Paddypower

Founded in 1988, Ireland’s biggest and most successful bookie has to be one of the strongest PR brands in gaming. There is always a novel bet available and Paddy Power is invariably first to come up with a topical betting angle around breaking news and popular events. The company even runs its own Fantasy Football tournament. There is an extensive sportsbook and the site is straightforward to follow.

Paddy Power is famed for its Money Back Specials, often refunding losing bets if certain criteria are met. During the FIFA World Cup, they had a ‘Bore War’ in which they refunded all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast singles if a particular match ended 0-0.  Money Back Specials tend to run daily and often concern big football matches or horse races. Paddy Power also offers enhanced prices, both on its own site and for favoured affiliates. They also offer Guaranteed Prices on all UK and Ireland Horse Racing and Greyhound Racing.

Famed for his sense of humour, Paddy Power has often courted controversy. In 2005, during the election for a new Pope, Paddy went over to the Vatican and ran a betting market in the middle of St Peter’s Square, invoking the ire of Vatican officials. Further publicity campaigns have included a Last Supper pastiche and a car bearing down on two grannies at a pedestrian crossing, with odds displaying the likelihood of them being run over. They also ran a cheeky advert on the day of Prince Charles’ wedding to Camilla, with odds suggesting where the marriage would be consummated. The chandeliers were priced at 66/1.

Paddy Power does not score highly in the content stakes and punters need to go elsewhere to follow sports like football in-play, whilst in-play racing and dogs coverage is also absent. However, Paddy Power makes up for this with a wider range of betting markets than other bookies. At Paddy Power, you can bet on sports such as cycling, bowls, futsal, beach volleyball, netball, handball and Irish sports, whilst non-sporting events such as politics and reality TV are also covered. Live Sports Betting is also available and Paddy Power runs markets on subjects such as the next celebrity split, volcano betting, BP betting and the name of David Cameron’s forthcoming child.

Despite the lack of betting and sports news content, Paddy Power does run a weekly Football Betting Preview on YouTube and has a regularly updated blog. Both of these are filled with the company’s unique brand of humour.

Paddy Power also covers poker, bingo and casino, and is famed for being one of the UK leaders in these fields. They have just launched an app for the iPhone and iPad, and a live streaming service for over 3000 events is also available.

Paddy Power runs online and telephone betting, whilst also operating a chain of shops throughout the UK and Ireland. They are aiming to branch into the French and Australian markets whilst in 2008, turnover was over €2.1 billion.

Paddy Power offers £50 to new customers to kickstart their accounts.