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There are few more established betting brands in the industry than Coral. The company have recently gone through a merger with that of Ladbrokes to create “Ladbrokes Coral” in a deal reported to be worth £2.3 billion.
Whilst technically the companies are the same, they still function as two brands, meaning that the Coral name lives on alongside that of Ladbrokes, at least for the time being. As the pair were arguably two of the biggest companies before the merger, it’s now thought that they are worth over £4 billion.
Jump To:Football | Racing | Usability | Casino | Poker | Banking
Football
Football betting is probably the largest sector within the bookmaker and is the main area for focus for our review today. This section has become so popular, it’s one of the main reasons why many punters choose to use a site like Coral and we think is probably their biggest selling point as a result.
What’s important to establish from their success is what makes them tick? Often with bookmakers the size of Coral, there are numerous features and functions that cumulate into creating a great package. We would have to say that from our initial findings that this is very much the case, with very few weak spots to speak of.
The pricing structure is where we are going to start. Before even doing any research at all, you don’t get to become one of the biggest in the world by offering poor odds, so we know that they are going to be relatively strong in all areas. But, to separate from a solid bookie to a great bookie means they need to go the extra mile, especially considering the size of business in its current form.
PRE-WORLD CUP FRIENDLIES PRICING COMPARISON EXAMPLE
Our research brought us to a series of pre-World Cup friendlies that were taking place around the world. There happened to be one between that of England and Nigeria that was taking place in just a few day’s time, which would offer a great base to see how they stood.
CORAL ODDS | AVERAGE ODDS | |
---|---|---|
England | 1.44 | 1.45 |
Draw | 3.8 | 4.08 |
Nigeria | 7.5 | 7.39 |
As you can see, they don’t actually rank all that well to be honest. They are someway off the best price for an England win, draw and a Nigerian win actually. In fact, for all results they were pretty low in terms of the average price that was on offer.
Whilst this is a very small example and an extreme market, we actually found this trend to continue in 12 other matches that we tracked. In fact, with each of the 12 games they were never best priced or tied for best price in any of these matches. It was quite staggering actually to see such a well-regarded bookmaker actually be quite a way from the top.
One thing we will say is that the prices were all pretty consistent. We found the majority of other bookies to be a lot more inconsistent in terms of one price being long and another bet from the same market being short. Overall though, we would have to say a pretty disappointing start. It’s an area that we think is the most important and whilst again, we stress on sample size being small, we’ve been consistent with this for all reviews and this definitely flagged amongst the whole team.
One thing we will add about the football betting section is that it’s all presented in a great little HUB section. It’s a kind of “all under one roof” type thing that does feel separate to the rest of the bookmaker. Everything on screen is dedicated to football and very little in the way of promotions are on screen, which is nice.
MATCH BETTING
The coverage that you get at Coral really is second to none. They are able to cater for a massive range of punters and whilst the UK market is definitely their biggest, the range of leagues and competitions that take place on site from around the world makes it feel more of the global powerhouse that the brand has become.
The bread and butter come from within Europe and more specifically, the likes of the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France. But, the inclusion of a huge range of American matches, mainly from the MLS just highlights how popular they have become around the world.
What is nice about this section is that they are broken down into territories from the drop-down menu on the left-hand side of the site. You get a number of European leagues and then the European A-Z and the World A-Z. It’s a small functionality, but it’s one that works very well and saves you having to scroll through huge lists of games. Just to give you an idea, the range is highly diverse, including games from as far as Guatemala, Oman, Peru and Venezuela.
MARKET COVERAGE
Market coverage on site is really good. In fact, it’s one of the best that we have come across to date. Each game is going to get around 170 markets to choose from in total, which is one of the highest that we have come across. The depth of markets is pretty good, as well. There weren’t all that many that we thought were unique to Coral, but some of the more obscure markets that we came across were things like the result after 15 minutes, later to outscore opposition team and player to score with result of the match.
A nice feature that they add is their My Markets section. Basically, this allows you to favourite certain markets which then store into this section. It’s party trick is that when you click off that game and onto another match, those markets are remembered where possible and it allows you to quickly jump into where you need to be. It’s really handy when you’re trying to create accumulator bets and need to jump into certain bets quickly to form your bet.
