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Tom Waterhouse (Bookmaker)

Thomas Robert Waterhouse (born 11 June 1982) is an Australian bookmaker and businessman. Waterhouse is a fourth generation bookmaker, and the great grandson of one of the first official bookmakers in Australia. His grandfathers on both sides boast impressive accolades in the racing industry, bookmaker William “Bill” Waterhouse was Australia’s biggest bookmaker in the 1960s and 1970s and took the world's first bet to win one million dollars.1 The late legendary trainer Tommy J. Smith, trained 279 Group One winners, including two Melbourne Cup winners. His father is bookmaker Robert “Robbie” Waterhouse and his mother is celebrated trainer Gai Waterhouse.

Biography

Waterhouse was born in Sydney, Australia and educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore) in North Sydney, where he became senior prefect and house captain. While horse racing dominated conversation at the Waterhouse home, Waterhouse initially had no interest in following in either of his parents footsteps. He studied a bachelor of Commerce & Liberal Studies at Sydney University, majoring in finance and marketing with the intention of working in finance.

Bookmaking

In 2001, Waterhouse’s father asked him if he'd "help out on the bag" at Rosehill. "Within about 20 minutes I was hooked," Waterhouse says. He was only six months into his Commerce degree, but he immediately rearranged his timetable, moving his classes to Monday and Tuesday so that he could attend the races for the rest of the week.2 Within a short time, Waterhouse had acquired his licence for the greyhounds, followed shortly by the thoroughbreds. In 2003, he began working “on the rails” under the watchful eyes of his bookmaker father and grandfather, building up an impressive VIP business. By 2008, Tom was Australia's biggest on-track bookmaker, and at the Melbourne Cup that year, he held more than $20 million over four days, more than all the other bookies combined.3

For four years Waterhouse lived in Melbourne’s Crown Casino for most of the week due to the protectionist betting laws in NSW, and to date he still commutes back and forth between Melbourne and Sydney twice a week.4

TomWaterhouse.com

Waterhouse launched his online business TomWaterhouse.com in 2010, making him the youngest online bookmaker in Australia. The company is now one of Australia’s largest corporate bookmakers, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin. Despite his spearhead into the online market, Waterhouse’s VIP business remains phone operated, with a client list of 100 "high net worth individuals" whose minimum bet is $1000. 5  The identity of these clients is kept confidential, though it acquires much speculation.

Branding

In an effort to differentiate the Tom Waterhouse brand from the typical style favoured by competitors in the market, Waterhouse invested considerably in marketing and advertising, adopting a distinct style guide comprising of black and white imagery with splashes of aquamarine, and a logo depicting Waterhouse’s silhouette carrying his iconic bookmaker bag.

Family

The Waterhouse name has long been associated with racing; Lieutenant Henry Waterhouse brought the first thoroughbred racehorse to Australia in the 1700s. The first bookmaker in the family was Charles Waterhouse, who attained his licence in 1898, but it was his son, [|William ‘Bill’ Waterhouse], who would take it to the next level. Through a combination of brains, balls and ruthlessness, Bill, who had initially practised as a barrister, became arguably the world's biggest gambler, who in the 1960s took on high-stakes punters like "Filipino Fireball" Felipe Ysmael and the "Hong Kong Tiger" Frank Duval in million-dollar betting duels.6

Tom's father, Robert Waterhouse, led the Sydney ring in his 20s, also working at Royal Ascot in the early 80s. He developed a new way of studying horse form, operating for nearly 20 years as a successful punter off track.7

Waterhouse’s maternal Grandfather, TJ Smith [|Smith] is another Australian racing legend. Having worked from the age of seven alongside his father in the bush, he left for Melbourne in 1931 to become a jockey, but a serious fall shattered his right hip, leaving him with a lifelong limp.

He was granted a trainer's licence in 1941, and won his first race with Bragger at Rosehill in 1942.

