Ladbrokes Review

Ladbrokes screenshot

If the question on Family Fortunes was ‘We asked 100 people to name any bookmaker in the UK’ – you can bet more than half of them would have said Ladbrokes. The company that began life way back in 1886 is now part of one of the biggest gambling conglomerates in the world.

The name alone conjures up images of the smoky betting shops of old full of men in flat caps trailing cigarette ash and laying down pound notes. Times may have moved on, but Ladbrokes as a brand have retained a certain amount of that antiquated charm without leaving themselves open to accusations of being out of touch.

Their website offers a huge Sportsbook, a Casino, and a downloadable Poker product to name just a few; and they are one of the few bookies to have as strong a presence offline as online, running over 1,800 betting shops countrywide, and as synonymous with the UK as fish and chips.

Their innovative invention, The Grid, has successfully linked their real world and online offerings and proved very popular with punters, who can bet online and withdraw in cash but also benefit from Ladbroke’s superb Football betting markets and easy to use in-play area.

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If the company itself is old (did we mention that the company is very old?) the online casino is still in its infancy by comparison, only opening in 2000 but on par with the very best. Their journey to this point has been long and complicated, with aggressive marketing and growth strategies seeing them build an army of staff numbering into the tens of thousands and their shops dominating the high street.

A bookie and casino that appeals to old timers and the modern day gambler alike, Ladbrokes have somehow managed to straddle the past and the future with panache and offer something to please pretty much every type of bettor.

In 2016 Ladbrokes merged with Gala-Coral to create Britain’s biggest high street betting company, in 2018 the were acquired by GVC Holdings (now called Entain PLC), who also own a suite of other brands, to create a Goliath gambling company with more resources than anyone else. However, being one of, if not the biggest name in the industry also brings with it some pretty hefty expectations. Let’s see how this industry behemoth holds up.

Sports Markets & Odds

Ladbrokes Sports markets

Odds at Ladbrokes won’t blow you away, but they are typically above average across the board, and there are daily specials to take advantage of that can increase profitability. Plus, Best Odds Guaranteed is available both on the Horses and the Dogs so if those are your kind of markets you know you will get the best price here (UK and Ireland races only). Odds are only available in Fractional and Decimal formats, however.

What Ladbrokes may lack in the way of juicy odds they more than make up for with market range and betting choice. A list of around 35 different sports categories contains all of the popular sports as well as a few curve balls like Gaelic Football and Handball, as well as a good selection of topical specials; ‘Will it Snow on Christmas Day’ being one example. Plus, if you don’t see something you are looking for you can request it, and Ladbrokes will pop it on the site for you and everyone else to bet on under the #GetAPrice tab. This is a particular strong point for the bookie and allows the punter a sense of ownership and even pride if your bet proves popular with others.

Another strong point is depth of markets; you can bet on pretty much every kick of every ball in any organised football game in the country. Who knew that Bamber Bridge was a place with a football team? Well it is, and there are scores of markets available for their next fixture. The clash of titans that is Doncaster vs Chorley boasts a stonking 174+ future markets, so you can see that these smaller games are not just token offerings. What’s more, this coverage extends into other countries where Football is a popular sport so you can bet on lower league fixtures in France, Germany, Spain etc, too.

Tennis matches from at least 15 different competitions are available to bet on most days (albeit with far fewer markets), while Cricket and Golf also receive adequate attention. The Horses and Dogs categories are equally fantastic for ante-post and in-play betting, offering bets on meetings from around the globe. Ladbroke’s roots are in horse racing so for many punters they will always be most heavily associated with the sport of kings.

Live Betting/Streaming

Ladbrokes Live Betting

The sort of odds offered on in-play fixtures are known to be creative at Ladbrokes so you might find markets that are not available elsewhere, and the prices themselves – especially for Football – are top of the table. You can count on one hand the bookies that offer better, and even then, the difference is minuscule.

Live Streaming is widely available although you will need to have a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours to take advantage of the service. In the case of Horse and Greyhound Racing you will need to have placed a nominal £1 bet.

Ladbrokes offer streaming on a wider variety of sports than a lot of other bookies, although within that the number of streams is fairly small – Horses and Dogs aside. Still, you can count on high-quality live streams on top Football matches both at home and from Europe, as well as major Tennis, Basketball, Darts, and Rugby fixtures.

