Tom Waterhouse opens up about the difficulties of the last 12 months and the influence of his baby daughter Rose

Instagram pictures by Hoda Waterhouse of Tom and baby Rose Source: Supplied

WHEN Tom Waterhouse cradles his eight-month-old daughter Rose, all the chaos of work slips away.

Although his growing bookmaking business barely gives him a moment to rest, being a new dad has, remarkably, slowed the 31-year-old down.
"It's just so good being a father, it such a relaxing nice time having Rose around," Waterhouse told The Sunday Telegraph.

Instagram pictures by Hoda Waterhouse of Tom and baby Rose Source: Supplied

"Yes there's longer nights but on a Sunday when I am chilling out at home. We used to have 10 things lined up, it was always a jam packed day, now it is about chilling out with Hoda and Rose.
He openly marvels at his wife Hoda's mothering and the way Rose is developing.
But the peace he enjoys at home in Balmoral is a stark contrast to the controversy he's
wrestled with this year.
Waterhouse has endured a storm of negative of publicity because of his ubiquitous presence on Channel 9 and the More Joyous affair, which he described as "bizarre".
He also sold his business to UK betting giant William Hill for $34 million in cash with potential earn out of $70 million.
Then there's the backlash on social media, which he admits to reading.
He knows of the #f---offTom hashtag that did the rounds on Twitter and of the anti-Tom Waterhouse Facebook groups with well over 10,000 'likes'.
The bookie is undeterred by the drama and he only plans on building the multi-million dollar 'Tom Waterhouse' brand in the years to come.
"I love being in this business and industry," Waterhouse said. "I go to bed dreaming about work. I am doing what I love doing."
'MORE JOYOUS AFFAIR WAS BIZARRE'
Waterhouse terms the More Joyous affair one of the more "ridiculous" time of his life.
The scandal erupted when More Joyous' owner John Singleton berated Gai Waterhouse trackside All Aged Stakes on April 27 over the fitness of his star horse.
Singleton had accused Tom Waterhouse of allegedly knowing that More Joyous wasn't fit in the lead-up to the Group 1 race.
Waterhouse was stunned by the false allegations.

A newborn Tom Waterhouse with his parents bookmaker Robbie and wife Gai in 1982. Source: News Limited

"It was just bizarre, it was just a strange time, it was so out there and completely wrong, it was just the worse timing," Waterhouse said. "The baby had just been born, the NRL drama, selling the business in the background which no one knew about, in terms of just this massive media drama over something that was completely untrue and ridiculous in every sense of the word, it was bizarre."
Singleton was fined $15,000 for his actions, which were found to have brought racing into dispute, while Waterhouse was cleared. His mum Gai was fined $7,000 and she lost an appeal for this penalty to be overturned.
Waterhouse indicates it is unlikely he will ever have a civil relationship with John Singleton.
"In terms of the Singleton family, it is fine. In terms of John Singleton, I don't have much to do with him," Waterhouse said.
Could a relationship ever be formed with 'Singo' following this scandal?
"I doubt it. I don't know. It's pretty awful."
Waterhouse adds: "It was such an amazingly weird set of circumstances because I have John Singleton, who I don't have anything to do with, even before the More Joyous scandal, and he made just completely outlandish ridiculous comments … he was found to have brought racing into disrepute.
How did your mum cope?
"Mum is a pretty resilient person. I guess she just. it was a pretty annoying, frustrating time for her …"
Waterhouse said his business was not affected by the scandal.
"In terms of the stewards finding it was completely untrue and unfounded, well that's a big positive, in terms of lasting effect it had no effect as such," Waterhouse said. "[They were] ridiculous accusations that were just stupid".
CHANNEL NINE
The backlash from being featured on Channel 9's rugby league coverage was not what rattled him, rather it was appearing on live TV which had him nervous.
"It was such a nerve-wracking time not because of all the dramas going on - but in the sense of going on live television coverage of rugby league," Waterhouse said. "That's more nerve wracking than anything else than selling the business, the baby being born, it's nerve wracking going on live TV in front of millions of people."
A lot of the social media, Government and commentator backlash centred around Waterhouse being featured on commentary panel which many felt blurred the lines between betting and sports expert. A deal reportedly worth $15 million gave Waterhouse exclusive access to live coverage of rugby league and appearances on the league and AFL footy shows.
Waterhouse said he appeared alongside the likes of NRL experts including commentator Phil Gould mostly because of his inexperience on live TV.
"The thing about position there, it wasn't I was trying to go on and be a commentator," Waterhouse said. "It was Channel 9 who goes; 'Far out we are putting Tom onto live TV, it must be bloody nerve wracking, let's ease him in and have somewhere there that can guide him through.'

