Coral

Coral UK Review (2023)

The UK is not short of famous betting brands, but Coral may be the best known of the lot. A merger with Ladbrokes a few years ago created a gambling giant few other companies are able to compete with, but how does the Coral website stack up against rival operators these days?

Coral is still most famous for its sports betting but, as is the case with most of the UK's top betting sites these days, it also runs an online casino, as well as bingo and poker products.

That means people joining Coral - and using the site's generous welcome bonus - are able to switch easily between playing poker or baccarat to bingo or betting on the big game of the day. Players can also take advantage of exclusive promotions using the Coral Connect Card or Coral Connect account.

Having so many options for online betting on the same website could lead to accusations that Coral - which is part of GVC Holdings - has become a jack of all trades, but a master of none.

People considering joining Coral might want to know more about the depth of its sports betting options, as well as how it is licensed and whether or not the Coral mobile app is worth getting. Our complete review of Coral has all the answers and more, so read on below for full details.

About Coral

Coral is one of the UK's oldest betting brands, with its history going back almost 100 years. It was founded by a man named Joe Coral all the way back in 1926 and it still trades under his name to this day, running in the region of 2,000 betting shops in the UK, as well as its website.

Starting out with betting pitches at racecourses, Coral then moved into speedway betting and also ran greyhound racing pitches before creating his first licensed betting office in 1961. A merger with Mark Lane in 1971 helped to boost Coral's expansion and, in the 1970s, it became the Coral Leisure Group has moved into a range of other big departments, including bingo.

Coral has since been the subject of various ownership changes. In the 1980s it was acquired by Bass plc, who then sold the brand on to the Ladbroke Group for £363 million only for the Monopolies and Mergers Commission to block the deal over competition rules. Coral then acquired Eurobet but the new firm, Coral Eurobet, was bought out by casino and bingo firm Gala in 2005 for £2.18 billion, resulting in the creation of a new company - Gala Coral Group.

Gala Coral was purchased by Ladbrokes in 2016 - this time the merger being passed as long as hundreds of their betting shops were sold - and then GVC Holdings moved to purchase the new company in March 2018, a deal that was reported to be worth close to £4 billion in total. GVC has since rebranded as Entain, which also runs top betting brands including bwin and PartyPoker.

Coral is regarded as a trusted betting brand in the UK. The site is licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under account number 54743. All the games that feature on the Coral site have been "rigorously tested and certified as fair and random by an independent test house" in order to ensure that they provide 100% fairness to the betting brand's customers.

Coral Sports Review

While the company has diversified its offering significantly over the years, sports betting remains the meat and drink for Coral, with bets on sports like football why most people join this site. A large range of sports to bet on kicks things off and there is a strong level of depth at Coral too.

With a clear and simple layout with the famous blue Coral colour scheme instantly recognisable, the platform that the sportsbook runs on is now the same as Ladbrokes - the firm's sister site. This means that navigation is not always as straightforward as it could be, while the desktop Coral site does not look as fresh or as modern as a lot of the other top UK betting sites do these days.

Coral's sportsbook is more about substance than style, with its users likely to be satisfied by the massive level of choice they have at the site. While football is the top sport to bet on, those who join Coral can also bet on everything from bowls and chess to hurling and handball. There are plenty of special markets covering the outcome of political events and television shows as well.

Esports betting has grown in popularity at a rapid rate in recent years. Keen not to be left behind in this burgeoning area, Coral's esports betting area offers its users the chance to bet on Dota 2 and CS:GO, but it is fair to say that rival operators have a more comprehensive offering here.

Virtual sports can be found within the sportsbook section of the Coral site as well. The choice of virtual dogs, virtual football, virtual basketball or virtual racing is the same as people will be able to find at Ladbrokes, with the two sister betting brands sharing the same virtual betting platform.

New customers at Coral get access to one of the top welcome bonuses around, which will no doubt tempt a lot of people into signing up for an account here. Horse racing betting fans in particular are sure to be pleased with the number of promotions they can get at Coral, which like most top UK betting sites these days offers the best odds guaranteed on the sport of kings. Racing bonuses at Coral also include a free bet worth up to £10 if the horse they back fail to finish that race. Bet builders and smart boosts are among the other types of offers that are available to Coral users.

