Ladbrokes Review

Who are Ladbrokes?

Ladbrokes took their first bet in 1886… incredible, isn’t it!?

The company took their name from Ladbroke Hall in Warwickshire, which was something of a HQ for horse racing back in the 19th century.

Ladbrokes established a chain of betting shops in the 1960s, before making the move online in the year 2000.

In 2015, they merged with another popular UK bookmaker Coral, before the Ladbrokes Coral entity was acquired by GVC Holdings – now known as Entain – in 2018.

Today, Ladbrokes is best known as a sponsor of high-profile sporting events, while their LadBucks promotion – effectively a loyalty scheme for regular punters – is one of the most rewarding offered by UK bookies today.

Are Ladbrokes’ Odds Any Good?

We compare a number of different bookmakers to test their pricing across various markets.

Ladbrokes’ Premier League match margins are quite high, and they were only industry-best price for one of the 20 EPL teams in the Outright Winner marker.

Their horse racing odds are far more competitive; in fact, they were the best price – or at least joint best – for a number of runners in the dozens of UK and Irish races that we tested… often, that included favourites are other well-fancied horses.

Ladbrokes also offered some of the best odds on the ante post Grand National market months in advance.

Although not as strong when comparing their tennis and golf odds to other bookmakers, the mitigation is that they offer a ‘pick your places’ style promo for PGA and DP World Tour golf events, so punters can tailor their bets exactly as they want them.

Is the Ladbrokes Welcome Offer Good Value?

In our opinion, the Ladbrokes welcome offer is one of the best in the business.

Why? Simply because it’s an effective 600% bonus on your first deposit. So, when you deposit and bet £5, Ladbrokes will hand you £30 in free bet credits.

There are terms and conditions as you’d expect, but these are agreeable enough. You simply have to place a bet of £5 – or cumulative stakes of £5 – within 14 days of registering. Those bets must all be at odds of 1/2 or longer, with both win only and each way flutters eligible.

You’ll get four £5 free bet credits, a free £5 football bet builder and a free £5 horse racing bet builder as well.

You then have seven days in which to use your free bets, but no minimum odds requirements have been put in place.

Football Betting

You’ll be amazed at how much depth Ladbrokes offers in their football betting, with an A-Z that provides odds for leagues from Argentina to Uzbekistan.

Of course, it’s the major domestic leagues – such as Europe’s ‘big five’ and the EFL – that sees the most action, and while the odds presented aren’t always as strong as their competitors, Ladbrokes do provide outstanding coverage nonetheless.

Dozens of markets are offered for the standard Premier League game (around 48, give or take), with many of these options making their way in-play and into the bet builder tool – however, Ladbrokes aren’t as strong as the likes of bet365 and Paddy Power when it comes to player-based bets.

We have been treated to countless odds boost tokens during our time with Ladbrokes, while acca backers can take advantage of either Acca Boost or Acca Insurance promos on their first multiple each day.

Other value-adding promotions include 2 Up Early Payout, which is exactly as the name suggests, while winnings boosts on bet builders are typically available every day.

To top it off, you can even watch live streamed games at Ladbrokes. They don’t have the same depth of coverage as bet365, for example, but you can still bet and watch hundreds of matches each week from Europe and further afield.

Horse Racing Betting

As mentioned earlier, Ladbrokes do horse racing very well.

Their prices are typically generous compared to their main rivals, which is a useful starting point, and they offer comprehensive depth across UK and Irish racing as well as meetings in France, the USA, South Africa, Japan, Dubai and many more besides.

Best Odds Guaranteed is available from 08:00 GMT on race day, which is earlier than many other bookies and enables you to lock in early value – even if the SP turns out to be a better price.

Other horse racing promotions at Ladbrokes include extra places on selected races, daily odds boosts and 25% winnings boosts on racing bet builders.

About that bet builder tool. These are still in their infancy when it comes to horse racing, but Ladbrokes has been one of the earliest innovators – you can combine race winner, top finishes and winning distance in a single bet, which is a welcome addition to the options available to racing punters.

Sports Betting

Ladbrokes offers the complete sports betting experience as you would imagine, with all of the main options covered alongside more niche alternatives like beach volleyball, netball and esports.

Their cricket betting in particular catches my eye. A wide range of competitions are covered, both in terms of match odds and outright markets, with different options provided for game in The Hundred, for example.

I also looked at an ODI between New Zealand and West Indies and Ladbrokes were joint industry-best price on both teams – you might expect them to be best odds on one of the sides, but both? That’s a real bonus for punters.

It’s worth shining a light on their golf betting too, because they offer unique numbers of places on the standard tournaments – whereas others go five or eight places, Ladbrokes are seven and ten… with more on the majors.

Ladbrokes Payment Methods

The main payment methods accepted by Ladbrokes are the most popular debit card providers (Visa, Mastercard and Maestro) and PayPal. Other options include paysafecard and Pay By Bank, and you can even deposit into your online account via your local Ladbrokes shop.

As for withdrawals, you can choose debit card, bank transfer or access your cash directly from a Ladbrokes shop.

FAQs