Ladbrokes Casino Review:

As one of the few gambling brands with household name status, Ladbrokes already enjoys a long-established reputation for fair gaming. Founded in 1902, its betting shops continue to dominate high streets across the country, serving millions of punters each year – more than a century after accepting their first bet.

It should be no surprise, then, to learn that Ladbrokes extend their offering online through their sportsbook, as well as through their online casino. The latter has already been online since 2000, so it’s built up a reputation of its own, too. But how does it compare to Ladbrokes’ other betting products, not to mention the leading competitors?

From the outset, you’ll feel pretty comfortable playing with Ladbrokes. Their kind of heritage and reputation isn’t easy to find elsewhere in the online casino industry, so having the peace of mind that comes from playing with a long-established player is priceless.

Ladbrokes Casino is licensed in the UK by the Gambling Commission, as well as by the Government of Gibraltar for international customers. This is the highest standard of licensing available for UK-based operators, and means you can be certain Ladbrokes are adhering to the regulations and requirements stipulated by the terms of that license. Added to which, its games are also independently certified as fair by auditor GLI (Gaming Laboratories International).

Ladbrokes Casino is multi-award winning, including scooping the prestigious Best Online Casino Operator of the Year at the IGA Awards in 2010. However, despite its strong track record and impressive haul of accolades over the years, there appear to be some issues with responding to player disputes, which seems to be at the heart of the handful of public complaints detailed online.

In general though Ladbrokes is as trusted as they come. Fully licensed, audited, and with a strong reputation to protect, they aren’t likely to be in any hurry to undo all that hard work for a quick buck. While it’s clear some players have had problems with Ladbrokes for one reason or another, that’s only to be expected when a top online casino is serving such a large number of players over more than 15 years.

Ladbrokes are set up to handle deposits and withdrawals through the vast majority of supported payment methods, so you won’t be stuck for choice.

If you’re a new player to Ladbrokes casino, you can take advantage of their welcome bonus. This is paid as a 100% match casino bonus on your first deposit, with up to £500 in free bonus credit available. To qualify for the bonus, you need to make a deposit of at least £20, and of course, the amount of your bonus will be determined by the overall size of this first deposit.

In order to withdraw from the bonus, the wagering requirements are set at 20x but on both the bonus and the deposit. In a nutshell, that works out at £4,000 if your first deposit was £100, factoring in the additional £100 in bonus (20 x £200). Not every game contributes at the same rate to the playthrough, though. While slots contribute at 100%, casino games like roulette and blackjack contribute at 20%, which makes the playthrough harder still to complete.

This is an OK bonus offer, lifted by the fact that there’s a lot of money on offer. A £500 deposit bonus isn’t to be sniffed at, and you won’t find that being offered at every casino. However, for our liking, the deposit and bonus structure to the wagering requirement tips the balance of this bonus the wrong way. It’s a sneaky way for the casino to market the bonus but in practice its tougher than a x35 or x40 playthrough demand on just the bonus.

The welcome bonus can be helpful, but only when it’s used correctly. It’s most suited to players who are looking for a new home for their regular online casino gambling, and who intend to stick around. With the reputation, game selection and general quality of service on offer at Ladbrokes, on balance, that doesn’t seem too much to ask.

Ladbrokes doesn’t exactly disappoint in the games department, but it’s an all-too-familiar story once you start to dig into the selection. Like many big UK brands which started off with sports betting (Coral, William hill, Bet365 etc) that source their main catalogue from Playtech (which is one of the leading names in the online casino business), but there’s just very little to get excited about.

True, Playtech games will give you a reasonable casino game experience, but they don’t really lead the way in any category. Most people would judge NetEnt and the more exotic boutique providers (Yggdrasil, Betsoft etc) best for video slots, Microgaming for progressive jackpots and table games and Evolution best for live casino games.

Worse than that, you end up finding almost identical games catalogues at all of these big brand casinos, along with the insane categorization that casinos clearly have to adhere to in order to incorporate non-Playtech games into their catalogues. Ladbrokes Casino has a particularly bad case of this. Under the Casino tab there’s the slots section, within which you’ll find 172 Playtech slots for instant play. But that’s not the only place you’ll find slots. Click on the Slots tab and you’ll find a whole new selection of games from developers including WMS and Bally Barcrest and NextGen Gaming.

But that’s not the end of the story, because there’s also a Games tab, right there next to the Casino and Slots tabs. There, you’ll find another 226 slots, taking in the likes of NetEnt’s Starburst and IGT’s Siberian Storm. There’s no doubt that’s a huge selection of games, without even touching on the classic table games. The problem is, it’s put together with little consideration shown to the player. No indication is given as to why there are three separate collections of games, nor why some titles appear in more than one section.

On top of that free-wheeling selection of slots, there is a catalogue of 47 table games, including some non-standard titles like Pai Gow Poker, Age of the Gods Roulette, 3-Card Brag, and Craps. There’s also a very high number of progressive jackpots available, including all of the Playtech favourites, as well as IGT’s Mega Jackpots games, including the progressive version of the ever-popular Cleopatra. The downloadable casino client features Playtech games exclusively, so you might be better off sticking with the browser-based games, of which there should be more than enough to satisfy most players.

It’s a shame, because the layout and usability of the casino has the potential to be really great. It’s just that the unintuitive categorization undermines what is otherwise a very clear and attractive user interface.

The live casino is another nice touch, and those who prefer live dealer action are well catered to, with a selection of titles to suit any preference, including unusual offerings such as Sic Bo. On top of that, the Playtech-supplied software allows you to play at multiple tables at once, should you wish to up the ante, and recently Ladbrokes Coral launched  what is said to be the first integrated live casino-betting slip enabling you to place bets from the live casino.

Ladbrokes mobile casino app is very similar to its desktop site in looks and functionality, which, overall, is no bad thing. You can download it from the App Store if you have an iPhone or iPad, or via the left-hand menu on the Ladbrokes mobile casino site, if you you’re using Android. Since it’s not a Play Store download you’ll have to dig into your phone’s settings in order to allow downloads from “unknown sources”. It’s frustrating, but no different from any other operator. You might find it simpler to use the mobile site, which differs not a jot from the app.

However you choose to play, once you’re up and running you’ll find a decent selection of the full site’s Playtech titles. There are around 125 slots on offer, with plenty of jackpots, too, including Jackpot Giant and Age of the Gods. Table games are well accounted for as well, with 30+ on offer, including Playtech’s live dealer offerings, with everything from French Roulette to Baccarat on offer. Niche games like Sic Bo are sacrificed, though.

As with the desktop site, tool around in the menus and you’ll find that the game selection doesn’t end there, especially when it comes to slots. If you click on the Slots or Games links in the left-hand menu. The Games section alone contains close to 200 five-reel slots, with favourites from NetEnt and other developers well accounted for.

Aside from the welcome bonus, there are also a number of ongoing and periodical promotions that crop up, all designed to keep you hooked on the Ladbrokes offering. Things like second and third deposit bonuses, which allow a 50% followed by 125% match bonus up to £500 on each of these subsequent deposits, go some way towards that goal.

Whatever game you’re playing, every wager earns you loyalty points towards additional rewards and benefits, and Ladbrokes do seem to go the extra mile to make sure their players are well treated. Special offers, faster points, enhanced withdrawal limits and a personal VIP account manager await those who build up their loyalty points, along with a selection of other daily promotions and bonuses to keep you playing.

There are some nice touches that give the offering a bit more personality, such as the Sunday Market, where players can opt in to purchase no-deposit bonuses, free spins and golden chips using their loyalty point balance.