Paddy Power is one of the better known bookies in the UK, despite it being, as you might expect, originally an Irish company. Their stores are fairly ubiquitous across the country, which is no doubt why they scored so highly for fame in a recent YouGov poll - recognised by 91% of people.
On the other hand, their popularity was less impressive; just 21% of people had a favourable impression of the brand. Admittedly, popularity is low for the majority of gambling brands, and Paddy Power came middle of the bunch, beating Bet365, SkyBet and Ladbrokes, but falling behind Betfred, Coral and William Hill.
Source: YouGov’s Most Popular Gambling Brands 2024
So does the service offered by Paddy Power merit its middling performance in the minds of the public? In this article, we’ll investigate every aspect of what it has to offer, including its sportsbook, casino and promotions, plus the more boring details like security and customer service. Read on to find out all you need to know before signing up with Paddy Power.
Overview
Deposit And Withdrawal Methods
| Method | Minimum deposit | Minimum withdrawal | Withdrawal time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card | £5 | £0.01 | 2 - 5 working days |
| Apple pay | £5 | £0.01 | Up to 2 hours |
| Instant bank transfer | £5 | £0.01 | Instant |
| Bank transfer | £30 | £10 | 1 - 5 working days |
| Neteller | £30 | £1 | Up to 24 hours |
| PayPal | £30 | £1 | Up to 24 hours |
| Paysafe card | £30 | N/A | N/A |
| Skrill | £30 | £1 | Up to 24 hours |
| Rapid transfer | £30 | £1 | Instant |
Registration Process
Unusually, a single step process! Simply fill in the form and you’re on your way.
Support
| Live chat | Social media |
|---|---|
| Available 24/7 | Twitter/X |
Compatibility
| App | Desktop |
|---|---|
| iOS | Website |
| Android |
Main Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent help centre | No phone number or email contact options |
| Fantastic welcome offer | Slightly less extensive range of sports than some competitors |
| Low minimum withdrawals | |
| 24/7 customer service | |
| Regular price boosts | |
| Excellent security policies |
Paddy Power’s Background
Paddy Power was founded in 1988 as the result of a merger between three Irish bookmakers. The new company decided that emphasising its Irishness would help to make it stand out from the British bookmakers dominating the market, and so Paddy Power (Power being the surname of one of the three original bookies) was chosen, along with its distinctive green colour scheme.
Paddy Power expanded aggressively throughout Ireland, before taking on the UK in 2000. Later, they expanded even further overseas, acquiring Australian bookies Sportsbet.com.au in 2010 and then merging with Betfair in 2015.
Paddy Power has established something of a reputation for offering controversial odds and markets, and paying out on markets at unusual times.
Controversial markets have included the possible assassination of Barack Obama and the extinction of the polar bear in 2009 - both of which seemed designed to attract attention through their contentious nature.
They’ve also on occasion rather jumped the gun on paying out on bets. When Stoke City lost their first game of the 2008-09 season to Bolton Wanderers, Paddy Power promptly paid out on bets that they would be relegated (which, when they actually reached the end of the season, they were not).
And in 2011, four days before the Rugby World Cup Final, Paddy Power paid out on bets that New Zealand would win, with the company boss stating:
'New Zealand have left all of their opposition so far feeling black and blue and it's inevitable us bookies will be taking a hammering from them on Sunday too, so punters might as well collect now.'
It’s hard to say whether these attention-grabbing tactics have been profitable for them in the long run, but it’s certainly made them impossible to ignore.
Welcome Offers
Paddy Power doesn’t have as wide a range of welcome offers as some bookies, but those they do have are well worth signing up for. Especially for Matched Betting, their sports offer is particularly generous, requiring you to place a bet of only £5 to receive £30 in free bets.
Sports betting: Place a £5 bet to get a £30 free bet
Casino: 60 free spins, plus deposit and wager £10 to get a further 100 free spins
Poker: Bet €10 to get €20 in bonuses and entry to a €1500 tournament
Bingo: Deposit and spend £10 on bingo tickets to receive a £40 bonus and 40 free spins
Sportsbook
Paddy Power doesn’t have quite the variety of sports of some other bookies, but its range is still pretty wide, with all the major sports you’d expect to find. When it comes to odds, it’s broadly in line with other bookies, sitting at around the average of the odds offered across the board.
Range Of Sports
- American Football
- Australian Football
- Baseball
- Cycling
- Darts
- Gaelic Sports
- Handball
- Ice hockey
- MMA
- Motor Sports
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Surfing
- Table Tennis
- Volleyball
- Winter Sports
Regular promotions
Paddy Power does a lot of one-off promotions, such as completely free bets for major events, which are always nice to see! If there’s a highly anticipated match or race coming up, it’s always worth checking to see if Paddy Power has an offer on for it.
