Ladbrokes Sportsbook Review

Ladbrokes Review

Ladbrokes may be the oldest bookmaker in business today. Established all the way back in the 19^th century, the bookie is a pioneer for nearly everything sports betting related. Ladbrokes has grown tremendously since their inception. They operate over 27,000 betting shops around the globe and have over 14,000 employees.

The betting company was founded all the way back in 1886 by Mr. Schwind and Pennington. They changed the name to Ladbrokes in 1902 after Arthur Bendir came on board and moved their bookmaking operations to London.

Over the next century, they had some ups and downs. They were one of the first bookies to open betting shops after the UK government authorized them in the 1961 Betting and Gaming Act. They continued to expand from there and in the 21^st century have become an international betting leader. In July 2015, the Gala Coral Group and Ladbrokes announced a merger. The deal, once completed, will make Ladbrokes and Coral easily Britain’s largest bookmaker. The company will operate at least 4,000 betting shops in the UK and Ireland alone.

Ladbrokes operates in many countries throughout the world. In February 2016, they pulled out of dozens of grey markets. Most notably, they do not accept residents of the United States, Denmark, France, Italy, and Switzerland. In addition to traditional sports betting, Ladbrokes has a betting exchange, similar to Betfair. They also offer an online casino, poker, and lottery options.

A Personal Opinion on Ladbrokes Sportsbook

Online Sportsbooks Worth Considering

Ladbrokes Sportsbook Bonuses

Ladbrokes provides players with a free bet of up to £50 on their first deposit and wager. All that players have to do is head over to Ladbrokes.com and make sure they enter the latest promo code for the offer. To be eligible for the bonus, players must have a new account at Ladbrokes sports betting. They cannot previously have created an account under casino, poker, or any other option.

The free bet is only eligible for users who use Pounds or Euros. Deposits also can’t be made using Skrill, Neteller, and PaySafe. The £50 free bet is probably the biggest of any of the top British bookmakers. Fortunately for punters, this isn’t the only promotion they offer.

Lots of Promotions

Promotions at Ladbrokes are frequently updated. They are mostly centered on popular British and Irish markets, but occasionally there are promotions for smaller markets and North American sports.

Their most common promo is the daily price boosts. These are updated daily and are generally focused on high profile matches or events. These genuinely do add value to players and can save them some funds. For horse and greyhound bettors, Ladbrokes has a best odds guaranteed. Customers can take the price for a win or each way single, and if the return is greater, they will pay out at the bigger price.

Cash Out gives users the chance to lock in return on a wager before the match or event finishes. This feature at many other bookmakers but is still not a “can’t miss” option across the industry. Ladbroke’s cash out promotion isn’t available for all markets but is at one’s disposal for a variety of football, cricket, and snooker markets. These markets are also where Ladbrokes provides some of their best prices.

The bookmaker is one of the few to offer a betting exchange in addition to their online sportsbook offerings. Ladbrokes doesn’t have the volume that larger exchanges like BetFair or Matchbook offer, but they do appear to be growing. Like other exchanges, Ladbrokes takes a commission of all winning wagers. Users do not pay any commission on losing bets. However, they do charge a commission on all winning bets, which starts at 5% but can be dropped down to 2%, depending on your wagering happens.

The exchange offers odds on both pre-match and in-play markets. It will work for any punter who is betting smaller stakes. These bets should have no issue being matched, regardless of your chosen market. For higher stakes gamblers, there may be issues with your bets being matched on less popular events, such as North American sports or less popular European markets. If you’re heavily into exchange betting and wagering large amounts, we suggest Betfair.

Ladbrokes Review Highlights

Ladbrokes offers odds in three formats, including fractional odds (UK odds), decimal (European), and moneyline odds (American). Their betting interface, in terms of functionality, is excellent, but the layout leaves a lot to be desired.

The homepage itself is a bit overwhelming. It’s as if the Ladbrokes’ team has decided they need to cram every promotion and available market onto their main page. There is simply too much going on at once. Don’t get us wrong, Ladbrokes’ betting software isn’t weak. It’s the middle of the road product, with a rather boring but jammed packed interface. We just expected more from perhaps the world’s most famous bookmaker.

Ladbrokes doesn’t fail punters when it comes to betting markets. They may not have as many markets as other big sportsbooks, but they offer just as many sports and come mighty close to matching or beating them on certain sports. Ladbrokes’ odds, not so shockingly, are some of the best around for horse racing and greyhounds. This extends beyond British borders as well. They are probably the best bookmaker for pricing n American racing.

