Ladbrokes is the oldest bookmaker in the UK, with a history stretching back almost 140 years. Through all that time it’s seen many competitors come and go - but how does it stack up against its rivals now?
In a recent YouGov poll, Ladbrokes managed to attain 18th place in popularity among gambling operators - not terrible, but certainly not brilliant. Only 21% of people reported having a positive opinion of the company, compared to 34% who disliked it - although, in fairness, the gambling industry as a whole is fairly unpopular in the UK, with even the most popular brand (The National Lottery) enjoying a positive opinion from only 50% of those surveyed.
Source: YouGov Gambling & Betting Brands rankings
Even so, Ladbrokes fell behind many of its rivals, such as Betfred, Coral (who are of course part of the same company) and William Hill. So is this lacklustre performance representative of what it has to offer? In this article, we’ll explore every aspect of Ladbrokes’ website and service, including all the practical details, the website’s usability, their sportsbook and casino products and their promotions to find out exactly how well Ladbrokes fares when compared to its rivals.
Overview
Deposit And Withdrawal Methods
| Method | Min deposit | Min withdrawal | Withdrawal time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card | £5 | £5 | 1 - 3 working days |
| Google pay | £5 | £5 | 1 - 3 working days |
| Apple pay | £5 | £5 | 1 - 3 working days |
| Skrill | £5 | £5 | Within 8 hours |
| Trustly | £5 | £5 | Within 8 hours |
| Neteller | £5 | £10 | Within 8 hours |
| Instant bank transfer | £5 | £5 | Instant |
| PayPal | £10 | £5 | Within 8 hours |
| Paysafe card | £5 | £5 | Within 8 hours |
| Bank transfer | £5 | £5 | 3 - 5 working days |
Registration Process
A straightforward 3-step process, which makes it quick and easy to sign up.
Support
| Live chat | Phone | Social media | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Via website | Via webform | 0800 731 6191 | Facebook, X/Twitter or Instagram |
Compatibility
| App | Desktop |
|---|---|
| iOS | Website |
| Android |
Main Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great range of regular promotions | Contact information very difficult to locate |
| Slick, modern website | 24/7 support only available via social media |
| Excellent range of markets | Odds could be better |
| Good welcome offers | No search tool |
| Impressive focus on security |
Ladbrokes’ Background
Ladbrokes was founded in 1886 by Messrs. Schwind and Pennington, making it the oldest bookie in the UK. Originally, its founders served as commission agents for horses trained at Ladbroke Hall in Warwickshire, and they took this for their name when Arthur Bendir joined the company in 1902 and they shifted their operation to London.
For many years in the first half of the twentieth century, Ladbrokes catered almost exclusively to the upper classes; many of their clients were drawn from gentlemen’s clubs in the St James’ area of central London. This specialised approach was not a successful one in the postwar years, but after the legalisation of betting shops in 1961, the company’s fortunes began to improve again.
Ladbrokes dabbled in a variety of other industries over the course of the following forty years, including hotels (they owned Hilton for quite some time!), homecare and other real estate holdings, which they then gradually shed, refocusing on the gambling industry in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
After initially purchasing Coral in 1998, Ladbrokes were forced to sell by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. In 2016, however, they tried again, and this time were successful at merging (though they were required to sell a large number of Coral betting shops). Ladbrokes and Coral are now both owned by Entain, which also owns Bwin, PartyPoker and SportingBet.
Welcome Offers
Although Ladbrokes’ welcome offers aren’t market-leading in terms of generosity, they’re still well worth doing. Newcomers have several options when signing up, so whether you’re a sports betting fan or a poker aficionado, you’ll find a welcome offer to suit you.
Sports betting: bet £5 to receive £20 in free bets
Casino: bet £10 to receive a £30 bonus
Bingo: spend £5 to receive a £25 bonus
Poker: deposit £10 to receive £50 in poker tickets
Sportsbook
Ladbrokes has an impressive range of sports and, although it can’t always match other bookmakers when it comes to having the very best odds around, its regular odds boosts and best odds guaranteed offers do help to make up for this.
Range Of Sports
- American Football
- Athletics
- Australian Football
- Badminton
- Baseball
- Beach Volleyball
- Bowls
- Cycling
- Darts
- Formula 1
- Gaelic Sports
- Handball
- Ice hockey
- Lacrosse
- MMA-UFC
- Motor Bikes
- Motor Sports
- Netball
- Pool
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Speedway
- Table Tennis
- Trotting
- Volleyball
Regular promotions
Ladbrokes are great when it comes to regular sportsbook promotions. They often have bet & get offers on horse racing at the weekends, and weekly offers to bet £10 or £20 on specific sports to receive free spins. Although the latter aren’t risk free, they’re usually worth doing for matched bettors as they do offer positive EV.
