
Ladbrokes Review
Ladbrokes are one of the biggest, best known bookmakers in the UK and with around 3,000 betting shops they are a familiar brand on the UK (and also Irish, Belgian and Spanish!) high street. The company’s roots go way, way back to a commissioning agent for horses trained at Ladbroke Hall, the original company having been founded in 1886 and renamed as Ladbrokes in 1902. Since the legalisation of betting shops in the 1960s Ladbrokes has been at the forefront of UK gambling and as well as the thousands of shops the online site covers sports betting, casino games, poker, financial betting, virtual sports, bingo and lottery.
They are based in the UK, in Middlesex, although as the online operation is partly run from Gibraltar the website is licensed and regulated by the island’s Government. Ladbrokes employs around 15,000 people worldwide and has about 800,000 active online clients so it is clear they are one of UK gambling’s true behemoths. In 2012 they made pre-tax profits of more than £200m and their size, financial muscle, tradition and reputation mean they are as safe, secure and polished as any bookmaker in the world.
What many people don’t know about Ladbrokes is that in 2015 they actually agreed a merger with one of their rivals in the Gala Coral Group. The merge now makes them part of the biggest gambling country in the world. The Ladbrokes section alone has seen its player base soar into the millions with revenue figures in 2015 hitting just shy of £1.2billion.
Their online casino can be accessed by either playing through their instant browser based version or by playing via their downloadable casino client. You can also access the Ladbrokes casino via mobile simply by visiting the site through any smartphones mobile browser.
Sports Betting
Probably the major strength of Ladbrokes is their size and that because of this, and the fact they have been around so long, they offer just about everything you could want from a betting company. As mentioned, aside from sports they cover pretty much everything else, making them a good choice for people wanting to do everything with just one firm.
Similarly, when it comes to sport itself they cover just about every sport you could want to bet on – again the advantage being that you can find everything you want in the same place. If you like football and racing but also want to bet on Alpine skiing, what the Christmas number one will be, chess and what brand of ketchup McDonalds will use next (seriously!), then they are the bookie for you. If you like American sports, Gaelic sports and a bit of bandy too, then ditto.
Moreover, within each sport you will find a huge range of markets – 120 as standard on Premier League football matches – and the odds are also well above average. On major football matches and especially both teams to score bets Ladbrokes are consistently strong whilst they are also very good on racing odds.
Befitting a company of their size they offer a great in-play console, a top mobile site (for both their sports betting and casino products), excellent customer service and have few weaknesses. Definitely a top 10 bookie and a few more promotions would see them even higher, although the £30 of free bets for just a £10 bet is undoubtedly a great promotion.
Casino Games
Ladbrokes have really pushed the boat out with their online casino and as areuslt have teamed up with a staggering amount of casino software providers. These include Playtech, Ash Gaming, Evolution Gaming, WagerWorks Software, Net Entertainment, Realistic Games, NextGen, WMS, Barcrest, Quickspin, Push Gaming, Endemol Games, Novomatic, Games Warehouse, Genesis Gaming, Blueprint Gaming, Mazooma, GW Games and CORE Gaming. In fact, they might hold the record for the most affiliated software providers in the industry!
With so many people on board, this means they can offer up a ton of games for their punters to play on. Like most casinos, it’s the slots section that boasts the majority of titles with hundreds to choose from including Iron Man 3, Great Blue, Pink Panther and The Incredible Hulk, to name but a few.
Ladbrokes have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months to bring their mobile casino up to scratch, and we can confirm that they have done an excellent job. There’s no direct download for the app from any of the affiliated app stores, but you can access it but either entering the site through your smartphones browser or scanning the QR on their online site. We loved to see so many games from the online casino boil over into the app, including table games to accompany the impressive slots collection.
Our final point brings us to the jackpot games that are on offer, and again it’s a more than plentiful amount. What you usually find from casinos that incorporate a lot of software companies is that they have a good range of jackpot games, and Ladbrokes is no different. There are a huge number of games to pick from, but what’s more impressive is the number with jackpots sailing past the £1million mark, which is a highlight for any casino.