William Hill bring back Chase the Ace, change conditions

THE most popular bookmaker promotion of the 2016 Australian Open is back, but WilliamHill.com.au has significantly changed the fine print on its Chase the Ace deal.

Unlike last year when punters were rewarded with $1 per ace to their real-money profit when punting on an individual in head-to-head markets, in 2017 every ace will return a ‘varied’ amount of bonus bets.

When you place a head-to-head bet (with a minimum wager of $25) on the 2017 Australian Open men’s or women’s singles tournament, you will receive up to $10 in bonus bets for every ace your player serves.

The amount of bonus bets awarded per ace will vary between 50c, $1, $2, $5 and $10 – WilliamHill.com.au is yet to stipulate what the conditions will be around these bonus variations.

So, for example, if you place a $25 bet on Nick Kyrgios to beat Roger Federer in a head-to-head market, you could be rewarded with $5 in bonus bets for every ace. If Kyrgios hits 20 aces, you would be rewarded with $100 in bonus bets (which would have its own level of terms and conditions attached to its use).

The 2016 version of the promotion was one of the most successful initiatives in William Hill’s history. The bookmaker reported an 80 per cent rise in turnover after the tournament and in-play betting also shot up 297 per cent, thanks largely to its now illegal in-play betting app.

That success and the added exposure of the bookmaker eventually led to its removal from court-side advertising as the sport continued its struggle against match-fixing, corruption and the influence of illegal bookmakers.

Our say on WilliamHill.com.au’s new Chase the Ace promotion

Punters be warned: while the promotion is the same in spirit, it is a very, very different deal to the popular and successful incarnation last year.

Some key differences to take note of:

• The minimum wager in the head-to-head bet has risen from $20 to $25.
• The return of ‘bonus bets’ over real money cash.
• The ‘sliding scale’ of Chase the Ace returns – varying from 50c to $10 without a word of how that scale will be adjusted from player to player.

This is not the same deal the bookmaker offered last year and punters should not expect the same returns.

There’s a few reasons for this that we’ll go into detail in.

• WilliamHill’s $5 million advertising deal for the Australian Open, while wildly successful in 2016, now comes with pressure as the sport tries to protect its image and integrity from match-fixing and corruption allegations. Any gambling promotion changes simply must have been done to protect that deal going forward. We expect the Australian Open had a big part to play in hosing down the giveaways.
• The first Chase the Ace deal was a boon for punters – so you can expect William Hill to rope it in to stem the bleeding this time around.
• The new ‘sliding scale’ of bonus bet returns puts control back in the bookmaker’s hands. The bookmaker can now easily protect its returns when strong-serving players with high ace counts play by lowering the returns, instead of getting caught out paying out the same amount for every player.

Having said all of that, the Chase the Ace promotion is still worth having a go at if you’re betting on head-to-head markets, simply because the bookmaker offers bonuses and returns that you won’t receive at other betting avenues.

We recommend you open up a WilliamHill.com.au account and take advantage, just be very careful to read the fine print before you take a punt this time around.