Tax-Free Betting (ladbrokes.com)

Member Name: Slim Lee

Product:	ladbrokes.com
Date:	25/02/01 (656 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great selection of events to bet on

Disadvantages: You can lose you know

I have a small problem ...

I like to gamble a little bit.

Well, no, maybe a little more than that. I’m already a member of two internet betting websites so surely that is enough. You would think so wouldn’t you? But, alas I had to go and join a third. The lure of a free £20 bet was too much for my conscience to ignore. So here I am, writing yet another opinion/review on a betting website.

Lets get the free money bit out of the way first shall we. The free £20 bet with Ladbrokes.com works as follows. You first have to register with them, the standard questions are asked but nothing too personal. Then you need to transfer some money into your account using either a visa/mastercard or a debit card (switch/solo). The minimum amount to transfer each time is £10 but you can transfer any amount up to £5,000 (can’t imagine many people doing this!). The first time you place an individual bet of up to £20 in value then they will credit your account with the identical amount of this first bet (up to £20), whether you win or lose the bet. This is credited to your account once this first bet has been settled.

So, in essence it is a “free” bet of up to £20. Don’t join in the hope of getting £20 just plonked into your account without any betting activity first! Also, if your first bet is only £5 then that is all they will match. Make sure you place a £20 bet to get the most out of them!

Logging into the site is done via a secure link, as are all of the monetary transactions. This can make it a little slow at times but I wouldn’t want the alternative.

The big difference with Ladbrokes.com comes with the fact that is completely Tax-Free. No commissions at all. They are based offshore so can’t be collared by the UK taxman. It’s an international site so you can choose whether the language is in English, Italian, Chinese or Spanish.

The layout of the site is nothing new
to be honest. Very similar to the dozens of other betting sites I have had a look at over the last year or so. Up in the top right hand corner of the screen you get your Log on/Account Help/Open Account menus (for non-members). Once you have logged in the Log On changes to Log Off and the Open Account menu becomes Your Account.

If you’ve previously used a betting website before then the style and presentation of these menus will be very familiar to you, especially if you’ve used the Blue Square site too. The colour scheme has lots of blues and greens on a white background. Not the most eye-catching but functional.

One of the nice features with this site is the option to show the odds either in fractional or decimal format. I know some people who really hate the fractional format (4/1, 8/13 etc…) and would understand it more in decimals. For instance, it can be easier to understand betting odds of 1.50 than 1/2, both mean the same thing. When you realise that for a £1 stake on odds of 1.50 you get £1.50 back (your stake times the odds is the money you get back) it can be a lot simpler to understand for those people who haven’t grown up with the fractional odds format. I prefer to stick to the fractional one myself and feel quite comfortable with it. Good feature though.

Just underneath the Home icon is a click through to show your current account balance and details of your transactions (winnings if you’re lucky!). The account/transactions pages are nothing special at all and can be a little tricky to navigate through.

One rather annoying feature of the site, due to it being international, is that the time is shown as the Central European Time (CET) and is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Not a problem when you realise this but it was a bit of a pain in the beginning. I kept looking up to see it saying the wrong time, running off to watch something on TV when it wasn’t on for another
hour. Annoying.

The following sections are tabbed along the top of the screen as a kind of short-cut menu:

- Home (a nifty house icon)
Takes you to the sites homepage. A simple layout with the most popular sections in a vertical list down the left of the screen, the centre section is used as a kind of highlights bit, and the right hand section is another vertical list but this time purely on the days Horse Racing

- Football
Similar format to the homepage but specifically on football bets. The highlight or main events are shown on the centre section of the page and a vertical list of all events is on the left hand side. Just above the vertical list is a small click-through link to the latest football news and results. The list of events is easy enough to use and a very comprehensive list of events it is too. You’re not restricted to a simple “who will win” bet and can often bet on the first goal scorer, how many goals with be scored in the match, the halftime-fulltime result and correct score. My favourite is the “Goal Crazy” coupon, where you can bet on the numbers of goals you think will be scored in each game (options are 0-1, 2-3, 4+). You normally get good odds on the 4+ goals in a game. They also do they usual UK weekend and mid-week coupons as well as a European one. Good for doing a few high odds accumulators on. One day I’ll win one of them!