Coral also has a free-to-play game called Football Super Series in which players can win free bets and prizes by accurately predicting four match stats from select football matches.

Live streaming is one of the main areas of strength at Coral. Customers can tune into horse racing from around the world, as well as UK meetings, while there is plenty of football to watch too. At the time of writing, Coral was showing top cup action from both Turkey and Spain, while tennis, snooker and ice hockey are among the many other sports that are often available too.

Depth of markets is not a problem at Coral. Football fans can choose from about 200 different bets for a typical game in the Premier League, while any major cup, league or competition from around the world that a person could think of is guaranteed to be available at Coral as well. Coral Cash Out is also available on most football bets & markets with both full and partial cashouts offered by Coral.

As for the betting margins, we tested the same events for both Coral and Ladbrokes to see if there was any noticeable difference in the margins. In our small sample of tests, the margins came back the same, at 5.38% which is better than the industry average, but still not close to BetVictor and several other bookies.

Coral Casino Review

While Coral's reputation as a top UK sports betting site is secure, people might be more unsure about choosing this historic gambling brand to play online casino games such as slots or poker.

Anyone who has been to the Ladbrokes casino site will feel at home if they go to Coral. With the two betting brands part of the same company, they now share the same gaming platform. The exclusive games that Ladbrokes has in its casino are also available to play on the Coral site too.

This means some of the same issues can be found, with no search function included to help casino players to find their favourite slots. No option to filter the library by the studio or by game provider is in place either, so those hunting for NetEnt slots, in particular, will just have to browse through the large selection manually in the hope of finding exactly what they want to play here.

Slots tournaments are one of the things that helps the Coral casino stand out when compared to a lot of the other top online casinos in the UK. Players can join slots tournaments at Coral from 14:00 daily and there are strong prizes up for grabs for those who finish at the top of the tree.

Many people in the industry are forecasting that live casino games are set to become the most popular type of game, with Coral making sure it has a very good offering in this department. Coral launched the live casino area a few years ago and it has gone from strength to strength. Old school casino classics like baccarat and blackjack sit side by side with more modern games such as Monopoly Live, Crazy Time and Cash or Crash Live in this part of the Coral casino site.

Table games can also be found at Coral, though many think they are going out of fashion. With dozens of different types of blackjack, baccarat and roulette tables, this is great news for those who are yet to see the appeal of live dealer games at UK online casino sites such as Coral. Video poker is another area that Coral has ensured is not forgotten with titles like Jacks or Better and All American Poker among the best picks for those who enjoy playing these games.

Promotions are what draw a lot of people in the UK to online casinos, of course, with Coral working to appeal to both new players and to keep existing customers coming back for more. Up to £100 in cash can be won through the Smart Rewards deal at Coral, while the site also offers customers the chance to try their luck on the free-to-play Rewards Grabber once a day.

Jackpot games are always popular at online casinos and this will be the case at Coral too. At the time of producing this complete Coral casino review, the site had a £6 million top prize up for grabs. This would make Coral casino one of the top-paying online casinos in the UK right now. Must-win rewards are also in place at the Coral casino, with daily jackpots up for grabs to win.

Overall, Coral's online casino can be described as being a little no-frills, with few of the bells and whistles that can be found at leading sites in the industry. But solid promotions, a decent range of games and a good array of variety is enough to ensure that it is well worth giving Coral a try.

Coral Bingo Review

Online bingo continues to get more and more popular in the UK, with Coral among the betting brands trying to carve out a slice of the pie. Coral opened its online bingo platform for the first time back in 2013, so the site has almost a decade of experience in this part of the industry.

Coral's bingo offering includes about 20 different rooms to try out, with many of them themed. There are bingo rooms based on TV shows such as Friends, The Chase, Coronation Street and even Deal or no Deal, so this is likely to appeal to a lot of couch potatoes who play bingo online.

Users will want to make sure that they check out the Coral daily free bingo sessions, which can be found in the site's Free Bingo Bonanza Room. Prizes of up to £500 can be won in this room from Monday to Friday and the pot doubles up to a total of £1,000 for games over the weekend.

