Littlewoods History

Littlewoods Poker, Casino & Gaming Products

Littlewoods gaming has been around for over 80 years and since its time has become very well established in the gaming industry and very successful with a name that is familiar and trusting.

Littlewoods cater for a vast array of online gaming from football pools, to bingo, to online poker and casino games. With such a large range of gaming to choose from why would you want to go anywhere else?

Littlewoods has thousands upon thousands of players visiting daily to enjoy what it has to offer. Why not step into the Littlewoods Casino where there are more than 80 games to play, ranging from online slots and video poker to the more traditional games such blackjack and roulette. Perhaps Littlewoods Casino is too big for what you need, maybe you want something more specific like poker, well, Littlewoods Poker offers an awesome user-friendly experience with six types of poker games and regular poker tournaments.

Okay so what if you’re an amateur, a novice and you want to learn a little bit before playing for real money, well try visiting the Poker Lounge at Littlewoods Poker where you can get help playing the game and pick-up some top tips from experts.

Although a lot of gaming is online it doesn’t have to be; Littlewoods offer many other convenient ways to play and bet, including via telephone, post or local retail outlets.

How did Littlewoods become so successful? Though constant appreciation of its customers and remember they have been about for over 80 years.

Below is the dated history of the company of Littlewoods from 1923 to 2006, including launch dates of all Littlewoods gaming products, Littlewoods Poker and Littlewoods Casino.

• 1923 Littlewoods Football Pools founded in Liverpool by Sir John Moores.
• 1939 Littlewoods Football Pools devotes its resources to the war effort (World War II).
• 1946 Littlewoods Football Pools resumes normal business.
• 1950 First £100,000 Football Pools winner.
• 1957 Collector network is introduced.
• 1972 First £500,000 Football Pools winner.
• 1973 Littlewoods Spot the Ball is launched as a weekly year round competition.
• 1979 First £750,000 Football Pools winner.
• 1986 First £1,000,000 Football Pools winner and the biggest ever prize in any British competition.
• 1987 League Football Cup is sponsored by Littlewoods.
• 1988 Littlewoods Football Pools pays out over £3,000,000 in one week.
• 1990 First £2,000,000 Football Pools winner.
• 1994 Littlewoods Lotteries is launched.
• 1994 Littlewoods become the first ever sponsors of the FA Cup in its 123 year history with a sponsorship deal worth £14m over 4 years.
• 1997 Littlewoods football games launch on the Internet.
• 1998 Littlewoods Bet Direct is launched.
• 2000 Sportech PLC acquires Littlewoods Gaming (formerly Littlewoods Leisure) from The Littlewoods Organisation for £161m.
• 2002 Littlewoodscasino.com is launched.
• 2002 Sportech purchase Zetters Football Pools.
• 2003 Littlewoodsgameon.com Launched.
• 2003 Launch of littlewoodspoker.com.
• 2003 Littlewoods Spot the Ball pays out its largest ever cash prize of £250,000.
• 2005 Ian Penrose appointed as Chief Executive.
• 2005 John Barnes appointed as non-executive director.
• 2005 Piers Pottinger appointed as non-executive chairman.
• 2006 Piers Pottinger appointed as Chairman.
• 2006 Gary Speakman promoted to Chief Operating Officer.
• 2006 Launch of littlewoodsbingo.com
• 2006 Launch of Goal Rush, the World Cup 2006 game, which carries a £3 million prize and is the biggest prize ever offered in the history of the football pools.
• 2006 Sale of Bet Direct, one of management's strategic objectives in restructuring and repositioning Sportech, to provide a firm foundation for future growth.
• 2006 Steven Cunliffe appointed as Finance Director and Company Secretary.