Ladbrokes

Founded in 1886, the world’s biggest fixed odds bookmaker has a name and brand which reeks of experience and integrity. The site offers every betting opportunity you can imagine but the company has sat back and let newcomers take the lead. It is now playing catch up, particularly with in-play, and needs to create dynamism. However, they clearly have a strong and effective marketing team who ensure it is to the fore in online search.

Ladbrokes has an annual revenue of over £1billion and employs 15000 people across its online, mobile and retail divisions. It operates more than 2700 betting shops in four countries (UK, Ireland, Belgium and Spain). There are also Ladbrokes facilities at eight Premier League football grounds and nine racecourses. Online, Ladbrokes have more than 765000 active users whilst 100000 customers use its telephone service. The company is trying to break into the Chinese market.

Good independent content would help punters as Ladbrokes is miles behind its long-time rival William Hill in this regard. However, Jeremy Chapman’s Golf Podcast demonstrates that the company is heading in the right direction regarding this. Meanwhile, the site has been translated into 25 different languages, with betting available in 18 currencies, meaning that the company’s international reputation is clearly increasing.

Ladbrokes have an extensive section on the financial markets, including offering spread betting and fixed odds based on trading in the City. Like most other bookmakers, poker, casino, games, bingo and lotto are becoming increasing staples of their business model and in this regard, Ladbrokes does not disappoint, offering a wide variety of different options.

Live Betting is a disappointment, particularly in terms of the opportunities available, but there are many different markets on which to bet if a particular event is covered.

However, what Ladbrokes lacks in in-play it makes up for in fixed odds betting with popular sports jostling with niche ones for prominence on the site. Betting on reality TV, politics, music and the weather is also available.

Betting on individual fixtures commands an unrivalled number of different markets whilst it is possible to bet on most leagues in world football on a match-by-match basis. On big matches, the number of markets often exceeds 100 although on smaller matches, there could be a greater range available.

Ladbrokes offers a range of extras including Mobile Betting, and commentaries on football, greyhounds and horse racing. They also operate a stats centre where customers can analyse the form of horses and football teams prior to placing a bet. Ladbrokes TV streams action from a handful of live sporting events including tennis, racing, cycling, golf, football and cricket.

Ladbrokes offers a free £25 for new customers.