One of Australia's biggest-ever bookmakers and the patriarch of a famous bookmaking dynasty, Bill Waterhouse, has died at the age of 97.
His son Robbie tweeted the news on Friday morning, revealing: "He left us peacefully with his family by his side. He was in great spirits until the end."
After he began working as a bookmaker's clerk for his father in 1938, by the 1960s Waterhouse was Australia's biggest bookie and was famous for betting some of the biggest gamblers of the day including Kerry Packer and Felipe Ysmael.
Robbie, who married Tommy Smith's daughter Gai, followed him into bookmaking and assumed his father's position as a leading bookmaker.
Both were caught up in the Fine Cotton scandal in 1984 and while Bill Waterhouse was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, he was warned off racetracks for 14 years.
He did return for a time at the age of 80 when helping his grandson Tom, a fourth-generation bookmaker, establish his business.
Racing.com Image Rob Waterhouse
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