The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld one complaint made against William Hill in relation to a slot promotion voucher “You’ve won a £5 cash match on any game!”.

The complainant challenged whether the timeframe between when the voucher was issued and when it was redeemable breached the Code, because it was socially undesirable by encouraging irresponsible use.

William Hill said that they did not believe the promotion breached the CAP Code or encouraged behaviour that was socially undesirable or irresponsible.

The promotional voucher was issued to customers who staked £50 or more on an eligible gaming machine prior to 17:20 on the day that the promotion was issued and valid. They clarified that this was the total value of stakes placed in-store, including both the customer’s original cash-in, and any winnings that were subsequently played again.

They provided evidence demonstrating that the average cash-in in relation to the three-day promotion was below the average spend for April and May 2025. Because of this, they did not believe that the amount needed to spend in order to qualify for the promotion was substantial, nor that the promotion encouraged excessive staking. 

The ASA understood that the complainant received the voucher at 11.51 am on 3 April 2025 when it was automatically printed from a slot machine. The voucher stated “You’ve won a £5 cash match on any game!” and “Redeemable between 03/04/2025 – 03/04/2025 from 05:20 PM – 11:59 PM in any venue”.

We understood that the voucher was only valid on that day and that the redemption window commenced at 05:20 pm – five hours and 29 minutes after the voucher was initially printed for the complainant. We also understood that consumers only qualified for those who had staked a minimum of £50, across cash-in, and any winnings that were subsequently played again, on an eligible gaming machine prior to 5.20 pm that day.

The ASA said we acknowledged William Hill’s response that the voucher was optional, that only a proportion of eligible participants redeemed it, and that most participants redeemed the voucher at least three hours after they had qualified for it, all of which they believed demonstrated the redemption window of the promotion did not encourage irresponsible use.

However, we considered that, because the redemption window was limited to a later time on the day it was printed, it meant that most participants could only benefit if they returned to the premises or stayed until the later start time. In addition, we noted that was reflected in the percentage breakdown of the time period between the voucher being issued and redeemed.

We also considered that those who were eligible for the voucher may have already placed several bets earlier that day, as the voucher was issued once an individual’s total stake reached £50, which could include repeated play of winnings.

We therefore considered that the timeframe between when the voucher was issued and when it was redeemable created an incentive for repeated play within a short period, including visiting the betting shop twice in a single day, increasing the risk of consumers gambling more than they otherwise would.

We thus considered that linking the reward to a same-day timeframe, particularly at a limited period later on the day, incentivised behaviours that could encourage irresponsible use.

The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. The ASA told William Hill Organization Ltd t/a William Hill to ensure that future promotions did not encourage irresponsible use.