Review

Odds Brothers / Bookmakers / Ladbrokes Sports

Reviewed site

Where do they stand in the betting industry? The answer to the above question is right near the very top. The company has over 2,000 shops in the UK and Ireland and, with its online and mobile business in very good shape, it is fair to say they are one of the leading bookmakers operating…

Where do they stand in the betting industry?

The answer to the above question is right near the very top. The company has over 2,000 shops in the UK and Ireland and, with its online and mobile business in very good shape, it is fair to say they are one of the leading bookmakers operating today.

Due to their longevity in the industry, Ladbrokes is a firm which can be trusted, certainly when it comes to depositing money into accounts and receiving funds (if you are lucky enough to pick up a return).

Ladbrokes are not afraid to have an opinion with their odds and have been known to take on some of the favourites in major sporting events such as the World Cup or the
Cheltenham Festival.

Coverage of football

As you’d expect with Ladbrokes, they have full coverage of the Premier League all the way down to the Conference North and South in England under their football zone. They also offer odds on the major European leagues such as Spain, Germany and Italy, as well as some of the less recognised leagues in South America and Africa.
Ladbrokes’ in-play football offering is right up there with anyone in the industry. Not only do they offer live betting on the match, but they also have over 100 different markets, in some cases including number of corners, bookings and goals.

Design and layout

A lot of work has been done by Ladbrokes on their website to improve their layout and become more user-friendly. Although they have achieved that goal, they are still lacking behind some of their competitors.

Using their football section as an example, the tabs are not very clear. The light coloured text does not stand out very well from the background and the font is rather small in some cases.

What does work, though, is the A-Z menu on the left hand side of the page, which makes navigation to the sport and market you are looking for really easy. There is also a search box so you can speed this process up even more if you wish.
Football appears to be the dominant theme on the home page with a list of today’s games and upcoming matches running down to the bottom. This is great if football is the only sport you bet on but horse racing punters need to change their tab in order to find markets which will be relavant to their sport.

Languages to suit

Ladbrokes is ahead of a lot of its competitors in that it caters for 20 different languages on its site. You can change the language to one that suits at the top right of the page with the drop down menu. These include Spanish, German, and Chinese, which should help them to pick up punters who are not comfortable viewing the site in English.
Customer service appears to be one of Ladbrokes’ major strengths as they have a 24/7 live support service to help their clients with any problems they may be having. You can also reach them on the phone and by e-mail.

Extras with the site

Ladbrokes are the only leading bookmaker who offers its customers a loyalty card, in a similar way Tesco do with their shoppers. Every time you place a bet, you pick up points and once you reach a particular number, you are entitled to a free bet.
On their website there is also access to Ladbrokes Radio, which streams live horse racing commentaries from all UK and Irish meetings. The service also provides commentaries on greyhounds and football from various matches.

Pro’s

cons

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How do bookmakers work?

    Bookmakers are traditionally known as the ‘accountants of the horse racecourse’ and this is for good reason. They take money as stakes on various outcomes of a race or contest and they pay out money to those who predicted the outcome correctly.

    The aim of this ‘accountant’ is of course so that when the balance sheet is drawn up, a profit has been made by the bookmaker. To achieve this, they try to offer odds that are actually smaller than the probability of the outcome actually turning out that way.

    The odds offered by the Bookmakers when a given event is added up are therefore higher than 100%.

  • How are odds determined by Bookmakers?

    If a bookmaker offered odds of, say, 6/5, it would always be to the bettor’s advantage. You would then bet, say, £50 on ‘heads’ and £50 on tails and you would make a profit regardless of the result. Bookmakers are, of course, far too smart to let this happen. However, it is possible that comparing odds at bookmakers can create such a win/win situation.

  • How are the odds determined for a particular event?

    Below is an example of how prices are set based on the nature of the event. Let’s take two horse races, same venue, same type of race.

    Race 1: Big well-known race, well-known names competing, high stakes spread across the various player. Bookmakers can then compile odds easily and without much adjustment.

    Race2: Small race, with unknown participants. Is unlikely to generate as many stakes, so betting a high amount on 1 horse causes more headaches for the Bookmakers than race 1. To secure the Bookmaker’s margin, the odds per horse will go down, to have a higher ‘over-round’ percentage overall, so this acts as a buffer for the Bookmaker.

  • Why do bookmakers restrict your accounts?

    Bettors like to have multiple accounts because it ensures they get the best price on all their bets. It can be very frustrating to see your accounts very restricted or even closed. The official reason for restricting accounts is almost always a ‘trading decision’; actually, it is the reasons below that make your accounts get tackled.

  • Are there any bets that bookmakers don’t like?

    Bookies love it when you place multiple bets. That’s why they offer so many enhancements (odds that are increased in between) and money-back specials with multiple bets. After all, any kind of bet with more than one outcome reduces your chances of winning.

    Although you get a few wins from these bets; the bookies will generally leave you alone because they assume they are going to make money from you in the long run.

    There are some bets that bookmakers dislike, such as singles, for example. Or bad each way bets (each way bets in races where a short priced favourite is running and bettors are more likely to take advantage of the market) and each way bets on relatively short priced selections (3 on 1 or 4 on 1 shots).

    These are some examples of bets that bookmakers are not happy about and – even if you are losing – can cause restrictions on your account

  • What does it mean when your account has never been restricted?

    Don’t worry if you have never had to deal with bookmaker restrictions. Be happy! Most gamblers bet for fun and usually the amounts involved are so small that bookmakers are not worried at all. Besides, most punters lose regularly or bet on the type of bets bookmakers love (especially multiples).

  • Is it fair for the bookmaker to restrict my account?

    Don’t forget that a bookmaker runs a commercial business. That is why bookmakers make sure their terms and conditions allow them to restrict big winners at any time.

    Naturally, it would be much fairer for bookmakers to treat their big losing customers the same as their big winning bettors. The chances of this happening are slim, especially since the government has no legislation on the matter.

    It is relatively easy for bookmakers to monitor customers so having restrictions imposed on them is unfortunately one of the things to consider when gambling.

  • How do I prevent my account from being restricted?

    Of course, ideally you should not have to deal with restrictions from bookmakers. So the question is, can you do anything about this or are you powerless? There are some things you can do to reduce the chances of restrictions. We have put them here for you, take advantage of them!

    • Set rounded amounts
      The more arbitrary your bets are, the more you will resemble an arber. Arbers bet with exact amounts to guarantee their winnings. Betting with 40 euros instead of 39.99 makes you look more like a real gambler. Whether you are or not…
    • Write off money
      Don’t write off your money from your account too often. Make sure it doesn’t look like you have a regular betting bank, because the more strategy the bookies think they see in you, the more likely they are to restrict your accounts. If you’re winning; let your balance go up.
    • Lose!
      Believe us, this advice is not as weird as it sounds.
      If you have a good run in an account and it’s all running smoothly, back some selections that they lose and then trade them on the exchanges. Of course, make sure your potential debts do not exceed your potential profits.