William Hill, Britain's biggest bookmaker, said that struggling punters looking for cheap forms of entertainment had boosted its revenues for the end of last year. The company which saw its 4th quarter hit be unfavourable football results, saw shares rise 5.9 percent on news that over-the-counter bets at its land based shops and gambling machines soared made up for any bad news.

The gambling giant, which takes more than one million bets each day, reported that over-the-counter bets had risen by 11 percent in the 4th quarter in comparison to the same period last year. The report also stated that the gross win (total bets minus payouts) for its gambling machines had seen a 7 percent increase.

"Going into 2011, we were - like many businesses with a strong presence in the UK - predicted to face a challenging consumer backdrop, but our overall performance shows we've seen the benefit of being a predominantly low ticket leisure activity," commented the Chief Executive, Ralph Topping,

Over the full year, Wiliam Hill said the company would meet market expectations with net revenue up 6 percent and operating profit to be around £274 million, compared to £276.8 million last year, which benefitted from the World Cup football competition.

"This is a very positive performance, particularly in a year without a significant international football tournament and with a 9 million pounds increase in VAT payments as a result of the rate change," said Topping.

The company reported that over-the-counter gross win margin was 17 percent in the 4th quarter, which was down 2 percent on the same period last year. The decline was a result of winning bets in Premier League football and accumulator bets.

Langton Capital analyst, Mark Brumby, commented: "The group's exposure to the 'low ticket leisure activity' of sports betting has helped it to perform steadily in a tough year and it will continue to invest for the future,"

While land based revenues have generally been in the shadows of the online operations in recent years investors will now be reviewing the industry.

Investec analyst Paul Leyland suggested William Hill's results change the way investors view the land based gambling: "We see this as a highly encouraging result, especially the Q4 OTC volume growth of 11 percent. Most significantly, we see continued OTC volume growth undermining the 'structural decline' thesis, potentially driving a re-rating as well as upgrades,"

William Hill Online, the joint venture with Playtech, saw net revenue increase by 28 percent, with a 51 percent rise in sports betting.