Smith famously told jockey George Moore on a train from Wagga to Melbourne that one day soon he'd train the Derby winner and Moore would ride it - and he fulfilled his ambition when Moore rode 100-1 chance Playboy to win the 1949 AJC Derby - the first of an astonishing 35 Derby successes. In the 1952-53 season, TJ won his first training premiership, breaking a four year sequence of premierships won by Maurice McCarten.

He went on to win the premiership for the next 32 years in a row, a world record, relinquishing the title to Brian Mayfield-Smith for three seasons before bouncing back for his 34th title in 1989.

Although he'd effectively handed the reins to his daughter Gai, TJ remained an irrepressible fixture as one of Australia's biggest owners at Tulloch Lodge, where he was actively involved until the day he died.8

Waterhouse’s mother, Gai Waterhouse (maiden name Gabriel Marie Smith) is a leading Australian horse trainer, businesswoman and a former actress. Gai Waterhouse served an apprenticeship under her father for fifteen years before receiving her own trainer's licence. As of 2010 the Gai Waterhouse stable at Tulloch Lodge has won 102 Group One races. Awarded the Australian Sports Medal for "outstanding contribution to Thoroughbred Racing", she is also an Australian Living Treasure nominated by the National Trust of Australia. Gai Waterhouse was inducted into the Australian Racing’s Hall of Fame in late November 2007. Her late father, T. J. Smith is already an inductee.9

Tom Waterhouse married wife Hoda Vakili in 2011, in the Italian town of Taormina. The couple met at Sydney University, where Vakili was studying her Master’s in Architecture. Close friends for years, Vakili even worked at the track for Waterhouse for three years taking bets during her degree.10

Waterhouse’s younger sister, Kate, is a presenter for Foxtel’s Lifestyle YOU channel, and is the Style and Fashion Editor for the Sun Herald in Sydney, with her own "Date with Kate" column. Kate has also contributed works to various magazine publications such as Australia’s Woman’s Weekly and Germany’s Vanity Fair where she had the world-wide exclusive interview with the King of Tonga during his coronation. Kate Waterhouse has featured in advertising campaigns for Le Tan, SKII, G.H Mumm and Nokia. Kate recently wed former NRL great Luke Ricketson in the same Italian town her brother Tom Waterhouse married his wife.11

Media

Waterhouse is a regular contributor on many sports related television and radio programs, as well as various newspaper and magazines. He is the co-hosts of Sportsline on Sky Business, and the racing focused Two Cups and a Plate on TVN. He contributes to the Nine Network’s Wide World of Sports and is a regular during Nine’s coverage of the Wallabies, and featured during the Rugby World Cup 2011. Waterhouse is a regular guest on 2GB with Allen Jones on Friday mornings during Autumn and Spring to discuss racing and sports. Waterhouse regularly featured during the Channel Seven’s coverage of Wimbledon 2012, and Ascot on TVN. Waterhouse was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2006

1 http://www.progroupracing.com.au/australian-bookmakers/tom-waterhouse

2 http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/a-serious-man-20120521-1yzqv.html

3 http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/a-serious-man-20120521-1yzqv.html#ixzz1yOBRu0wf

4 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/behind-the-scenes-with-tom-waterhouse-and-a-bookmaking-dynasty/story-e6frexni-1226072682229

5 http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/a-serious-man-20120521-1yzqv.html#ixzz1yO0xdu6H

6 http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/a-serious-man-20120521-1yzqv.html

7 https://www.tomwaterhouse.com/waterhouse.asp

8 http://www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au/tj_tribute.asp

9 Waterhouse, Gai,In my Words, Slattery Media Group, Docklands, Victoria, ISBN 978-0-9807447-3-6

10 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/wedded-bliss-in-italian-paradise-for-tom-waterhouse-and-hoda-vakili/story-e6frewz0-1226085886315

11 http://www.profiletalent.com.au/kate-waterhouse.html