British bookmaker William Hill yesterday launched its new offshore telephone account betting service by giving away free mobile phones to the first 10,000 people to place bets with the new service. And the bookmaking firm's customers will pay a mandatory deduction of just three percent to cover administrative charges, rather than the current standard nine percent betting tax in English betting shops or over the telephone.
William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said, "We must reemphasize that we have taken this step because our case for reducing betting duty in the U.K. has, as yet, gone unanswered by the government.
We cannot afford to stand by and see our business ebb away."
The new operation is based in the Republic of Ireland where the bets will be taken prior to them being passed on for acceptance to the William Hill International bookmaking company in Antigua. Later this week, Hill will also become the first major bookmaking firm to offer a completely duty-free betting service to U.K.-based clients via the Internet.