Coral have fairly recently introduced #YourCall. This feature allows you to Tweet the Coral Twitter handle for them to create bets for you. These can be found from the #YourCall section within each game, but you can see an overview of certain bets within the Football main menu. The traders are generally pretty down with just about any bet and often come up with obscure ones that actually look decent value as well.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Coral do include a live streaming section on site. This can be viewed in either the in-play betting section or via a standalone player and requires you to have a funded Coral account to utilise this feature. There are over 2,000 live games every week, and include some big leagues, such as Serie A, La Liga, French League 1 and Dutch Eredivisie.
IN-PLAY BETTING
The in-play betting section is one of the better tones that we have come across. The section isn’t too cluttered, and we liked the way that it was properly broken down into certain leagues and then the matches from those leagues. You’re able to see the live score, the time and then the prices for the match result markets. Also, it highlights when prices drift (purple) and shorten (blue), which looks good also.
As you dive into matches you are going to be greeted with a match centre at the top of the screen. It’s not the best one we have seen, we will admit, but it functions pretty well and allows you to see what’s happening on the pitch and what’s happened previous. It shows you roughly where the ball is at any one time and offer a good range of information to go alongside this.
The betting markets are laid out nicely below this and we liked the fact that the My Markets section, that we mentioned earlier in the article, carries across, although it does reset for the live betting section. It’s all very simple to use and this is why we liked it so much.
Horse Racing
Outside of football, it probably comes as little surprise to hear that horse racing is one of the most popular sports on Coral. The site actually links horse racing above football in their ‘Quick Links’ section on site. Just like football, the horse racing section seems to come into its own online and removes you away from the hustle and bustle that is the Coral homepage. What’s impressive about this is that whilst it is condensed down, it does seem pretty comprehensive at the same time, given the number of features that are on show.
The pricing structure for horse racing is much more competitive than that of football. In fact, it’s one of the better bookies that we have looked at in the industry. We feel that they come into their own for mid-range bets, often around the 10/1 mark or so. From our research, we found that they were best priced around these odds more often than any of other bookmaker.
But, we also found that they were pretty strong across the board. If you’ve read the football betting section, you will notice that this has been something that we have been critical of with Coral. The horse racing section looks like a much better price and an area where we could definitely see punters use the site as a one-stop-shop.
UK & IRISH RACING
The UK and Irish racing section on site is really good. Most bookies are pretty strong in the number of race meetings that they cover in these regions, so it would be more shock to not see a good range than actually looking at what they’ve got on offer at the minute.
The racecard is one of the best features in the horse racing section for us. In fact, we think they are about as good as you will find anywhere. First up, you get all the basics on offer, such as number/draw, silks, horse name, jockey, trainer, form, age, weight, Racing Post Rating, Previous Odds and Current odds. But, it’s the additional features that really set it apart.
SIMULATION PADDOCK
For example, you are able to click on the “Spotlight Virtual Paddock” which brings up a racing card for that horse and rates them on their chances. The criteria include ability, form, potential, attitude, conditions and jockey. The numbers are based out of a maximum 100 and gives the novice and even seasoned punter a great overview for how a horse could run in the race.
It’s also here where you are able to run a simulator for that race. The race is run based on the ratings that have been given for the Virtual Paddock and then it shows how the race might pan out. Horse racing is always tricky to call, but this sort of information, for free of course, is some of the best that you can come across from any bookmaker.
But that’s not all, the racecard is linked up to that of the Racing Post, which gives you loads of information on that race and slightly more informed than the simulator we think. Not only does it give off a race overview, it also allows you to see the complete form for all horses, with all info taken from the Racing Post’s website.
The features continue to come in the form of the betting markets that are on offer. These include the likes of win only, betting without, top 2 finish, to finish second and insurance with 2 placed. You can also bet on multiples, the Tote and forecast bets within the racecard as well.