Tom Waterhouse has spoken for the first time about the past 12 months. Source: News Limited

"I would rather have all branding of myself, but at the same time, when they are putting you on live TV talking, it was more of safety thing.
"But in terms of being a start-up business and trying to get market share, you have to be as innovative and push the boundaries. Otherwise if you do it exactly the same as the incumbents have done it, you are not going to get anywhere … you have to push the boundaries but if it is causing that much angst you have to adjust."
Waterhouse said he was surprised his presence caused an immense amount of commotion.
A joint select committee on gambling reform launched an inquiry into the advertising and promotion of gambling services in Australian sport last February in response to the mounting concern over the profile of betting companies like Waterhouse's.
There was particular rage around children being exposed to the Waterhouse's promotion of odds during Nine's league coverage.
In April he wrote a statement to the joint select committee on gambling reform and said his business had "no intention of targeting children through our advertising".
Overall he was surprised by the fallout.
"Yes, definitely I was surprised in copping that amount of flack, that it became such a public issue," Waterhouse said. "I definitely hoped it would get the awareness, and that it was a good marketing property in terms of sign-ups but I didn't think it would become basically a national issue."
Waterhouse who has spent around $25 million on advertising this year, give or take, said it pales in comparison to his rivals' spend.
"In terms of corporate bookmakers we actually have the smallest advertising spend out of all of them, in terms of sporting bet, TAB, Bet365 all those big companies, we have the smallest advertising budget out of any of those," he said.
"One of our competitors is spending 60 million a year on advertising, we are nowhere near that. It shifts up and down all the time around that [$25 million] figure."

Tom Waterhouse pictured at his North Sydney office looking at an old photo of him as a baby with his mum Gai. Source: News Limited

BUSINESS SALE
Waterhouse said he sold his business to William Hill to help get a better technological hold on the local market.
The potential "earn-out" of up to $70 million is payable subject to tomwaterhouse.com achieving $10 million to $30 million earnings before interest and tax over the coming 2½ years.
"I am staying on the business as Managing Director of Tom Waterhouse - it's exciting to be part of this industry and betting," he said.
"I see my future in betting and being part of a growing business."
Legal counsel Lance Sacks from Clifford Chance and financial adviser Graham Keating helped guide him through the business deal.

Instagram pictures by Hoda Waterhouse of Tom and baby Rose Source: Supplied

"I realised this time last year, we were growing the business rapidly but to keep up technology wise from a customer's point of view, we knew we had to find the right partner overseas," Waterhouse said.
"We spoke to a lot of different businesses and technological partners, to try and beat the size of the TAB, the TAB has been a monopoly for 30 to 40 years. We were growing rapidly, but putting a lot of money into advertising, but to keep up technology wise, some of our competitors were spending hundreds of millions of dollars on technology, you have to keep up.
"To offer the customers the best possible product, I had to either pay for the technology which would have stopped our growth because we had to pull back on advertising or go and find the right partner."
Waterhouse said the biggest bet he has taken has been several million dollars and he has lost just as much - back on Derby Day in 2008.
"My grandfather organised a dinner on the night and I remember I lost two million dollars that day, it was just a disaster," he said. "But it is part of parcel of being a bookie."
THE FUTURE
Waterhouse is naturally proud of his businesses growth over the past three years.
"From going from 2010 where you haven't heard of TomWaterhouse.com to having the highest awareness in the market in terms of a brand is pretty big leap in three years," Waterhouse said. "We have probably exceeded our own expectation."
"The TAB has had an easy ride in the last 50 years. We offer a better user experience, better technology, a better product, they had $16 billion dollars out of $23 billion being wagered in Australia - there is plenty of market share to grab ... I think there is a big opportunity in the market."
Where does he see the business in 10 years time?
"I love the whole betting and wagering industry," Waterhouse said. "Hopefully TomWaterhouse.com will be at the forefront of the industry and be the leading player in this industry. It's exciting. It's good when you are growing."