If you’re willing to leave the comfort of your living room to place a bet, Paddy Power’s regular ‘Bet £10 in shop, get £10 in online free bets’ is an excellent offer to take advantage of. For matched bettors who live within easy reach of a Paddy Power shop, we’d highly recommend having a go at in-store betting to enjoy regular profits from this offer.
Paddy Power has regular racing refund offers, especially at the weekends, and regular price boosts. It also has a number of price boosts only available in store, another great reason to give in-store betting a try.
Paddy Power Casino
Range of games
Paddy Power has all the games you’d expect to find in its casino section, both familiar favourites and new and exclusive slots. It also has a number of exclusive live casino games, including its own brand blackjack and roulette, and even an own brand game show, ‘Paddy’s Mansion Heist’.
Regular promotions
There are quite a few regular casino promotions on offer, though not all will be available to all customers. At the time of writing, you can deposit and wager £10 to receive 50 free golden chips, which is a particularly generous offer. Paddy Power also has a free daily wheel customers can spin to win potential rewards and prizes.
Other Promotions
If you’re more of a fan of bingo or poker, there’s still plenty on offer to make you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. Poker players can complete a variety of missions to earn rewards, while those more interested in bingo can enjoy regular boosted games, plus the chance to win a guaranteed cash prize if you spend £2 on bingo.
Usability
Paddy Power’s homepage looks rather different from those of many other bookies, with a much more minimalist aesthetic and next to no markets shown without scrolling down. Instead, their current promotions occupy the bulk of the homepage, with popular and selected markets on the left hand tab, and a full list of sports and other markets below.
Further down the page, markets are more spread out, rather than clustered together, resulting in a much cleaner appearance overall. Your betslip isn’t anywhere in sight until you make a selection, when it pops up on the right. Even with your betslip in view, Paddy Power has avoided the frantic, cluttered look of many bookie’s websites.
We’re pleased to see an obvious search tool at the top of the page, meaning that it’s straightforward to locate a particular fixture, even if it’s not one of the more popular events at the time.
When it comes to event pages, it’s slightly less convenient that no markets at all are shown without scrolling down, but really this is a pretty minor quibble. Markets are laid out logically when you come to them, and each is minimisable, allowing you to see only the markets you’re interested in.
Similarly, the games (casino) section is dominated by the promotions header at the top, with slots games visible only when you scroll down. It’s hard to avoid a somewhat cluttered feel with a large number of slots games to highlight, but Paddy Power’s white background and variation in size certainly makes for a pleasanter visual experience than many other bookies.
It’s also nice to see a prominent search tool again, plus an obvious ‘info’ button for each game, allowing you to check the RTP and volatility with ease.
We were impressed by Paddy Power’s help centre, which is divided into logical categories and offers comprehensive answers to any question you might have. It’s a shame that no other contact option is provided than live chat, and that your chat is answered by a bot - but it is at least available 24/7, and if the bot can’t resolve your issue there will be a real person available to speak to.
Safety And Security
Paddy Power’s funds protection receives the highest possible rating from the Gambling Commission, 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
There are plenty of bookies who put in much less effort to the protection of their customers’ money, so it’s refreshing to see Paddy Power investing in security.
Their Safer Gambling section, meanwhile, is well thought out, with a variety of tools available to help gain control of one’s gambling behaviour, as well as links to organisations and services that can offer further support.
Service And Support
As we’ve mentioned already, we weren’t overly impressed by the absence of a phone number or email address. Anyone wishing to make contact has little choice but to use live chat - but that does at least have the merit of being available 24/7. You can always try making contact via Twitter/X as an alternative if you prefer, but you’ll probably get a much faster response via live chat.
| Live chat | Social media |
|---|---|
| Available 24/7 via websiteInitially answered by bot, but team member available if needed | Twitter/X - @askpaddypowerExpect a response within a few hours |
Paddy Power App
Paddy Power’s app is effective and easy to use, with its sections and appearance mirroring the website. The homepage doesn’t appear quite as elegant when reduced to the size of a smartphone screen, but overall there’s little to complain about.
The ‘find’ tool serves as an overarching main menu, including a search tool, a list of popular markets, and also the all sports menu, making it very simple to track down what you’re looking for. The games section can also be tailored to your preferences, reducing the need to wade through long lists of irrelevant slots to find the one you’d like to play.
While Paddy Power does offer a dedicated casino app, there’s really no need to download it separately, as the casino section on its sportsbook app does the job perfectly well.
Summary
It may have courted controversy with a variety of advertising stunts, but Paddy Power nonetheless has a lot to offer as a bookie, with appealing welcome offers and decent regular promotions.
If you’ve recently started your Matched Betting journey and are wondering whether Paddy Power’s worth signing up to, the answer’s a resounding yes! If, on the other hand, you’d like to know more about Matched Betting, check out our beginner’s guide, or sign up to our free trial to get going right away.