BEST ODDS GUARANTEED
Best Odds Guaranteed is another feature that is on site. This promotion is pretty simple but offers a huge amount of value to punters. How it works is that if you place a bet with Coral and the starting price for that bet is higher than the price you took, if your selection then goes on to win the race, Coral will pay out at the higher starting price.
LIVE STREAMING
The site also includes two forms of live streaming. The first is linked up to At The Races, which is a satellite channel to watch all races within the UK and Ireland. This requires you to have staked at least £1 on that race to gain access. The other is that of the free virtual racing, which shows the race pan out from a virtual stand point. This runs with a couple of seconds delay, but does allow you to see view several different camera angles, which is great.
INTERNATIONAL RACING
The international racing coverage has to be the best in the industry. It’s quite unreal how many races and from far afield they offer, even when you compare them to their main rivals, as well. The site covers racing from all over the world, including France, South Africa, the US and many other places.
The US coverage is one that we have to note on its own as we would say that coverage is equally as good as the UK and Irish racing they offer up. In fact, we would be hard pushed to say that there are any better bookies than Coral for this anywhere in the world, which is quite the statement!
ANTEPOST
The range of Antepost markets is another strong feature on site and as you have probably already guessed, the range is great. What we really like is that each race is dated about when it’s going to start. This may seem rather trivial, but there are few sites that do this, so it’s not always a given which race you are betting on before selecting that card, especially as some have fairly similar names or even changing names due to sponsorship. The cards are easy to find as well, simply by scrolling through the menu section within horse racing part of the bookmaker.
Usability
The design of the Coral bookmaker is one that’s actually divided the office when coming up with this review. Whilst everyone agrees it functions pretty well, there are several that think It looks a little dated and it’s hard to really disagree with that. We look at some of the better-looking sites in the industry, such as BetVictor and we think that maybe it is time that Coral had a bit of an upgrade to bring it back up to date.
But, the site has a lot going on. The horse racing section alone should give you an idea as to the range of features that are included on site, so maybe this isn’t something that is as easy as it might be for other sites. Usability of the site is pretty good, although it’s not without it’s flaws. There are times where you can start to dig really deep into the site, before getting to a point where you then need to head back, with no option on screen. The browser back button is one that moves you all the way back to sports overview, which can actually get a little frustrating.
The mobile betting app is out preferred choice of access for Coral though and it’s here where we have spent a lot of time when conduction the review. It looks much newer than the online site and whilst some of the features aren’t available on mobile, for the most part, is much less frustrating than the main betting site.
Other Products
CASINO
The casino has been a strong component to assist in the progress of the Coral brand over the last decade or so. It’s a pretty good size these days, as well, utilising the likes of PlayTech, NetEnt and Ash Gaming to for over 300 games across the board.
Some of the standout slots that we tested included the likes of Batman Begins, Astro, Matrix, Justice League and Batman vs Superman. Table games are heavily dominated by the likes of Blackjack and Roulette, but do also include Caribbean Stud Poker, Deuces Wild, 3 Card Brag and Baccarat to name just a few.
POKER
The poker room has seen quite a lot of success over the years, but it’s fair to say that it’s not as vibrant as it once was. Their affiliation with the iPoker means that their network is actually one of the biggest in the industry at the minute and you can expect to see a round 6,000 players at peak times.
The site is pretty feature rich and it works great on both mobile and tablet devices. The cash games section includes the likes of Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha Hi Lo, with Multi-Table Tournaments running around the clock.
Banking
Banking at Coral is one of the best experiences we have come across. First off, they offer a good range that includes the likes of Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Skrill, but on top of that, they charge no fees for either withdrawing or depositing on site. Also, you are going to be able to withdraw from as little as £0.01 for all banking options, which is pretty much unheard of within the industry.
We have to finish by mentioning their Coral Connect card, as well. The card means you can access your online account from any Coral betting shop and get hold of your funds, in cash, instantly. It’s one of few companies that offer this and essentially means that as soon as your bet has settled and been credited to your account you can have the money immediately in your hand.
It is a fact that you are never more than 50 meters from one of Coral’s shops. Alright, that might be a lie, but they are such a regular sight on the high street that it can sometimes feel like it. So popular are Coral that over the years they have become a household name with bettors and non-bettors alike.