Where streaming isn’t an option the live graphic will keep you at the centre of the action. It’s a lively product, to say the least, and will update and adapt more frequently than others on the market, making it much more exciting to use. This won’t be available for every single event, however, so some of the less well known fixtures have to settle for a simple scoreboard.

The In-Play area itself is very user friendly, probably one of the best we have used, in fact, highlighting live odds updates with colour changes and allowing the customer to bounce from sport to sport and fixture to fixture with ease. Live stats info could be better, but there is a handy Upcoming list so you can plan your activity, and Cash Out is readily available and clearly denoted. It’s a good job because at it’s busiest the In-Play area can be home to hundreds upon hundreds of events every day.

Casino Software, Platform, Games

Ladbrokes Casino

This is a big site with many layers and menu options, so if you like things simple it might not be to your taste, although it does have a lot to offer. Both the instant play and app versions of the Casino run over a thousand games, so while there might be quite a lot to navigate at times, you know at least that the content won’t let you down.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag in all honesty because on the one hand functionality is fantastic, the site as a whole works like a charm and incorporates neat little touches like reactive game tiles and the ability to create a Favourites list; but we find the overall design somewhat uninspiring. That said you could never accuse them of unnecessarily over complicating things, and the general tone is warm and welcoming enough thanks to the red colour scheme and familiarity of the brand, but the interface is bland and in an attempt to modernise they have over diluted what was there before.

The biggest problem lies in the way the catalogue of games has been split up. The Casino does have filtering options, but these aren’t always the most helpful, with tabs like ‘Exclusives’, ‘Megaways’, ‘Highlight’ (huh?) and ‘Top £0.10p’. These are great if you are looking for those very specific things, but if you want to browse the whole list by provider or game type (5 reel, 3 reel, cascading reels etc) you just have to scroll through the lot.

With all of that said, let’s take a look at the games, because there is a cracking selection. The casino hosts Playtech games in great numbers including some cracking branded titles, but elsewhere Barcrest, IGT, NextGen and NetEnt, amongst others, also lay out their stalls.

  • Slots – Titles include tough and dependable John Wayne, and Little Britain for the comedy fans – don’t tell us: “yeh I know”. Elsewhere on the site hundreds more can be found including Gonzo’s Quest and Motorhead for all you mean machines.
  • Live Casino – Commanding a page all of its own, the Live Casino is operated by both Playtech and Evolution. In both live casino lobbies, Roulette = 20+ tables + exclusives; Blackjack = 45+ tables + exclusives; Baccarat = 12+ tables; plus 5 other games such as Poker, Sic Bo and Dragon Tiger. Plus gameshow games. And if you want more Poker guess what? It has its own dedicated page elsewhere on the site.
  • Table Games – There are more than 50 RNG based table games. These include Age of Gods Roulette, Buster Blackjack, Craps and, for those with a penchant for nostalgia trips, Space Invaders Roulette.
  • Jackpots – With a stonking 170+ titles, some reaching 7 figures, could your luck be in? There are all sorts of progressives and linked jackpots in here, some featuring daily drops and must drop etc. so you can really tailor the experience you want.

Video poker seems to be more or less missing from their extensive collection (there are one or two games but that’s it) but this wasn’t always the case. Indeed, Ladbrokes at one time was something of a destination for video poker so we hope this is reinstated in large numbers soon.

Banking

Banking Method Max/Min Deposit Max/Min Withdrawal Notes
Debit Card £5 £5 Within 4 Hours
PayPal £10 £5 Up to 6 hours
Neteller £5 £5 Up to 6 hours
Skrill £5 £5 Up to 6 hourse
Paysafecard £5 N/A
Bank Transfer £10 £5 2-6 Days

Let us open by saying that there are no fees attached at Ladbrokes. Big thumbs up for that. There are lots of options when it comes to payment providers too which means you have plenty of flexibility in funding your account – coupled with The Grid you have more control than ever.

The issue with a company as big as Ladbrokes is consistency. With so much content to manage things can get confusing, and as a result we found some contrasting limits that we couldn’t get a definitive answer on even from the customer service agent.

Still, the table above shows things as clearly as we could put them, and as you will see none of the limits mentioned are restrictive. We would advise talking to Ladbrokes first, however, if you are planning to move any large sums of money.

Withdrawals over £30,000 will need to go through the customer support team, but that’s as much for your safety as for theirs.

