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Ladbrokes Review

 LADBROKES
 www.ladbrokes.com
 reviewed on March, 2009
 
Welcome screen

Sportsbook home screen

Betting menu and bet slip

Live betting panel
 mouse over screenshots to enlarge

On this page: History, Company Info, Odds, Offer and Betting procedure

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 HISTORY

Ladbrokes Group was founded by Cyril Stein and his uncle Max Parker in 1961 (although the company origin stretches back to 1886!) . Stein bought Ladbrokes’ first betting shop a year later and introduced fixed odds football betting shortly after. Ladbrokes floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1967, when it had an initial market capitalisation of just under Ł1 million. From 1987 until 2006 Ladbrokes owned a major hotel business, including the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States. The company even operated under the name of 'Hilton Group' from 1999 to 2006. On December 29, 2005 'Hilton Group' announced that it would sell the hotel operations to 'Hilton Hotels Corporation' for Ł3.3bn ($5.7bn) and will readopt the 'Ladbrokes' name. In February 2006 the company announced plans to pay investors Ł4.2 billion and stated that it intended to expand its gambling business internationally and was looking at markets such as China, Italy and Spain.

 COMPANY INFO

'Ladbrokes International Ltd' is the largest betting company in the UK and largest retail bookmaker in the world. The company owns over 2600 retail betting shops divided between the UK, Ireland and Belgium. It also operates several online gambling websites offering sportsbook, poker, casino, games, bingo and backgammon. Main website Ladbrokes.com is online since 1998. In addition to an extensive retail presence, Ladbrokes is a world-leader in remote gambling. Its telephone betting services have 120,000 active customers and over 500,000 customers gamble over the internet. The company employs more than 14,000 people in five countries currently, making it the world’s largest fixed-odds betting company. Postal Address: Ladbrokes Limited, Imperial House, Imperial Drive, Rayners Lane, Harrow, Middlesex, HA2 7JW, United Kingdom.
Category evaluation: EXCELLENT

>>> sub-category: REGULATION

Licensed in the UK (telephone and internet betting operations) and in Gibraltar (gaming operations).
Category evaluation: EXCELLENT

 ODDS

Being the UK leading bookmaker (in terms of retail betting shops), Ladbrokes can afford to offer slightly lower odds than market averages. They are traditionally careful with most markets (especially outrights and underdog odds). Basketball odds are quite good though, certainly higher than average. Ladbrokes' fixed odds margin varies from 8% to 12%, depending on the market, and 2-way markets (such as asian handicaps, spreads, etc.) are operated on 4-5 % margin. Odds are released 3-4 days before the event usually, which is standart. Ladbrokes don't change their odds (at least bigger markets ones) as much as other UK bookies do. Sometimes you can catch very good odds on favourites with Ladbrokes.
Category evaluation: SHOULD BE BETTER

>>> sub-category: SOCCER

Soccer odds don't make exception from Ladbrokes' general policy, they could be higher definitely. Even big leagues are offered with 7-8 % margin (fixed odds), smaller ones - with 10-11 %. Asian handicaps and totals odds (2-way markets) include 4-5 % margin. Odds on favourites deserve a look though, even top of the markets sometimes. Ladbrokes offer a good number of markets, especially for the bigger leagues, where you can find many special bets (corners, goalscorers, half-time/full-time, etc.).
Category evaluation: POOR

>>> sub-category: US SPORTS

Ladbrokes' American sports odds are average for the industry, mostly 1.90/1.90 style. Here you can find a good number of markets available for most matches, some of them aren't too easy to find elsewhere.
Category evaluation: AVERAGE

 OFFER

Ladbrokes offers a large variety of sports, ranging from mainstream categories such as Soccer, Tennis and Golf, to regional interests. Sports offer include: american football, athletics, badminton, bandy, baseball, basketball, bowls, boxing, cricket, cycling, darts, gaelic sports, golf, greyhounds, floorball, handball, hockey, horse racing, ice hockey, motor sports, rugby league, rugby union, snooker, soccer, tennis, trotting, volleyball, water polo, winter sports. Special bets on politics and different awards competitions are offered regularly (Ladbrokes was the first bookmaker to introduce betting on politics back in 1960's). Financial bets are the other very strong Ladbrokes feature. You'll hardly find another bookmaker with larger offer of financial bets. Main categories are currency exchange rates and stock indices.
Category evaluation: VERY GOOD

>>> sub-category: SOCCER

Soccer list on offer includes: all major International competitions, all major European leagues (UK - covering almost all the levels of English and Scottish football, Spain, Italy, Germany and France - covered down to third level divisions), Netherlands and Belgium, Portugal, Scandinavia, major North and South American leagues, Japan. Overall their soccer list covers all traditional soccer betting markets but you won't find many exotic and less known leagues with Ladbrokes.
Category evaluation: AVERAGE

>>> sub-category: US SPORTS

All major US sports are covered: american football (NFL), basketball (NBA), baseball (MLB), ice hockey (NHL).
Category evaluation: EXCELLENT

>>> sub-category: LIVE BETTING

Ladbrokes live betting schedule isn't as rich as Bwin's or Bet365's, but still richer than average bookmakers' one. Around 15 markets are available for almost every live event though, which is very good number. Betting types include: outcome, totals, asian handicap in-play, goalscorers, next goal, time of goals, correct score, halfs result, etc.
Category evaluation: AVERAGE

>>> sub-category: CASINO, POKER & GAMES

Customers have two options for accessing Ladbrokes' casino: downloading and installing the casino client (stand-alone application) or playing directly in their browsers. All major categories of casino games are offered: card and table games, video slots and video poker, progressives, etc. All games can be played for real money or for fun only, with 'play' money. Poker players can also choose between playing in their broswers directly or downloading and installing a separate client (2 versions are available for the client - 'normal' and one with 3D avatars). All major poker games are offered: Texas Hold'em (Fixed, Pot and No Limit), Omaha and Stud poker. You can play at cash ring tables, sit'n'go tables and many tournaments (including freerolls). Ladbrokes ofers different luck games, backgammon, lottos and bingo too.
Category evaluation: EXCELLENT

 BETTING PROCEDURE

As mentioned above users have all-time access to the 'Quick betting menu'. Your betting slip is always visible in the right. Very rich list of combination bet types and systems are available in case of multiple selections in the slip. Overall betting procedure is very fast, reliable and secure. Even inexperienced users won't have any difficulties and can start betting right from the start.
Category evaluation: EXCELLENT

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