The Quick Summary
For years, Ladbrokes was known exclusively as a sports betting and casino games destination mostly centered around the Irish and British markets. While the Ladbrokes gambling empire has continued to shine, so too has the Ladbrokes poker wing gained in significance.
A well-designed site in itself, Ladbrokes has moved from its own previously paltry network to the massive Microgaming Network. With this new traffic, Ladbrokes is finally beginning to establish itself as a poker power rather than just a gambling juggernaut.
Popularity: 6 of 10 – Very Good
Though the Microgaming Network is one of the ten biggest poker networks in the world, it does not accept US customers, drastically slashing the potential number of members. Still, Ladbrokes often sees peak hours in excess of 4,000 real money players which fills out its ring games nicely (especially lower stakes Hold’em and Omaha.)
Security: 8 of 10 – Excellent
Ladbrokes is near the top of the heap in terms of security. Never a major scandal, never a nasty post from a disgruntled ex-member – Ladbrokes knows how to keep your poker experience safe. The standard 256-bit encryption system teams up with a methodical security team monitoring every single game running on Ladbrokes itself.
Player Competition: 7 of 10 – Good
As one of the largest sportsbooks in the world, you’d expect Ladbrokes to have a leg up on the competition in the way of players. While this is not entirely the case, Ladbrokes has seen the general level of its members abilities increased dramatically with the switch to the Microgaming Network. Decent competition at Ladbrokes.
Site Software: 6 of 10 – Good
Ladbrokes wants to make your experience a good one. Thanks to its decades of sportsbook business, Ladbrokes has a very user friendly policy in its gaming.
Ladbrokes offers 3 basic graphical representations of its game: a standard downloadable version, a flash based Mac- and PC-compatible version and a space-age 3D animated version. So if you like to see strong graphics (and your computer can handle it) then you can check out the 3D version but if you prefer to skip the nonsense and get to the poker, then you can go with the standard option. A lot of great options available to players due to Ladbrokes excellent software.
Customer Support: 7 of 10 – Excellent
Again, Ladbrokes knows how to take care of its customers. With several email addresses, extensive FAQs and two different toll free hotlines, you are never more than a few moments from speaking directly with Ladbrokes support.
Company Ethics: 8 of 10 – Excellent
Ladbrokes is the pinnacle of ethical gaming in the online world. Ladbrokes takes care to take care of its members in the way of support and security while its three-fold graphical system further tailors the poker experience to your specific tastes. You can play games like backgammon and bingo as well. The only reason that this is not a 10 is the relative weakness in the Ladbrokes promotion team, otherwise this is among the most ethical companies online today.
Site Promotions: 6 of 10 – Good
Here’s where Ladbrokes lags a bit: while the 100% bonus on up to your first $1000 sounds nice, it’s really not all that achievable unless you are grinding day in and day out. That said, Ladbrokes does now offer a million dollar rake race challenge on top of its growing VIP Program.
While the free money offers are nothing to write home about, Ladbrokes does run some nifty live tournament and prize packages from time to time. Past prizes have included all expenses paid trips to Las Vegas, Ireland and other parts of Europe. Still, the promotions are not the crown jewel in the Ladbrokes crown.
Overall Review: 6.5 of 10 – Good
Ladbrokes is awesome. It’s not only a great place to play poker, but it’s a great venue for casino games, backgammon and we haven’t even talked about the sportsbook – which is by many account the best in the world. The Microgaming Network has finally brought a substantial member base to the poker portion of Ladbrokes and new promotions such as the rake race are beginning to come out with more regularity, boding well for the future.
Final Result: We give Ladbrokes a final overall score of 6.5 out of 10.
