Expert View of Ladbrokes Poker
With over 100 years in the gambling industry, Ladbrokes has proved to be one of the most reliable gambling names in the world. Their poker room on the iPoker Network has an excellent traffic, although some players may be disappointed in their VIP program.
More About Ladbrokes Poker
- Large player traffic
- Above average quality of games
- Social, recreational player focused
- Third largest U.S. facing poker room with growing traffic.
- Excellent and consistent payment processing.
- Relatively juicy games.
Ladbrokes Poker Summary
Ladbrokes is one of the oldest gambling brands in the world. They started their bookmaking operations early in the 20th century and have since become a well known brick and mortar betting shop throughout the United Kingdom. Ladbrokes launched an online sportsbook in 2000 and then subsequently added poker and casino games two years into its online operations. Whether it’s their brick and mortar or online poker operations, they have developed a reputation for excellence.
Originally on the Microgaming Network, they now make their home on iPoker, a top five network in terms of traffic, where hundreds of games run simultaneously and millions of dollars are given away in guaranteed prize pools each month. They are also home to Speed Poker, a fast-fold variant, and the popular iPOPS tournament series.
Players who join the poker action at Ladbrokes can take advantage of a 200% up to £1,200 sign-up bonus, a VIP program that awards up to 22% rakeback and regular rewards-based promotions.
A Personal Opinion of Ladbrokes Poker
What I like about Ladbrokes Poker
There are few companies in the online poker industry that have the respect a name like Ladbrokes brings. They have been in business for over 100 years and rarely have player disputes, making them among the most reputable poker sites in the world. Their first deposit bonus (200% up to £1200) clears at a great rate and among the largest on the iPoker Network. This makes it a great site to play if you can make a £600 deposit. The games are also somewhat soft on the iPoker platform.
What I do not like about Ladbrokes Poker
With its relatively low maximum payouts, the VIP program is a bit lacking and is aimed towards low volume players. Grinders may want to look elsewhere for a an iPoker site.
What Ladbrokes Poker Players are Saying
Ladbrokes receives generally favorable remarks from players who tout their solid reputation and customer service. Customers on social media also appear to be generally respectful of the brand.
As with any online casino that is popular and has been around awhile, they do have their detractors, occasional issues and casino complaints, but we don’t see anything online from players that give us significant pause in deciding to play at Ladbrokes.
“iPoker is soft compared to pokerstars but apparently it’s a reg-fest especially in the fast fold games”
“Your funds are probably as safe as with your bank”
“iPOKER is very good, the software is very good as well.”
Just because a poker room has a clean record, doesn’t mean there can’t be issues in the future. If you have a problem or know about a problem with Ladbrokes Poker, please let us know about it.
Depositing and Withdrawing at Ladbrokes Poker
Ladbrokes offers a large selection of payment processing methods when depositing on their poker room. In addition to poker, depositing on Ladbrokes gives players the opportunity to play on the Sportsbook, Casino, Gaming and Exchange products through a single account. Best of all, transfers between products are easy to make.
When making a deposit, you will be given a selection of options including debit and credit cards, Paypal, or e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill. Ladbrokes also gives you the choice of depositing through a Ladbrokes brick and mortar shop, which they say is their most flexible cash option. Most deposit methods are instant and have no fees for both deposits for withdrawals.
Withdrawal options consist of most methods that are available through deposit. Your best bet for timely withdrawals is using an e-wallet, which could deliver your withdrawal in is as little as 6 hours, while other methods (credit card, bank transfer) can take anywhere from 1-5 days, depending on when the cashout is initiated.
Contact Ladbrokes customer support with any issues you have about depositing or withdrawing.
Ladbrokes Poker Safety
Simply put, Ladbrokes Poker is essentially everything you probably would want in an online poker room. They have been around forever, they have a great license through both Gibraltar and the United Kingdom and a lot of players love them. Although not a fail-safe indicator of safety, they are also publicly traded, with shares exchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
Their home on the iPoker is also very secure as well. Playtech, which owns iPoker, happens to house some of the biggest European brick and mortar brands (i.e. Paddy Power, William Hill). If that wasn’t enough, Ladbrokes announced in mid 2015 that they were merging with Gala Coral. Yeah, it’s safe to say that Ladbrokes isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Is Ladbrokes Poker Legit?
With a huge brick and mortar presence, licenses all over the world and online reputation among the best, Ladbrokes is as legit as it gets.
Ladbrokes Poker Bonuses
Sign-Up Bonus
Ladbrokes offers a generous sign-up bonus to new players –200% up to £1,200 — one of the largest on the iPoker network. Released at a rate of $5 for 170 Status Points (converted for other currencies), the bonus is the equivalent of 30% Ladbrokes rakeback while clearing the bonus. Players have 90 days to complete the terms of the bonus. Status Points are earned at a rate of 10 per $1 of contributed rake or buy-in fees.
The Welcome package for new players also includes four tokens to the €2,000 New Depositor Freerolls and an entry into the Weekly €1,250 Depositors Freeroll.
