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There is competition from smaller bookmakers like Ladbroke's (whose clients include the royal family) and from football pools. The pools, playing it safer, give winners only a cut of all the money collected, but the "fixed odds" bookmakers such as Hill set their odds in advance, and sometimes lose more than they take in. Last season terrible weather ("all that bloody ice and snow") ruined odds, postponed football matches, cost Hill a loss of $1,600,000 on his football business. "Fixed odds is a very risky business," says Hill.
Stud Poker. Hill intends to fight such adversity with diversity. He has branched into a blouse manufacturing firm, and a fortnight ago joined other millionaires, including Industrialist Charles Clore, in something of a stud poker game: they are starting a cattle-breeding service with a number of Friesian bulls. But despite the fact that gambling built his own fortune of $30 million, Hill has not placed a bet for nearly ten years. He figures that he would not get a kick out of it if he won, and would be very annoyed if he lost. He has even become slightly moralistic about wagering. He advises Englishmen: "Don't bet. But if you have to, bet with William Hill."