From humble beginnings back in 1926 when their story began, they now offer an online Sportsbook, Casino, and Poker Lounge to name just a few, not to mention the 1,500+ shops they operate up and down the country.
There are few bookies out there that can rival Coral in reputation or range of markets, and they further entice punters with regular generous promotions and enhanced odds, plus more live streaming than you can shake a stick at. All of this adds up to one hell of a betting experience.
Coral are a seriously great bookie for the normal punter who just wants to place a few bets a week safe in the knowledge that they are getting fair odds from a trustworthy company.
Political Betting Website
As one of the top 5 names in the industry casino players are well within their rights to demand big things from Coral too, and they have been delivering the goods for decades.
Their casino is vast, covering every game type and category imaginable, and attracting the most reputable software developers in the business, NextGen and Blueprint to name just two. A healthy roster of Jackpots and Live Casino Games, plus the occasional instant win ensures that no player is left wanting. This is all wrapped up in an interface that does business in a smooth, matter of fact manner with no unnecessary noise.
From humble beginnings on the streets of London, Coral has become one of the biggest names not just in online gambling, but in the betting industry as a whole. In fact, you will find at least one of their betting shops on the high streets of almost every town and city in the UK.
Sports Markets & Odds
Being an absolute giant of the industry, the expectations on Coral are high. To meet this demand, they not only offer odds on everything including the most obscure of sporting events, but they can also offer an almost unparalleled range of markets within each event. Peace of mind for all you Volleyball fans, no doubt – we know you’re reading.
At the time of writing, there are 51 categories to choose from, ranging from Football and Cricket through to Movies and Politics. Add to this the Build Your Bet and the #YourCall features where you can either create the bet you want or contact Coral directly and ask for a price on something that they don’t currently list; and you have everything could possibly need in order to bet to your specific requirements.
Taking things further, the highest profile Football match currently taking bets is offering 177+ markets for that one game alone; while there are 27+ markets available for the Serbia B Team v France U20’s. That gives you some idea of the commitment and diversity that is on offer from Coral here, even in niche markets.
A good destination for Horse Racing bettors, Coral offer Best Price Guaranteed on all UK and Ireland races, so you can bet safe in the knowledge that you aren’t going to find a more lucrative price elsewhere. Not forgetting the international Tote where you can bet directly into the Hong Kong pools. They are also well known for offering enhanced odds on lots of markets, and with many ante post bets available this can be extremely advantageous if you are the sort that likes to plan ahead.
Coral have also implemented colour coded odds, so you can see easily if the odds you are looking at are going up or down, which is a nice touch; and you can opt to view fractional or decimal odds to suit your tastes.
Live Betting/Streaming
A handy top menu inside the In-Play section lets you know how many events are currently taking place (and upcoming) in each category, and a small play icon lets you know which events are available to stream live – although there is also a dedicated section for Live Streaming if that’s what you want.
The whole thing is incredibly easy to use and loading times tend to be good, plus, the quality of the live feed is fairly impressive, although the odd glitch sometimes makes for a frustrating few seconds if it’s timed badly – just as Dimitrov is making a crucial serve for example. It all takes a little longer to load on a mobile as you might expect, but actually, the picture quality is pretty darn good once it loads. Just be patient as it boots up otherwise you’ll end up hitting buttons you didn’t intend to hit.
The live games that aren’t available to watch are updated live graphically, but the level of detail varies. Football matches tend to offer a more in depth set of match stats such as possession, corners, shots on/off target, and cards issued; and Cricket matches are also fairly well covered with a breakdown of the scorecard, overs and current innings stats. Less popular sports barely show more than the current score, however, if that – although Tennis will let you know who is currently serving and will give you a basic written commentary, ‘Fault by Renta Tokuda’, for example. All In-Play events employ colour coded odds to let the bettor know if the odds are currently going up or down. This is handy as a quick reference, or to get the lay of the land if you have only just logged on.