Their primary markets are competitive, but not elite. Odds for football and other high-profile sports are strong, particularly if bettors shop odds in the exchange. However, when it comes to smaller market sports, we have to rate Ladbrokes as one of the worst bookmakers around.

In-play betting is probably Ladbroke’s best attribute. The number of markets they offer for each sport is impressive and is much more than most betting sites. There is a whole host of props for each event to go along with traditional markets. High profile matches may have several dozen betting markets.

As of May 2016, they have odds on American football, Aussie Rules, baseball, basketball, boxing, chess, cricket, cycling, darts, e-sports, football, futsal, GAA, golf, greyhounds, handball, horse racing, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, motor racing, Olympics, poker, rugby, tennis, and volleyball.

It is worth mentioning that we wouldn’t touch most of their sports at Ladbrokes, their margins are just way too high. For instance, they have a hold over 10% on basketball markets. Tennis and hockey aren’t much better at just over 7%. One of the more emerging markets at Ladbrokes is for American sports. Their profit margins on both baseball and American football are under 4%. They also have plenty of markets on political events, such as elections or gossip. This extends to reality television, award shows, and more non-sport markets.

Wagering limits are quite large at Ladbrokes. For their most major markets, the maximum payout is £1 million. Before we jump into sports betting, it’s worth going their horse and greyhound payouts, as that is a significant portion of their handle. Any horse racing in Great Britain and Ireland has a maximum payout of up to £1 million. Greyhounds are capped at £500k.

Top flight leagues, including the English Premiership, Champions League, and the rest of the first division all have a max win of £1 million. This drops down to £500k for leagues like the Australian A League, Dutch Eredvisie, and many others. Other football competitions top out at £250k or £100k.

No other markets come close to £1 million in maximum payout, but most other sports have a max of £500k on major markets. This includes tennis, cricket, golf, MLS soccer, rugby, and all four major American sports leagues, the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. As far as main markets, just about everything else is £100k, including political markets. Propositions and non-traditional markets will be lower limits than sides, totals, and moneylines, but these are sports specific.

Ladbrokes Sportsbook Support

Ladbrokes.com is available in English, French, Swedish, and German. They also have a support team that is fluent in 20 different languages. Support is available 24/7, 365 days a year through phone, email, live chat, and through Ladbrokes’ Twitter account.

As stated above, feedback from support has been mixed. It’s tough to tell if this is an area of concern with Ladbrokes or it’s a few disgruntled punters upset isolated incidents or a bad beat. However, there have been enough complaints that it is worth noting here.

Ladbrokes Betting Site – Deposits and Elite Withdrawals

Before moving onto their options for depositing online, Ladbrokes allows customers to deposit and withdraw at their shops. They can simply go to any location with their customer ID and deposit. Withdrawals are also available up to £5,000 instantly at betting shops.

Ladbrokes list of currencies and methods is perhaps the largest online. They accept Pounds, Euros, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Hong Kong Dollars, Japanese Yen, New Zealand Dollars, and Norwegian Krone. All deposits and withdrawals at Ladbrokes, regardless of your chosen currency and country of origin are free of charge.

Ladbrokes has around two dozen different cashier methods. All major debit and credit cards are available for deposit, including Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard, and Maestro. Other methods include Entropay, Ukash, check, bank transfer, or Western Union. Credit and debit cards are typically the most utilized method, although, e-wallets are close. They fully support Neteller, Skrill, and PayPal.

Withdrawals via bank transfer and back to debit and credit cards take about 3-5 business days. Due to banking regulations, Ladbrokes processes these transactions much faster than most sites. Their speeds, overall, are fantastic. E-wallet withdrawal requests typically take just a few hours to process.

Ladbrokes Review Summary – False Sense of Loyalty

Many punters have been betting with Ladbrokes since their youth. They’re easily one of the most trusted bookmakers of all time, not just in the markets they operate. However, their odds are lagging behind their reputation. They have a nice variety, including their exchange and a large number of markets, but their odds are middle of the road, at best.

For high profile markets, they may have the best price, but for everything else, they’re inferior. We’re not saying to avoid Ladbrokes, but if you’re depositing at just one bookmaker – they would easily be out of the running. Nevertheless, their odds on football are still decent, and they do have a £50 free bet offer. Make an account and claim the bonus, but don’t expect to be blown away.