Bingo bonuses at Coral include the chance to win part of a £10,000 prize pool. One of the largest online bingo prizes in the business right now, it matches the top prize at Ladbrokes. Other bingo bonuses to look out for at Coral include Coral Quiz Nights, where customers have the opportunity to show off their trivia skills and win top cash prizes as a result. Each month, there is a £1,500 top prizes available in Coral Quiz Nights, while daily free to play quizzes at 18:00 and 20:00 with a £100 prize up for grabs as well - these are always very popular at Coral.

Fab Grab Bingo is one of Coral's unique selling points in its bingo site. Here, players will need to look out for special lucky numbers cropping up alongside their regular cards. Cash Out Bingo, meanwhile, gives players who need one more number to complete a line or a full house the chance to lock in some guaranteed profit from their ticket price.

Coral Poker Review

As well as sports betting, casino games and bingo, Coral also has an online poker platform too. As is the case at Ladbrokes - which again uses the same poker software - Coral has a daily freeroll tournament with a $1,200 prize pool to play for, so it is always worth checking this out.

Coral's poker options include dozens of free tournaments every day, so this is a solid choice for fans of the game who want to test out their skills without having to risk a penny of real cash. Poker players who opt for Coral can also try their luck on a range of cash tables to suit all budgets, with high rollers able to splash the cash if they are willing to risk more stakes.

Playing poker at Coral involves downloading the site's new poker client, which is licensed and regulated by the Gaming Commission of Gibraltar to ensure that it is safe, legal and fair to use. Omaha, 7 card stud and 5 card draw tables can be found at Coral's poker offering, but most of the games that are available to play use the dominant Texas hold'em format, as is expected.

Poker pros may prefer a specialist platform, but Coral has more than enough to tempt casuals.

Coral Mobile Betting Options

Most of the top betting brands in the UK have a range of mobile betting options. Coral, like its rivals in the industry, has a solid mobile site as well as mobile betting apps for both iOS and Android.

The Coral app can be found on the App Store and the Play Store, so it is very quick and easy to download on handheld devices like a tablet computer or a smartphone. The app does not take up a lot of storage space, which is good news for Coral users without a lot of spare room.

Coral's mobile betting app has been installed more than half a million times on Android. This means it is one of the most popular Android betting apps around, with the company enjoying a similarly strong profile on the App Store, where some 1,700 people have left their app reviews.

Android users have given the Coral betting app an average rating of 4.3 out of 5, which places it among the best betting apps in the UK right now. Users with iOS devices are a bit less enthused but the Coral app for iOS still has a decent average rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars on the App Store.

Coral's mobile betting app for iOS and Android does not just give its players access to the top sportsbook for which the brand is best known. Top online casino games including slots can also be found on the app, which means those who download it get a lot of choices to pick from here.

The app from Coral shares a lot of similarities with the Ladbrokes betting app, which is not a surprise given they are part of the same company - GVC Holdings, which is now Entain. This means those who have used the Ladbrokes app before will find their way around the app from Coral easily enough, regardless of the type of iOS or Android device they are currently using. Coral's mobile betting app might not be the fastest around, but loading speeds are not usually too much of a problem. Users in a hurry to place a live in-play wager might have a bit of frustration if they have to wait for the page to load up in full, however, so keep this in mind.

Live streaming of all UK horse racing is one of the top functions of the Coral iOS and Android app, with selected greyhound meetings and top football action available to watch as well. Not everyone will want to download the Coral betting app, though, with the mobile site a decent alternative for those who prefer this type of betting on a handheld device. Using the same layout as the Ladbrokes mobile site but with Coral's typical blue colours, the mobile site is simple enough to navigate around but, as with the app, sometimes loading speeds can be a bit slow.

The betslip can be found in the top-right of the screen, next to buttons to either login or register for a new Coral account. A menu directly underneath allows mobile users to navigate to each individual sport, while cash-out options can be found in a button right at the bottom of the screen. In-play sporting events are quick to find too, while those who want to switch between the Coral mobile sportsbook and its other options, like online casino games, can do so easily. Either the Coral mobile site or the Coral app work well enough for placing mobile bets and they can be recommended for Coral customers who want to use their account while on the move.

Coral Customer Support

Coral offers top-tier 24/7 customer support with several different methods of contact available.

• Email - help@coral.co.uk
• Phone - 0800 44 00 11 (within the UK)
• Live Chat
• Social media support (Twitter & Facebook)