CDG: No dice.
So what, exactly, happened out in Colorado?
“I travelled from my home in the Midwest to Colorado in December to do some early season skiing,” the bettor said, via email. “I was excited to do some sports betting while I was there because I knew there were some good promotions that most of the sportsbooks were offering for new users. One of the books I signed up for was William Hill. They offered a $500 free bet if you deposited $500. I deposited my $500 and placed my $500 free bet on a 3 leg parlay.”
Which, as stated earlier, he won.
At this point, the bettor decided discretion was the bettor part of valor, and went to withdraw his winnings.
“I believe I elected to use PayPal for my withdrawal method,” the bettor said. “It asked me how much I wanted to withdraw and stated my balance available to withdraw as $3,057.19. I typed in the full amount and submitted it. The next day I checked my PayPal account to see if it had processed yet and did not see my funds. I went back into the William Hill app and saw that the full amount was back in my account. Thinking that there must have been some sort of issue, I attempted to withdraw again using the same method and for the same amount.”
And this is when things turned sour.
“A few minutes after this attempt I got two emails from William Hill,” he said. “The first was notifying me that my account has been suspended indefinitely and the second informing me that I am no longer eligible for bonuses and that all my current bonuses and free play has been voided. I initially assumed this just meant I couldn’t do any bonuses in the future, which I found annoying but not that big of a deal. I soon found out that they meant I would not be getting the funds from my winning parlay. I combed the T&Cs and found the section in question. If I remember right, it basically states very vaguely that they reserve all rights and can withhold winnings if you abuse the bonus and try to immediately withdraw it. After a few days they lifted my account suspension and I could see that my balance was only the initial $500 I had deposited.”
At this point, the bettor reached out to William Hill customer support, got nowhere fast, and was told the decision was final.
And that’s when he reached out to the Captain.
Rest of story....