Undoubtedly, the main selling point here is the quantity of live betting action on display. Most days the number is well into 3 figures, and even in the early hours of the morning there will be bets available. Any of the big Football games will definitely be available to watch live, and Coral are especially hot on Tennis, too. Early week is good for betting on the lesser Tennis tournaments, many of which are also live streamed, and Football from around the world gets a lot of attention; so, if you don’t know much about Vietnamese women’s football, you soon will do after joining this great site.
Casino Software, Platform, Games
There is nothing overly impressive about Coral’s casino site visually; a stock blue background and the familiar logo provide a uniform look throughout, and push all of the attention onto the game categories and the games themselves. This no-nonsense approach will be welcomed by those who don’t care for flashy distractions. One primary task bar holds (probably too many) main categories, with a sub-menu that adapts accordingly depending on where on the site you are, offering some well curated further categorisation options as well as a few Quick Links. Banking and My Account are located in plain view at the top of the page, with the My Account button revealing a brilliantly formatted run down of your activity and account details, as well as Customer Support options. Clear and simple.
The Coral Casino is powered by Playtech, so all of the games within it are exclusively credited to the one provider. Never fear, though, as there is plenty more choice over in the Slots and Games sections of the website, with Barcrest, Microgaming, NetEnt and WMS being some of the bigger names available, plus some exciting Coral exclusives. This is irksome, however, as you need to jump around the site to feel the full benefit of Coral’s game library, but on the plus side, the content on offer from Playtech is first class, and Coral have achieved a far more seamless navigation system than other online casinos in a similar position (sorry Ladbrokes). DC Comics fans, especially, will be in slot heaven.
This back and forth is made much more palatable due to the site being lightning fast – there were a number of occasions when we didn’t actually realise the new page had loaded because it happened so quickly. Another benefit of stripping back the graphics. We should make it clear though that in-game graphics are as good as you will find anywhere else, and loading times come in at about ten seconds, which is brilliant since the whole thing is instant play.
- Slots – Throughout the site you will find around 350 slots from a string of well-known software developers. Zeus III could be right up your alley if you are feeling Godly, or if you fancy something branded you could take the red pill and dive into The Matrix.
- Live Casino – The Playtech powered Live Casino contains well over 65 games, and aside from Roulette and loads of Blackjack you will find Baccarat, Sic Bo, and Game Show games. The lobby shows the latest results on all games which is a nice touch.
- Roulette – Good news comes in the form of 15 different Roulette variations in the Casino alone. Penny Roulette for the end of the month and Roulette Deluxe if you’re feeling flush.
- Table Games – Aside from the above you can try your hand (geddit?) at Heads Up Hold ‘Em, Casino Hold ‘Em and Joker Poker. More serious Poker fans will want to check out the dedicated Poker section of the site.
- Blackjack – Not too shabby with 10 variations is Blackjack. Buster Blackjack looks fun, as does Cashback Blackjack – but we bet you can’t say it quickly three times in a row.
- Jackpots – There are almost 40 Jackpots with a good mix of themes and some mouth-watering potential paydays. From Justice League and Superman II to Age of Gods and Gems Gone Wild.
Banking
Banking Method | Max/Min Deposit | Max/Min Withdrawal | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Debit Card | £5 | No Min | 1-3 Days |
PayPal | £10 | No Min | Up To 1 Day |
Neteller | £5 | No Min | Up To 1 Day |
Skrill | £5 | No Min | Up To 1 Day |
Paysafecard | £5 | No Min | Up To 1 Day |
Bank Transfer | £5 | No Min | 2-5 Days |
Before we get on to the banking methods accepted at Coral, we have to mention Coral Connect. Being a physical bookie as well as an online one means that Coral’s customers can take advantage, because with the Coral Connect Card, the winnings from a bet placed online can be collected in cash from your local Coral shop. No waiting for withdrawal times, just instant cash in your hand.
Essentially, the card allows you to link your betting activities and use your funds however you like. You can bet on the phone, internet or in person, and deposit/withdraw from/to a bank account or to the wallet in your pocket. Whatever suits you.
You also get access to exclusive in shop offers and account features, so it’s well worth looking into.