The Grid

Ladbrokes The gridThe Grid is an innovative multi-purpose loyalty scheme of sorts, but it is also a banking feature which offers a number of benefits to the existing customer. With so many new customer offers flying around it’s good to see loyalty being rewarded here. If you are going to be using Ladbrokes regularly it makes sense to sign up, and it’s free.

Functionally, its purpose is to link your online account and the wallet in your pocket. You can withdraw a winning online bet in store meaning instant cash in your hand, as well as depositing cash in store and then using it via your online account on the move. You can cash out in store bets on the move, track acca’s, and scan your bet slips to give you as much control and flexibility as possible when betting. It gives you total freedom.

As a loyalty scheme, The Grid will award you points as you bet and/or play. These develop into rewards which can change frequently, but some in the past have included discounts at pubs, restaurants, and cinema’s; as well as cheap passes to use Now TV and watch that big fight.

On top of this, there are a number of promotions and bonus bets exclusive to The Grid, for use in store and online. You will receive a physical card when you sign up, but if you are worried about yet another card to cram into your wallet you can just download a virtual version onto your phone. It’s silly not to sign up really.

Features

This is something Ladbrokes are not short of. Aside from the fact that you probably have a physical Ladbrokes shop within walking distance from your house (there’s a Shop Locator if you aren’t sure), the company also offer a decent online stats service that they like to call Touch Line, as well as a Bet Calculator if maths isn’t your strong point, plus a Results service – all available from the home screen.

All these little extra’s are very welcome, but our favourite gambling features are explored in a little more detail below:

Virtuals

Ladbrokes VirtualsIf you enjoy betting on runners that don’t have a pulse then you could certainly do worse than Ladbrokes’ Virtuals area.

The range of sports is fairly interesting – Football, Womens Football, Horse Racing, Greyhounds, Cricket, Basketball, and Motor Racing – plus the graphics are great and we also loved the layout. Events kick off every 3 minutes and tend to be interesting enough to watch, with varied and well performed commentary.

Betting options are as limited as ever with virtual betting but some of the teams can have rather amusing names.

Cash Out

Ladbrokes Cash Out

Something would be going very wrong if Cash Out wasn’t an option at a bookie the size of Ladbrokes. Thankfully, it is there in force.

It’s worth mentioning that it won’t always be an option, but you will be made aware before placing your bet if it is, so keep an eye out for the icon if Cash Out is part of your plan. It’s a useful safety net allowing punters to settle a bet early and secure a profit or minimise a loss depending on how the selection is performing. As Ladbrokes advise – “If in doubt, hit cash out!”

The Cash Out price will be different to the price you took when you originally made the bet and will reflect the situation as it currently stands. It changes all of the time so if you see a price and you want to bail out and take it, act fast.

Poker

Ladbrokes PokerA downloadable standalone product, the poker client has recently been redesigned and includes Sit and Go games, Cash games, and huge Tournament guarantees.

These come with their own promotions, a loyalty scheme, and the variety of poker variations is better here than at some other places too:

  • Omaha
  • Omaha Hi-Lo
  • Texas Hold’em
  • Seven Card Stud
  • Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo

They run so many games that if you ever have to wait more than 15 minutes it would be a miracle, but even this is an absolute maximum. Plus, if there is any game in particular on the schedule that takes your fancy you can add it to your calendar and plan your sessions.

You can even search the schedule using filters so you don’t have to trawl through a load of games that are out of budget if you’re skint, or not worth your time if you are flush.

Bingo

Ladbrokes BingoYou wouldn’t automatically think of bingo if someone mentioned Ladbrokes, but their bingo product is excellent, offering 90, 80, 75, and 30 ball variants. It’s better than many smaller but dedicated bingo websites.

It isn’t just the range of bingo rooms – which include branded titles like Friends Bingo – that are impressive, nor the accessible range of price points with tickets available from as little as 2p, but the sheer number of ways players can win free tickets or claim bonuses is fantastic. They are everywhere.

There are even free bingo rooms available offering prizes worth thousands of pounds, while some of the bigger paid games can be worth as much as £20k.

Honestly, the prizes, offers, and freebies are flying out of the door at Ladbrokes bingo. They must be on a recruitment drive – take advantage if bingo is your thing!

Lotto

Ladbrokes LottoThis feels more like a token offering from Ladbrokes, but it’s available none-the-less.

