Caesars Entertainment, owners of the William Hill Online Casino and Sportsbook, recently announced they would be stopping operations in Ontario until they have obtained a licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission. The site has no specific date for reopening but is expected to be back within a few months. Players from the rest of Canada will however be able to access William Hill products.
As of August 15th all William Hill users from Ontario will not be able to place any bets or make any deposits. All available game play via casino or live casino products will also be suspended.
William Hill is also asking players with an Ontario-based account to begin withdrawing their funds from their existing account as soon as possible. A date of 2022-09-07 has been set before the site will become completely suspended. Players will be able to login anytime before this date to withdraw their funds. The HELP CENTRE is also available for guides and live assistance for helping players get money off the site.
Unfortunately, there aren’t too many payment options available to get money off the William Hill site, which has left Ontario based bettors frustrated. The main withdrawal method is a bank transfer which has a high fee which makes getting small amounts of money off the platform pointless.
William Hill, along with a few other sports betting sites like Pinnacle and Sportingbet have all been operating their non-Ontario websites pending approval by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). They have an agreement that allowed them to operate as is until they get approval from the AGCO .The AGCO gave sites the chance to continue to operate their current sites in Ontario for up to six months, after which they would need to stop operations and get a licence. This six month grace period is ending soon and it seems that William Hill is the first that wishes to jump ship until they receive the AGCO licence.
In April 2020, Caesars completed the sale of their non-U.S. businesses to 888 Holdings for $3 billion USD. So when William Hill comes out with a licensed product in Ontario, it will be a second skin for 888 Holdings in the province along with its current 888 brand. William Hill has been one of the most successful gambling sites in Ontario over the years and will likely provide a huge drive to the 888 customer base in the province.