Coral don’t appear to be fans of upper limits for deposits or withdrawals, although they do state that really big wins will need to be handled case by case – which is fair enough. There are no fee’s, a good selection of all the favourite payment methods, and withdrawal times are quick or at least in line with what you will find elsewhere.
They process withdrawals at weekends too, although obviously your payment provider will have their own time frames to consider.
Betting Features
You already know about the Coral Connect Card, but that is not the only feature available to Coral customers, not by a long shot:
Ladbrokes
#YourCall/Build Your Bet
The premise behind #Yourcall is simple, but the effect is brilliant. If you don’t see the bet you’re after you can either build it yourself by combining the game, the player and the stats you want; or, you can request a bet by tweeting @Coral with #YourCall.
Both choices will get you an instant price that you can take if you like and leave if you don’t.
This is great for two reasons: firstly, the punter gets to make any bet they can dream up which gives them a little more control; secondly, it creates a relationship between the punter and the bookie, as well as with fellow punters online who can also opt to take up your bet.
Virtuals
If Virtuals are your thing then races/games start every five minutes at Coral, with Horses, Greyhounds, Football, Tennis, Speedway, Cycling and Motorsports being the events on offer. Each sports icon is on show in the taskbar with a timer counting down until the next one starts.
We found the visuals a little uninspiring in a 90’s VHS sort of way, but there were a good number of markets there considering none of the events are actually happening. So, if you want to see the Fulham Ravens batter the Chelsea Pensioners at 9/4 you know where to go.
News & Blogs
As well as being your go-to online bookie, you could simultaneously use Coral as your one stop shop for all the latest sport gossip thanks to their News & Blog section. It’s updated most days and the content is decent, plus, the bloggers tend to be noteworthy; Alan Shearer and Jim Crowley are among them at the time of writing.
Coral Betting Website Builder
There is even a Coral TV tab showing interviews with favourites from the sports world past and present. This is updated much less frequently than the written content but it’s a nice touch nonetheless.
VIP
They all have one don’t they. The Coral VIP structure is fairly pedestrian: play more, earn more points, get more rewards; then reset for the next month. To be fair Coral are pretty transparent with it, and wagering anything from £1k-£4k a month will land you somewhere on the VIP tier, earning you increasingly lucrative rewards such as: exclusive promotions; enhanced comp points redemption; prize draws; enhanced prices; dedicated support; and when you get high enough you even get invited to fancy shin digs. Swit-swoo.
Lottobet
If the National, Euro, Postcode and Health lotteries aren’t enough for you then we have good news – Lottobet allows you to effectively bet on lotteries from around the world. Yep, you can take a guess at the winning numbers from Hong Kong to New York for as little as a pound. This is betting at its least taxing, but it’s a fun way to wager a few quid if it is just sat in your account gathering virtual dust.
To be clear, you are not entering the lottery itself, you are just betting with Coral on what the numbers might be. The odds can be pretty crazy, though.
Cash Out
Sometimes a gut feeling tells you that it’s best to play it safe, even if that means coming away with slightly less profit.
If this sounds like you, then keep your eyes peeled for the cashout icon next to any potential bet you are thinking about taking, and you will be able to claim your winnings before the event actually ends – at a reduced rate, of course.
You will be able to see the deal before you decide whether or not to take it, but don’t wait too long or the deal might change.
Partial Cash Out
Partial cashout is also an option, allowing you to settle between 9% – 90% of your initial bet, leaving the remainder in until the end.
It’s all calculated instantly so you can clearly see what you will get back and what your remaining stake stands to win if the bet is successful.
Poker
This download client is an entity within itself, comprising its own loyalty cashback scheme, daily freeroll tournaments with cash prizes, and promotions.
The mini tournaments come thick and fast at Coral too, and a quick look at the schedule is an immediate indicator as to the scale of the operation – there are scores of tournaments each hour.
Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud and variations of these three games are the order of the day, but within that there are games with buy ins as low as 25p and as high as £1,000.
You can create your own calendar to keep track of the games you want to join, and if you are unsure of anything there is a great ‘How to Play’ section which will guide you through the game rules to get you started.