- Racing
This part is split into two sections (same format as before with the lists), one for Horse Racing, and the other for Greyhounds. There are lots of prices for the big races that are coming up (yes, including the Grand National) and all of the UK races on the day, showing the current odds and any movements. As with any respectable bookmaker you can place a bet to win, each-way (for a placing) or a forecast. They’ll also take multiple bets in an accumulator too (or any other type of multiple bet like a Yankee for instance). H
ope I’ve not lost any of you inexperienced gamblers there!

- Specials
A smaller section for more “off the wall” bets, on a wide range of subjects, from the up-and-coming General Election to the Oscars. They are already taking bets on who will succeed William Hague after the General Election! The knives must already be out if the bookies are taking bets on it!

- Sports
Other sports bets on Cricket, Rugby Union, Golf, Tennis, Snooker, Boxing, American Football, Rugby League, Motor Racing and Rallying. Pretty comprehensive it has to be said, with much more events to bet on than any other site I’ve used so far.

- Pools
This is their version of the football pools (in association with Vernon’s). You pick 11 numbers/games from the list of 49 and if you get 8 draws (24 points) then you win the jackpot (whatever it is that week). It’s basically an electronic way of doing your pools. The selection of 11 numbers costs £0.75 and covers 165 combinations. Not really something I bother doing anymore but I’m sure some people will find this a useful addition to the site. If this interests you then you also get one free week entry for every 10 that you submit.

- Lotteries
This section uses the numbers drawn in the Irish lottery and has two different types of games. One is called “Lucky Clover 3” where you select 3 numbers, and if theses 3 are in the 6 numbers drawn then you win £400 on your £1 stake. The “Lucky Clover 5” game is the same but, surprisingly, you pick 5 numbers instead of 3, with winnings of £40,000 if you guess right! Far better odds than the national lottery it has to be said. The big difference here is that there are a total of 42 numbers in the Irish draw, so your chances of winning are better than in the UK version, which uses 49 numbers. The odds of 400 to 1 are far far better than the National Lottery. The draws take place every Wednesday and Satu
rday at 8pm. They also have a lucky dip function if you don’t want to choose the numbers yourself.

- Casino
Uh oh. A link through to the Ladbrokes online casino, with over 30 different games (Poker, Blackjack … oh no!). Luckily it’s separate to this site, and you need to register with them and download the games, so no inadvertent clicks to get me on that one!

- Fantasy
A fantasy football league, costing £5 for each team that you submit, with monthly prizes of £2,000 to the 1st place, £1,000 to the runner up, £500 to the 3rd place and £150 to those who get into the 4th to 10th positions. The eventual winner will get £25,000 with the runner-up getting £10,000. The leagues can also be played in 9 different currencies! Fancy using Singapore dollars?? Eh, no thanks.


Verdict
*****

This is a betting website for the serious gambler rather than for someone who wants to have fun. Flutter.com is a better site if that’s what you are looking for. Ladbrokes.com has the widest selection of events to bet on but not always the best odds. Now that BlueSq.com is Tax-Free as well then we should see some good competition on the odds as it is easy now to be selective with whom you place your bet.

It’s a close call between Bluesq.com and Ladbrokes.com but they do offer a slightly different service. I find the Ladbrokes site to be a bit more awkward to navigate through and a touch slower generally. They both have credited my account with winning bet returns within a few hours of the event occurring (with BlueSq.com being marginally faster at this). Ladbrokes.com do have a greater range of events and I’m personally quite happy to use both sites equally now.

So, I can recommend them as a good site to use if you want to get away from trudging down to the local bookies and would rather stay in the warm. Check the site out as a guest first to see if it has the type of events you would lik
e to bet on, as the range of events is the strong point of this particular site.



Note:
***

Gambling is a very addicted “hobby”. The ease at which you can bet on internet sites and transfer money into your account instantly is quite frightening. No more nipping to the cash machine and then to the bookmakers. You don’t even have to leave the house anymore. I’m quite sure some people have found this out to their cost. So please please please be careful.


If you’re worried about your gambling or that of a friend then you can always call the following confidential telephone support and counselling help line:

Gamcare UK Help line - 0845 6000 133 (local rate call)

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