Coral Betting Site

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

Coral also offers a Bet Builder feature, but you can only access this feature via mobile. This is a negative for punters who choose to make use of the desktop version of the bookmaker’s website. Finally, Coral offered just three esports at the time of writing.

1. Coral Live Betting. Whether you like to place bets through the desktop site or the Coral app, it couldn't be easier to place in-play bets. You can choose from a wide range of live betting markets across all of the.
2. Placed a football bet, 1team to win @10/1. At the result my team had won and was payed at 4/6. On checking bet slip, Coral had changed the odds within the result of the game. Contacted the on line chat and they assured me that the bet.
3. Bet on Football with Coral. Get the latest Football odds pre-event and in-play. Coral offers great odds and live results, join today and start to win!
4. 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.

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.

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.

Coral Online Betting Log In

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.

Coral Betting Desktop Site

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.

Coral is a chain of betting shops in the United Kingdom, owned by Entain. The Coral business was established by Joe Coral in 1926. It grew into an entertainment conglomerate before undergoing a series of ownership changes starting in 1981. As of 2015, Coral had 1,845 shops across the country.^[1]

Houses To Rent In Bt27

History[edit]

Joe Coral (born Joseph Kagarlitski, 11 December 1904 – 16 December 1996^[2][3]) began his bookmaking business in 1926 and, although primarily concerned with operating betting pitches at racecourses, together with his friend Tom Bradbury-Pratt, he ran speedway meetings at Harringay and opened a credit office in the West End of London in 1943.

Coral Betting Site

He had greyhound racing pitches at Harringay Stadium and then White City Stadium followed later by Clapton Stadium and Walthamstow Stadium before branching into betting offices.^[4][5]

He was one of the first to take advantage of the new legislation and opened his first licensed betting office in 1961. The new law was not intended to encourage betting and therefore shops were unattractive in appearance and devoid of any comforts.

Coral arranged a merger with another bookmaker, Mark Lane in 1971. By 1979, the company had become the Coral Leisure Group and had diversified to include a variety of other businesses, including casinos, hotels, restaurants, Pontins holiday camps, squash clubs, bingo clubs, and real estate.^[6]

In January 1981, the Coral Group was acquired by Bass plc and although it continued to retain the Coral name it became an integral part of the growing Bass Leisure.

In September 1998, Bass sold Coral to the Ladbroke Group for £363 million.^[7] The UK Government, however, ordered Ladbroke to sell Coral after the Monopolies and Mergers Commission found that the acquisition was anti-competitive.^[7] The Coral business, except for 59 shops in Ireland and Jersey, was sold in a management buyout financed by Morgan Grenfell Private Equity for £390 million in February 1999.^[8][9]

In November 1999, Coral acquired Eurobet, an online betting operation based in Gibraltar, for £7.1 million.^[10][11] The company changed its name to Coral Eurobet in May 2000.^[12] Coral Eurobet was then sold in a further management buy out in September 2002, which was backed by Charterhouse Development Capital.^[13]

Coral Betting Sites

In October 2005, Coral Eurobet was acquired for £2.18 billion by casino and bingo firm Gala, which changed its name to Gala Coral Group, creating the United Kingdom's third largest bookmaker and largest bingo operator.^[14] Coral and Eurobet continued to operate as divisions of Gala Coral.^[15]

In July 2009, Coral announced the relocation of their broadcasting department to Milton Keynes to a purpose built studio to manage the inception of its new television channel, Coral TV.^[16]

In May 2010, Coral bookmakers launched the Coral Dugout which was designed to offer in-depth football knowledge from ex-Premier League referee Graham Poll and sports presenter Jeff Stelling during the FIFA World Cup 2010.^[17] In November 2011, Coral announced they had signed for 30,793 sq ft of offices at One Stratford Place at Westfields £1.45bn Stratford City scheme opposite the Olympics stadium in east London.^[18]

Coral Betting Site Down

In November 2016, Gala Coral was acquired by Ladbrokes, which changed its name to Ladbrokes Coral.^[19] Coral and Ladbrokes shops continued to operate under their respective names.^[20] GVC Holdings acquired Ladbrokes Coral in March 2018.^[21]

Marketing and advertising[edit]

As part of their experimental marketing campaign strategy, Coral engaged in the ‘RUN 4 IT’ campaign, requiring brand ambassadors dressed in trademark robber costumes, to physically ‘steal’ customers from competitor bookies. Over the course of this three week campaign, punters were encouraged to change their betting habits with the lure of a guaranteed win loyalty card and then walked by the ambassadors to the nearest Coral. This campaign saw a 7% conversion rate and 2,447 customers were ‘stolen’ from 900 bookies.^[22]

References[edit]

1. ^John-Paul Ford Rojas (24 July 2015). 'Betting giants Ladbrokes and Coral merge to create UK's biggest bookmaker - but will it close stores and axe jobs?'. The Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
2. ^Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael; Rubinstein, Hilary L. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 182. ISBN978-1-4039-3910-4.
3. ^''Joe Coral'. The Times London, England, 19 Dec. 1996'. The Times Digital Archive.
4. ^Genders, Roy (1975). The Greyhound and Racing Greyhound. Page Brothers (Norwich). ISBN0-85020-0474.
5. ^Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN07207-1106-1.
6. ^Limited Report and Accounts 1979 (Report). Coral Leisure Group. 11 June 1980. pp. 8–20 – via Companies House.
7. ^ ^abFrancisco Guerrera (23 September 1998). 'DTI bars Ladbroke from buying Coral'. The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
8. ^Eibhir Mulqueen (23 December 1998). 'Irish Coral shops not part of Ladbroke sell-off'. Irish Times. Dublin – via NewsBank.
9. ^Listing particulars (Report). Ladbroke Group. 10 March 1999. p. 47 – via Companies House.^{[permanent dead link]}
10. ^Daneshkhu, Scheherazade; Rivlin, Richard (25 February 2000). 'Coral aiming for £1bn flotation'. Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
11. ^Report and Accounts (Report). Coral Eurobet. 24 September 2000. p. 27 – via Companies House.
12. ^Report and Accounts (Report). Coral Eurobet. 24 September 2000. p. 2 – via Companies House.
13. ^'Coral chain bought in MBO for 860m pounds'. The Scotsman. 3 August 2002. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
14. ^'Casino group Gala snaps up Coral'. BBC. 7 October 2005. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
15. ^Annual Report for 2007(PDF) (Report). Gala Coral Group. pp. 10 & 16. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
16. ^'New systems integration team builds state-of-the-art production facility for UK bookmakers'. SIS News. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
17. ^'Will Rooney Rule the World Cup? Will Messi Make His Mark? The Coral Dugout Will Be Full of World Cup Insight and Excitement This Summer!'. Market wired. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
18. ^'Westfield books Coral for Stratford HQ'. Costar. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
19. ^'Ladbrokes Coral Group – Completion of Merger' (Press release). Ladbrokes Coral Group. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
20. ^Barber, Bill (31 October 2016). 'Coral-Ladbrokes merger completes on Tuesday'. Racing Post. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
21. ^Davies, Craig (29 March 2018). 'GVC Holdings completes long awaited Ladbrokes Coral acquisition'. SBC News. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
22. ^'Coral Experiential Marketing Results'. iD Experiential. Archived from the original on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2018-03-31.

External links[edit]