Bingo
There are some great innovative takes on the classic games of 90-ball and 75-ball bingo here, plus other variations too. Games include Cash Out Bingo which allow you to, you guessed it, cash out before the end of the game; Friends bingo based on the famous TV series and which will always ‘be there for yooouu’; and Level 80, and 80-ball game with a retro feel and a jackpot too.
You can even play more than one game at a time thanks to the clever interface which stores games like tabs on an internet browser allowing you to jump between them.
Bingo is a real strength for Coral and it’s a shame that it might get lost among the many other products that the company offers, because bingo fans will find a lot to like here, not least the daily, weekly, and monthly rewards that serve as a sort of loyalty program, and the bingo community area which serves as a destination for all things bingo.
Desktop Site
The Coral website had been due a shove into the 21st century for quite some time, but these days, their site is much better equipped to cope with modern day demands. It’s a contemporary site for the tech savvy punter, and it’s built with business in mind.
For a sportsbook that offers thousands of markets each week the interface is surprisingly tidy. It provides easy access to all the tools you need to keep your betting experience as fluid as possible – including a Quick Deposit option for those last minute clinchers – which makes navigation easy and allows the player to stay in full control.
The Betslip is multifunctional and allows you to track your betting history down to a specific day as far back as you care to look, as well as handle your current open bets with ease. The only thing that you don’t have easy access to is Live Chat, but more on that in a second.
It’s a site with a lot of moving parts, sure, but they are all well placed and quick to react when selected. This is due in no small part to the OpenBet platform the site runs on. OpenBet have been named sports betting platform provider of the year more times than any other, and they process 2 billion bets per annum, so you can assume they know what they are doing.
The only niggle is that some sections of the website – News and Help for example – open up new pages in your browser rather than being contained with everything else. But then again, for such a gargantuan site we can let them off.
Mobile Sports Site
Just like the desktop site, the mobile site is a well oiled machine. It feels funkier than its desktop counterpart, partly down to the layout and the icons employed, but the colours seem to pop more and it is just as snappy. Plus, if you are used to the desktop site it will feel very familiar to you.
All of the most likely options are immediately available via one scroll bar or another, and they react perfectly to the touch; it’s an extremely well developed product and a pleasure to use. They have even given quick access to both the In-Play and Cash Out buttons, which is good thinking from Coral and perfect for all of those punters betting in real time from terraces with only seconds to spare.
One tiny area of improvement would be the Betslip. It’s fine once it’s open, but the button you have to hit to access it is so small that if you have fat thumbs (and we aren’t judging you if you do) you might struggle.
Packing so much content onto the small screen is no mean feat, but Coral have managed it with aplomb. It never feels crowded and you are unlikely to get lost. Everything has its’ place and tends to be found where you would expect it.
Mobile Casino Site
Gamers on the move can choose either the mobile site or the downloadable app to satisfy their needs, and both are a breeze to access. Both options reflect the desktop site in some ways, but by their very nature feel much more contemporary and in vogue. The Casino itself lives within the Gaming section on both products, so you won’t see it immediately.
The design is functional and feels familiar while the mechanics won’t let you down, with the interface feeling responsive and loading times keeping us happy. The collapsible side menu grants access to the more practical stuff and you can mostly get to any part of the site from wherever you are, so you won’t need to spend ages tapping ‘back’.
A good 200+ games are available for gaming on the small screen, including exclusives and Live Casino options, so you needn’t suffer by way of choice just because you aren’t playing on the desktop site.
There are separate apps available for the Live Casino and Coral Vegas/Casino, but they don’t seem independent of the main app so you may as well just use that one.
About
Joe Coral was just 23 when he unwittingly started the company that would grow and develop to become the household name it is today.
Coral Betting Shops
Originally named Joe Kagalitsky, Joe was a Polish immigrant who changed his name to Joe Coral after reading Coral Island; and his natural talent for bookmaking coupled with a flair for marketing saw his career flourish over 70 years, and make Coral the successful brand we know today.
