Ladbrokes Review
Ladbrokes aren’t just one of the oldest gambling names in the industry, but they are also one of the biggest. Their merger in 2016 with gaming giants Coral has only allowed the company to flourish even further and the £2bn deal now makes the brand the largest gaming platform in the world.
As you would expect from one of the biggest, you are going to be getting one of the best. The greatest compliment we can pay them is that they have next to no flaws and offer a complete package, which isn’t always that easy to do. They aren’t perfect though and throughout this review we will be looking at what works and what doesn’t work within the Ladbrokes sportsbook.
Sports Bonus: Bet £5 For £20 in Free Bets
New customers to Ladbrokes are going to be able to get a £20 free bet when you place your first bet of just £5 or more. The bet must be places at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater and use promo code B5G20.Screenshots
The Ladbrokes Website
The current design of the Ladbrokes sportsbook hasn’t actually been around all that long. The previous versions was pretty terrible if we are being honest and they left it like that for way too long. But, with a fresh design and new of approaching online betting within the site, we are pleased to report that the difference is night and day… for the better!
Whilst it’s probably doing the design a little disservice to say that they have gone back to basics, but that’s pretty much what they have done. The site has been stripped back to show you the latest sports betting markets that are live and upcoming, whilst giving the punter the opportunity to quickly jump between different sports using the navigation at the top.
They have done away with the majority of the brash advertising that they were once known for and whilst it’s still apparent on the right hand side of the screen, it’s much less intrusive and actually serves as a resource rather than a hindrance now.
As you would expect from a company such as Ladbrokes, the mobile betting app is as good as you will find. You can download the app from the App Store for iOS devices or alternatively you just head to the site within your smartphones browser to get instantly re-directed. The downside is that there are different apps for all their gambling platforms such as bingo, poker and casino games, so if you were wanting a ‘one-stop-shop’ type of site then you’re out of luck.
Betting Markets
The betting markets that are on offer are really good and we enjoyed the fact that there was so much to choose from. We would think it’s fair to say that both football and horse racing play a huge role in the makeup of the site, but then that’s not uncommon for bookmakers who are predominantly European focused.
They have recently included a football coupons page, which allows you to quickly choose matches from a long list to create your accumulator bet. We liked the fact that for this you are able to flick between a number of different markets for the list that included Win Draw Win, Both Teams To Score, Result Rush, Over/Under goals and a few others as well.
The pricing at Ladbrokes is pretty strong, although we were surprised to see how many matches they were unable to challenge as one of the best. When you compare their odds with other sites it’s clear to see that they are never far away, but when comparing to their main rival such as Betfair and BetVictor, their pricing wasn’t as consistent.
Live Betting & Streaming
The in-play betting section is probably the sites strongest feature in our opinion and it works wonderfully well with their live streaming platform. The first thing that really struck us was the sheer volume of games that are on offer to pick from, especially with football. The most random fixtures seemed to be included, ranging from county under 17’s matches, right through to the top-flight European leagues.
It’s also been good to see that they have finally updated their match centre to create a thing of beauty. The site is able to offer you a real time version of events within the match, including attacks, possession, corners, free kicks and plenty more. It’s actually up to the second data as well and makes sweating our your bet that little bit more fun than simply just waiting for text updates.
The live streaming section ties in nicely with the live betting area at Ladbrokes, allowing you to watch games and also bet on different markets at the same time. Weirdly though, the system isn’t that well advertised on site or at least we don’t think it is. If you didn’t know it was there or weren’t actively looking for it then it could easily be an area that was overlooked when browsing for the first time.
Casino Games at Ladbrokes
The company have seen many changes over the last few years, none more so than the previously mentioned merger with Coral. It’s been this merger that really seems to have given the Ladbrokes brand a much needed kick up the backside and whilst they’ve never has a poor casino, they’ve sometimes lacked a certain style that many of the bigger brands all posses.
The online casino looks pretty good, although it’s a little cumbersome in our opinion. You are thrown into their casino games as soon as you land, with jackpot tickers running up constantly. Whilst it’s good to see them increase, it’s a little annoying on the eye as it’s hard to known where to look when you first hit the site. That being said, the search functionality is a great addition and the categories are clearly laid out of ease of use.
The mobile app is probably our favourite way to utilise the casino, which is pretty common across the board these days. The app doesn’t have as many games to choose from, but there’s more than enough for most users and we didn’t think it felt thin on the ground. The design is much easier to use and we think looks a lot better than the online site. The online gripe is that it sometimes lagged, just for a second or two, especially when scrolling through the full list of games.
Game Variety
With over 200 games to choose from, the casino isn’t massive by any means, but it’s more than enough for most. Given that a lot of Ladbrokes’ traffic will be sports cross over, the actual size of the casino is pretty good. They utilise just 2 game providers in the form of PlayTech and Blueprint Gaming. Again, these two aren’t the biggest by any means, but PlayTech in particular offer up a great range of games.
The slots section on site is probably the casinos strongest point and we think they’ve a really nice balance when it comes to video slots. The games even spread pretty deep into mobile as well, even though you don’t get the full range to choose from. Some of the more standout titles included Halloween Fortune, Top Trumps, Superman and God of Storm (Jackpot).
The casino enjoys a great range of table games and we were pretty surprised to see that over 50 games are currently on offer to their users. The games include the likes of blackjack, roulette, baccarat, Sic Bo, craps, Caribbean stud poker and red dog. Fans of video poker are also gong to enjoy the range of games on offer, with jacks or better, deuces wild, aces and faces, joker poker and all American to chose from.
Live Casino
The live casino is unique in that Ladbrokes actually power a number of them themselves. These include roulette, low limit blackjack and 2 exclusive blackjack tables. On top of that you can play other variants of roulette and blackjack, as well as baccarat, live hi-lo and Hold’em. The games are all really well run and you get a sense of being in an actual casino, which is the main point obviously. The games can all be played in High Definition and the chat functionality makes them super engaging.
Jackpots
The jackpot range is another great addition to the site and whilst they don’t include a number of mainstream jackpot games, the options of over 20 to choose from were plentiful. The standout game, at least at the time of writing, was that of Jackpot Giant, amassing an incredible £7million, making it one of the largest in the industry.
Banking
You have a few banking options with Ladbrokes, which include Visa and MasterCard, e-wallets, Paysafecard and also bank transfer. Deposits start from as little as £5 and will be credited to your account instantly unless you choose to bank transfer, which can take 1-5 working days. Withdrawals again start from as little as £5 and will take up to 6 hours for e-wallets and 1-5 working days for all others. It’s worth noting that you cannot withdraw using Paysafecard.
You are also able to go into any Ladbrokes betting shop and deposit money using your customer ID number and some form of ID. You’re also able to withdraw straight from the account up to a maximum of £1,000. So, as soon as you have any winnings, just pop down to your nearest shop to collect them.
Useful Info
Max Payouts | |
By Sport |
|
Banking | |
Min Deposits |
|
License Details | |
License Number | 54743 |
Licensee | LC International Limited |
Address | Imperial House, Imperial Drive, Harrow, HA2 7JW |