Ladbrokes is the most famous name in British bookmaking and, therefore, it can lay claim to being the best known firm operating in the betting industry anywhere on the planet. For that reason, you might be tempted to sign-up with them before even checking out any signification info about them. We’re here to tell you that while Ladbrokes is decent, you would do better at one of our top bookmakers.

The Ladbrokes story dates back to 1886 when two men known only by their surnames, Pennington and Schwind, went into partnership as commission agents, with their objective being to back thoroughbred horses that the latter trained at Ladbroke Hall near Stratford-on-Avon in England.

Arthur Bendir joined the Pennington-Schwind partnership in 1902 and effectively established Ladbrokes, suggesting the business name after seeing a signpost on his first visit to Ladbroke Hall. Bendir changed the group’s emphasis from backing horses to laying them, choosing to act as both a bookmaker and a punter. It did not take long for Ladbrokes to acquire clients, most of them from the top end of town.

Ladbrokes changed hands in 1956, began targeting punters from all walks of life and, when licensed betting offices became legal in the United Kingdom in 1961, started a period of growth that continues to this day. It operates more than 2,400 retail betting shops around the world and, of course, is a significant force online having launched its Internet service in 2000 and amassed more than 2,000,000 customers.

While Ladbrokes has a functional website, it gives one the impression that the business still puts offline ahead of online. It is nowhere near as swish as one would expect of such a well known bookmaker. The graphics are outdated and the various navigational menus are not dynamic like those that one finds on most sports betting websites, which means that it takes a relatively long time to get from A to B, even if the route is easy to follow in most instances.

Ladbrokes offers mobile-friendly versions of its website that service the most popular devices, while it has built a iOS-specific app. Unfortunately, betting with Ladbrokes on, say, an Apple iPhone is not the most joyous of experiences, with the latest version of the app being somewhat slow.

In the rest of this review we will look at Ladbrokes’s betting options, its bonuses, its security and licensing, how it treats professional and recreational punters and its banking practices, before providing an executive summary.

Betting Options at Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes is synonymous with thoroughbred horse racing in its native United Kingdom and the Sport of Kings is something that the so-called Magic Sign covers well.

European football is another of Ladbrokes’s strong suits, with its odds setters on both horse racing and soccer rated among the best in the world. There is a theory among some professional punters that it is worth avoiding anything about which Ladbrokes goes up with the longest price.

Ladbrokes covers all of the mainstream sports adequately but, as touched above in commentary on its website, they take a while to reach. Also, Ladbrokes does not have the same exhaustive range of betting options on second- and third-tier sports that some of its competitors do.

In addition to sports betting, Ladbrokes offers financial fixed odds, an innovative and exciting way for punters to speculate on the movements of financial markets. It is not something for everyone but it is worth a passing mention.

Bonuses at Ladbrokes

At any one time, Ladbrokes runs several promotions on its website. In terms of sports betting, its incentive to new clients is restricted to residents of Ireland and the United Kingdom and not all that enticing. New clients must open an account, enter the advertised promotional code, place a bet of either 10 British pounds or 10 euros and wait for the bookmaker to credit them with two free bets of the same value over the space of the coming fortnight. There are several terms and conditions attached to the offer as well, including rules regarding the odds of the qualifying bet.

Security And Licensing

Ladbrokes is licensed in Gibraltar and the United Kingdom, with its online sportsbook coming under the jurisdiction of the former. Ladbrokes has an impeccable reputation based on being the biggest bricks-and-mortar bookmaker in the British market and, therefore, it comes strongly recommended from a security perspective. Ladbrokes is not going anywhere.

Professional Versus Recreational Punters

Most big British bookmakers favour recreational punters over professional punters and Ladbrokes is no different. There is evidence that Ladbrokes will lay a big bet either over the telephone or on a race track but, online, its limits are designed to accommodate recreational punters moreso than punters who are betting big and/or trying to make a living.

Banking Practices

Ladbrokes bars residents of American Samoa, the American Virgin Islands, Australia, Belgium, China, Christmas Island, France, French Guiana, Greece, Guadaloupe, Guam, Israel, Italy, Hong Kong, Martinique, Mayotte, the Netherlands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, South Africa, Turkey and the United States of America from its sports betting service.

Interestingly, Ladbrokes is one of the few bookmakers that, in addition to the usual deposit and withdrawal methods such as credit card, debit card and bank transfer, offers PayPal as a option. Millions of people have PayPal accounts already because of its association with the famous eBay website.

Ladbrokes accepts bets in American dollars, Australian dollars, British pounds, Canadian dollars, Danish kroner, euros, Hong Kong dollars, Japanese yen, New Zealand dollars, Norwegian krone, Polish zloty, Singapore dollars, South African rand, Swedish kronor, Swiss francs and Thai baht.

Executive Summary

Ladbrokes is a trusted brand in the bookmaking game. If one is a British or Irish punter who is not particularly price sensitive, likes betting on horse racing and football and enjoys the convenience of punting from a single account, Ladbrokes will do the trick nicely. But there are better options out there if one looks past the famous name.