At the time of writing there are just 3 lotteries to bet on; 49’s, Daily Millions, and Irish Lottery. The option to pick a set of luck 3, 4 or 5 numbers is available, but if you prefer to choose your own numbers that perhaps means something to you then you can do so.

The benefit of betting on the lottery rather than actually playing it is that you can bet on only a single number if you want to, giving you 6/1 odds of getting a return. Obviously, the more numbers you choose the longer the odds become, but this does give you flexibility.

You can bet on as many draws as there are available too, so you could do all of your lottery betting for the month in one fell swoop.

Note: You are not entering the lottery itself. You are merely betting on the outcome with Ladbrokes.

Desktop Website

Ladbrokes Betslip

Ladbrokes deliver a sportsbook website which is easy to look at and feels natural to use. They have perfectly balanced the need to display a lot of detailed information with the need for that information to be displayed clearly and also to come at the right time.

The A-Z of Sports tucks in neatly at the side, which coupled with the quick link tabs along the top helps navigation no end without taking up too much valuable screen space. This leaves each screen feeling full but not cramped.

Each sport has its own Homepage of sorts, showcasing the main events of the day alongside future fixtures, which allows the customer to take in the landscape at a glance before zeroing in on one particular fixture. You can also narrow down the content within each sport by competition or country if these options are available.

White and soft greys are used along with collapsible menus to make clear distinctions from section to section, and allow some ‘cleaning up’ to be done if the page is looking too busy. This all functions incredibly smoothly, with very few stutters along the way.

A hard working Betslip allows punters to easily keep track of their activity and potential earnings from bet to bet and in total. It contains a few interactive features such as a Boost meter (which the punter must opt in for) and allows you to track acca’s and previous bets.

The site runs on the OpenBet platform, which does a lot to explain why it runs so efficiently. OpenBet are one of the top dogs in the industry, processing more bets each year than any other provider and winning awards left right and centre. Their long relationship with Ladbrokes has clearly born fruit, with the bookie utilising what OpenBet can offer to the max.

Mobile Sports Website

Ladbrokes MobileThe mobile website is an excellent companion to the desktop website which feels familiar to look at and instinctive to use.

A selection of collapsible menus and scroll bars join navigation and organisation hand in hand so that the user can access the information they need quickly and without unnecessary extras getting in the way.

We were also impressed with performance, as the site kept up with us changing our minds and going backward and forwards without getting stuck or running into any accidental loads – i.e we didn’t end up hitting buttons unintentionally by going so fast that the site couldn’t cope.

Apart from the red branding, the site uses the same white and faded greys to distinguish between different areas/buttons, so that when they want to highlight something by using a splash of colour it really stands out. This is superb for quickly spotting Price Boosts, Watch Live options, Cash Out, and Extra Place notifications etc.

Quick access to My Bets is available from the footer and anything else you need that isn’t automatically in view will be tucked behind the Menu button.

This is a great no-nonsense offering from Ladbrokes, that functions incredibly well and is packed with features and content. It’s not flashy or showy but it is intuitive to use and reliable under pressure.

Mobile Casino Website

Ladbrokes MobileAs well as a fully functioning mobile optimised site and sportsbook app, Ladbrokes operate an app that is specific to gaming and casino, and she’s a beauty. The two products differ ever so slightly, but there is no difference so serious that it could alter the user experience.

Considering the amount of content they have had to pack into their mobile offerings both the site and the app run at quite a pace. They look fresh, more modern than the desktop site, and feel fun and intuitive to use, showcasing only the most important features on the home screen. Clutter be gone. Of course, they have had to split everything on the desktop site into manageable sections to work effectively on mobile devices, and this happy accident has improved the user experience no end.

On both the mobile site and the app you can whip across to one of Ladbrokes other products (Sports, Live Casino etc) in no time from the side menu, and all of those extraneous task bar options are either gone or hidden away safely. You won’t tire of the game library either, since all of the titles are ready and waiting to be played on the go.

About

Ladbrokes LogoMessrs Schwind and Pennington were commission agents for horses trained at Ladbroke Hall when they formally opened the company now known as Ladbrokes back in 1886, but it wasn’t until 1902 when one Arthur Bendir joined the company that the Ladbrokes name was first used.

In the early stages of the company’s life, it was mainly the high class gentlemen of the time that used Ladbrokes – a far cry from the smoky flat cap filled betting shops of the 70’s and 80’s – and they were something a specialised betting service. After WW2 the company hit hard times and was bought in 1956 by Mark and Cyril Stein for a mere £100,000.