VIP Program
Ladbrokes Poker offers players a VIP program with 6 tiers, which is achieved by your monthly play according to Status Points. The primary benefit of the VIP program is the exchange of points towards cash rewards and tournament tickets. As you move up in levels, the amount of cash rewards that you can receive will go up while exchange rates for your points will go down, effectively increasing your rakeback return. Players exchanging points through the VIP program can earn up 22% through their exchanges as seen in the chart below.
| Ladbrokes VIP Program | ||||
| VIP Level | VIP Name | Status Points required Per Month | Rake per month | Rakeback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Short Stack | 0 | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | Grinder | 100 | $10 | 8%-9% |
| 3 | Deep Stack | 500 | $50 | 9%-11% |
| 4 | Chip Leader | 1600 | $160 | 11%-14% |
| 5 | Rounder | 4000 | $400 | 14%-19% |
| 6 | Legend | 9000 | $900 | 20%-22% |
Additional benefits of the VIP program include freeroll entries running daily and weekly as well as a monthly €1500 freeroll. Top level VIPs also qualify for an exclusive race each month with a €3000 prize pool.
Ladbrokes Poker Promotions
Although the VIP program falls a bit short compared to some competitors, Ladbrokes makes up for things a bit by offering generous and fresh monthly promotions. These promotions can be monitored by going to the Ladbrokes promotion page or by subscribing to their newsletter. Take note: you must opt-in to most promotions before participating.
In addition to a fresh selection of promotions, Ladbrokes offers players some interesting ongoing promotions which they can count on month in and month out.
Showdown Heroes
Ladbrokes pays players by winning with big hands. Earn three of a kind of better to earn a “star.” Collect 50 stars and claim a €1 reward, for a maximum of up to €50 per week. The higher your hand and higher limits you play when hitting the hand, the more stars you will earn.
Jackpot Sit N Gos
Yes, a promotion for the often forgot sit n go player. The iPoker Network offers a series of progressive jackpot prizes for winning multiple jackpot sit n gos in a row. These sit n gos are appropriately labeled in the sit n go section of the Ladbrokes client.
Fort Knox – With a buy in of €34+€6, earn at least €35,000 for winning six Fort Knox sit n gos in a row. Finish 1st-2nd in six a row to win a €500 prize.
Rio- Buy-in with €17.10+€2.90 and win a €20,000 guaranteed prize when winning six Rio sit n gos in a row. Finishing in 1st or 2nd for six contests in a row will yield a €200 prize.
Maui- Buy-in with €4.20+€0.80 and earn at least €10,000 when winning five Maui sit n gos in a row. Finish 1st-2nd place in five in a row to win a €150 prize
Dirty Dozen – Buy-in with €1.66+€0.34 and earn €2,000 when winning four sit n gos in a row.
Ladbrokes Poker Game Selection
As a poker room on the iPoker Network, players will have a lots of game selection to choose from, especially at No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and occasionally some of the other games. For this reason, having an account at iPoker poker room such as Ladbrokes is a good bet for many types of players
No Limit Texas Hold’em players will be able to find games available at all limits 24 hours a day, with limits ranging from €0.01/€0.02 up to €5/€10. iPoker tables are dominated by shorthanded action so all games higher than €0.10/€0.20 are only available in 6-max or heads up.
iPoker is one of the few networks that spreads a lot of Fixed Limit Hold’em action. These games also start at the €0.01/€0.02 limit and move up to €20/€40. Surprisingly, the higher limits often have more action than the lower ones.
Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha High/Low also have serious action from €0.01/€0.02 up to €5/€10 at all hours of the day. Fixed Limit Omaha is available but only active at the lowest limits, often just €0.02/€0.04. Fixed Limit Omaha High/Low has activity up to €0.10/€0.20.
In addition to the more popular Hold’em and Omaha tables, Ladbrokes also spreads some Stud and Razz tables. There are Five and Seven Card Stud games available at most hours of the day, although most action is in the micro stakes. Razz tables are offered but games rarely get going.
For fast-fold enthusiasts, Ladbrokes Poke offers short handed tables from €0.02/€0.05 to €1/€2, with most players gravitating to the €0.10/€0.20 and €0.50/€1.00 tables. These tables are amazing for taking the waiting out of online poker.
Like the Ladbrokes cash games, their No Limit Hold’em sit and gos are also plentiful, available at most limits throughout the day. Sit and go buy-ins start at just €1 and go all the way up to €5000, with the higher buy-ins only available at heads-up. Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha H/L players will even find regular action up to the €5 level.
Players can find variation in the sit n gos, with turbos, short stack, double or nothing, and even jackpot sit n gos, which players can earn progressive jackpot prizes up to €50,000 for winning multiple contests in a row.
Tournaments start at Ladbrokes every 15 minutes all day. While many tournaments do not have guarantees, they still manage to draw enough participants to be interesting. No Limit Hold’em tournaments are the most popular, but you can still find regular Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo as well as an occasional Limit Stud event. There are even a few Omaha and Stud tournaments throughout the day.
As far as the guaranteed events, The Sunday Majors have hundreds of thousands in guarantees across eight tournaments, culminating with the €75,000 guaranteed. Daily guaranteed tournaments can reach over €10,000.
Their iPoker Online Poker Series is a popular favorite amongst tournament players with up to a million in the prize pool each time its run. The iPoker Network is also a great way to qualify for some of the major live events including the WSOP, Battle of Malta and WPT events.
- Large player traffic
- Above average quality of games
- Social, recreational player focused
- Third largest U.S. facing poker room with growing traffic.
- Excellent and consistent payment processing.
- Relatively juicy games.