Coral Betting Companies
Joe was a a hard worker but he had a few run ins with the law, and this characterised the early days of his business too as he ran both legal and illegal trades, and even had run ins with the real life Darby Sabini. If you recognise the name but don’t know why, it’s probably because of Peaky Blinders.
Fast forward to 1963 and Coral had become a public limited company operating 23 shops on a commercial and, most importantly, legal basis. The company now diversified into casino’s, bingo halls and hotels, and in 1979 a merger with another bookmaker set them on the road to becoming the Coral Leisure Group. Half a decade later and Coral had expanded massively, now operating around 650 shops and standing tall as one of the ‘big four’ bookmakers.
The huge annual profits Coral were bringing home caught the attention of the brewing and entertainment company Bass, who acquired Coral in 1981, and made Joe a major company director and president of the bookmaking firm. This lasted until 1998 when Bass sold Coral to the Ladbrokes Group, although by that time Joe had sadly died at the ripe old age of 92.
After the failed acquisition by Ladbrokes in 1998, Coral bought out Eurobet and changed its name to Coral Eurobet in 2000, only to be sold again to a private firm in 2002, then once again in 2005 for £2.18 billion, this time to Gala – and thus Gala Coral Group was born. This period saw a few ingenious ideas spring up such a Coral TV and Coral Radio, as well as Coral Dugout which offered expert football analysis.
However, by the end of 2016 Coral had once again been acquired by Ladbrokes resulting in yet another name change, this time to Ladbrokes Coral, although both companies’ shops operated under their individual names.
A mere 2 years later in 2018, the online gambling company GVC Holdings PLC acquired Ladbrokes Coral taking on the 28,000 strong workforce and the 3,500 high street shops. Entain PLC, the new name for GVC Holdings, was 14 years old at the time, Coral was 92.
In terms of their online presence, it didn’t take Coral long to cotton on to the fact that online gambling was going to mean big business when it first started gaining popularity in the late 90’s. Their own online offering came to be soon after and it has been going strong ever since, now based in Gibraltar and even developing their own exclusive games.
Why Bet With Coral?
Coral works equally well for the hardened pro and the casual once or twice a week gambler. If you are the sort who takes every wager seriously, you will no doubt have your own way of working anyway, but chances are Coral will be one of your better options a lot of the time.
If you just like to put the odd no hassle wager on a few times a week then Coral is definitely a good shout. You have a wealth of market choice, the ability to take some time to tailor your bets if you want to get stuck in, and you know that the odds you receive will be fair, even if there might be a slightly more lucrative opportunity somewhere else.
Apart from anything else, every product they offer works well. Reliability is what you get with Coral, and that goes for the gaming side as well as the sports side.
Customer Support
We only have good things to say about the level of customer support on offer here. The team are well trained and handle queries with patience and expertise. You can’t even find too many grumblings online, and for a company this size that is quite something.
The Live Chat option is available, but it also doubles as an FAQ (and a good one at that), so you may end up answering your own question before you get to an operator. This was initially annoying but once you understand the system it makes sense and saves time; there are a lot of pop up windows to deal with though…
E-mail and direct Twitter message response times seem to be good, and if you prefer actual human contact you will be pleased to know that there is even a phone line you can call. What’s more, all of this is 24/7, so whether you’re an early bird or you burn the midnight oil, help is on hand.
In short, support is easy to find, quick to get hold of, and given in a friendly non-judgemental way. Coral do everything right here.
Contact and License
- Live Chat – This is all handled via the Help Centre. It’s a bit convoluted and a simple ‘Chat’ button would be appreciated, but once you get to the right place the team respond quickly.
- E-mail – Sending your query to help@coral.co.uk will allow the team to get back to you at their leisure. So if it’s not urgent maybe go for this option.
- Phone – Free phone 0800 44 00 11. They have stopped advertising this method as a support option but it is still in use.
- @Coral – Heavily focused on Sports and very active, although not specifically created for support. @CoralHelp exists for this purpose, and after lying dormant for ages is now back up and running.
- Address – LC International, Suite 6, Atlantic Suites, Gibraltar, GX11 1AA
- UK Gambling License – 54743