A little over 10 years later, and after gambling was legalised in 1961, Ladbrokes was floated on the stock exchange in 1967, and quickly built up a fleet of more than 1,135 high street betting shops. They also diversified and held many other business interests including Casino’s – but it 1979 scandal hit. After being found guilty of bribery and illegal marketing schemes Ladbrokes was forced to close its four London Casinos, taking 40% of the company’s annual profits with them.

Fast forward to 1994 and Cyril Stein was effectively forced by shareholders to retire, and a new era in the businesses history began. Much of the residential and commercial real estate portfolio outside of the industry was sold off, and the company focussed its efforts on gambling, once again entering the Casino market.

Ladbrokes AboutA few decades later having survived a bribery scandal and dabbling in the Hotel, DIY and Real Estate businesses, Ladbrokes bought Coral for the first time in 1998 – only to have to sell the company on a year later due to the acquisition being found to be anti-competitive. However, in 2015 Ladbrokes tried again, and bought what was now known as the Gala Coral Group in a deal that didn’t complete until the end of 2016. Once again, the Competition and Markets Authority has identified issues with the merger and 350-400 shops had to be sold off to satisfy them. Eventually, though, Ladbrokes Coral Group plc was a reality.

After all of that effort, Ladbrokes Coral Group was sold to GVC Holdings in a deal thought to be worth around the £4 billion mark, who later rebranded as Entain in 2021.

Whoever owns the brand isn’t really the concern of the man on the street, however, and to the millions of customers who have been through the doors of the 1,800 shops, as well as the 17,000 people who work in them – Ladbrokes is a British institution.

Read more about the company behind the brand on our Entain company page.

Why Bet With Ladbrokes?

Ladbrokes is a solid all-rounder.

If you don’t have the patience to hunt for tip-top odds you can bet here safe in the knowledge that the price is fair and probably in the top percentile.

It is also a good option for those of you who like to come up with your own markets rather than rely on what the bookies themselves can dream up.

Casino players can enjoy exclusive games and exclusive tables in the Live Casino, as well as regular chunky offers to go alongside them, and we have to say, considering bingo isn’t their main focus they run a fantastic range of bingo rooms and offers.

The Grid gives Ladbrokes the edge over a lot of smaller companies and even some of the bigger online only ones, and will suit both the Saturday afternoon sports bettor who is constantly on the move, as well as the gambling pro who enjoys the hunt as much as the kill.

Customer Support

Ladbrokes Customer Support

There are certainly plenty of options when it comes to getting help and advice from Ladbrokes, but as with big companies in all industries, they lack the human touch. There isn’t much in the way of personality and it all feels a bit soulless.

The Live Chat stays open wherever you are on the site so you can get on with other things as you talk, but you have to go through the FAQ to find it. As you whittle down the nature of your query you are offered FAQ articles that might match. At the end of any help article you will be asked if it helped, and if you say no the live chat will become an option. It’s a sensible and genuinely useful way to operate as you often find the answer you need anyway.

The team member we spoke to was ok, but for a while we weren’t sure if he was human or a bot – we got there eventually. The good news is that the Live Chat is available 24/7, with the phoneline open 8am-10pm each day. This may be a better option if you want a constructive conversation.

Punters seem to be pleased with the way Ladbrokes support them, and for a company of such size and renown, this is extremely encouraging. Ladbrokes seem to have a genuine connection with their customers and look after them well.

Licence & Contact

  • Live Chat – Found in the Help section. It’s buried a little deeper than is necessary, but that is a character of the site as a whole. Can also be accessed via Banking.
  • E-mail –  There is a contact form in the Help section but you might still be able to go direct too; try either [email protected] or [email protected] – you should get a reply within 24 hours at the most.
  • Phone – Gaming Customer Support is available from 8am – 10pm on 0800 032 1133. Other numbers are floating around the internet but these are for different departments, such as Sports Betting for example where 0800 731 6191 is the customer support number.
  • @Ladbrokescare – There will be someone here 24/7 and they are responsive. Nice to see an ancient bookie embracing the modern world.
  • Address – Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited, One Stratford Place, Montfichet Road, LONDON, E20 1EJ (high street shops); or LC International Limited, Suite 6, Atlantic Suites, GIBRALTAR, GX11 1AA (online business).
  • UK Gambling License – 54743
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