Ladbrokes also offer daily odds boosts, both for specific markets and for any selection you choose, 2UP and win (where your bet is paid out if your team goes 2 goals ahead), and best odds guaranteed on both horse racing and greyhound racing.
Ladbrokes Casino
Range of games
Ladbrokes have an extensive range of slots and other casino games available, with plenty of familiar favourites, such as the Big Bass and Fishin’ Frenzy series, plus a range of exclusive slots that have proved very popular, including Big Banker, Lock o’ the Irish and Rainbow Lobster Pots. Their live casino offerings are similarly varied, with plenty of options to entertain fans of blackjack or roulette.
Regular promotions
Ladbrokes’ casino promotions aren’t quite so extensive as their sportsbook offers, but there are still a fair few regular promotions on offer. Their daily ‘instant spins’ promotion gives customers a free daily chance to win prizes including free spins, free bets, bingo tickets and Ladbucks, which can be used either in their arcade section or to purchase free spins.
Other Promotions
Ladbrokes do have offers on their other products as well, including daily free bingo sessions and opportunities to win big by completing bingo missions. For poker fans, you can join their poker club to receive rewards as you play, or to earn cashback (1 point for every $1 in fees).
Usability
Ladbrokes sports a modern and eye-catching website. It may not be attempting to achieve anything revolutionary among bookies, but it certainly does the job. As you’d expect, its homepage features major promotions prominently with highlighted markets below. To the left is the full list of sports, while your betslip can be found on the right hand side of the page. One downside is the lack of any obvious search tool, making it a much more laborious task to find a specific event, especially if it’s a less popular one.
Recent performance and statistics dominate the event page, to a much greater extent than with some other bookies. The available markets themselves are somewhat scrappily laid out, and it would be quite easy to mix up the 2UP & Win and Match Betting markets. It is, however, easy to minimise markets you’re not interested in, which does help the bettor to navigate the available options.
Ladbrokes’ games and casino sections are much more interestingly designed than those of many bookies, with much more variety of sizing and layout than we often find. It’s a shame that there isn’t a search tool, though (at least not one we could track down!), meaning that locating a specific game may well be a frustrating endeavour.
We weren’t quite so impressed by their Help Centre. Although queries are logically organised into categories, it isn’t always possible to find all the information you need in one place. It’s also a challenge to find any information regarding how to make contact; we eventually tracked down their contact tools by selecting ‘Yes’ to the ‘Do you need any more help?’ question, which is included at the end of each article in the Help Centre. Even so, it’s something of a red flag when it’s made deliberately difficult to locate contact details.
Safety And Security
Ladbrokes boasts that no other operator in the industry dedicates more time and resources to the security of its customers’ funds and data, and it does seem that they are dedicated to living up to that claim. Their payments use encryption and SSL technology to ensure that your data is completely secure.
Ladbrokes offers ‘high protection’ for the funds it holds, the highest possible rating in the Gambling Commission’s system, which indicates the following:
‘Customer funds are held in a formal trust account which is legally and in practice separate from the affairs of the company; and is verified by and subject to controls by an independent trustee or external auditor.’
Source: Gambling Commission
The Safer Gambling section, meanwhile, includes an extensive amount of information as well as tools and limits to help ensure safer gambling habits, including deposit limits, time management, time-outs and self-exclusion.
Service And Support
As we’ve highlighted already, it’s not easy to locate Ladbrokes’ contact information, and the website is keen to direct you to social media as the first point of contact, rather than live chat, email, or phone.
| Live chat | Phone | Social media | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Available 8am to 11pm | Via online form | 0800 731 6191 | Available 10am-7pm, 7 days a weekFacebook messengerTwitter/X private messagesInstagram private messagesAvailable 24/7, with advertised 5 minute response time |
Ladbrokes App
The Ladbrokes app is much like those of other major bookmakers and mirrors its website. Promotions are featured prominently on the homepage, with featured events and odds boosts below.
The main menu shows popular sports and other features at the top (including free games and promos), with a full A-Z list of sports below. While Ladbrokes do also have a dedicated casino app, you can also access gaming, live casino and bingo through the sports app, so there’s no particular need to download both.
Summary
For most bettors Ladbrokes has a lot to offer. It may not have the very best odds in the world, and its contact information is very thoroughly hidden away, but its dedication to customer security is industry-leading, which is very much in its favour.
Its regular offers make it a great option both for general sports betting and for Matched Betting. If you’re interested in Matched Betting but don’t know how to get started, you can find out all about it here, and when you’re ready you can sign up with Ladbrokes to make guaranteed profits from their welcome offer (so long as you do it right!).