Coral Review
Our Rating Shows If Coral is Reliable
Coral began life in 1926 in Nottingham before merging with Gala Bingo in 1991. It’s now run by the private equity firms Permira, Cinven and Candover following a merger with Ladbrokes in 2016, which made them one of the largest British bookmakers. The revenue of the Ladbrokes Coral group is around £1.2bn.
Coral has many strengths, particularly in sport, where links to ITV4 and greyhound stadia ownership has seen them make many connections. How does their online business compare? Read our Coral review to find out.
A brightly coloured website with great usability
The first topic in our Coral review is our first impression of the Coral full site. So is Coral a good betting site to use or should you stay clear?
On entering the Coral website for the first time we were bowled over by the bright blue and green colour scheme. On the top of the screen you’ll find a header featuring all of the website’s facilities. There’s Coral live gaming through the in-play betting section, a virtuals section and a casino as well as sections on poker, bingo and LottoBet.
Coral usability
Site navigation is excellent. As well as the simple access to each site feature using the header, you’ll also find a list of sports and popular markets on the left of the screen. You’ll also be able to access tailored coupons from this left hand menu. We found a tennis coupon and lots of football coupons in our menu, though coupons will vary depending on your own betting experience. If you’re looking for live scores, results and statistics you’ll find them the near the top of the site to help you research potential wagers.
The Coral registration process
While other sites over-complicate the registration process, Coral keeps it simple. Click the ‘Join Now’ button and you’ll be instantly sent to the registration form. Add your personal details; your name, address, email address, telephone number and add a security question. Once you’ve done this you’ll be prompted to set your betting limits to keep control of your account. Next up you can add one of the many payment options to take advantage of the sign up bonus.
The Coral review: Which betting markets did we examine?
Of the thousands of betting markets offered on Coral, perhaps the largest is football with content coming from all over the globe. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A, or you’re a keen follower of more obscure tournaments like the Saudi Champions Cup, there’s a bet for you somewhere.
If you’re an avid Coral bet checker you can research your betting market before you place a bet using the information at the bottom of the sports page. You’ll find live scores and sports stats to help you make the perfect wager.
As well as football markets from around the globe, Coral also offers bets on both car and bike motorsport events. The Moto GP, Moto 2 and Moto 3 championships are represented for biking bets allowing you to place a wager on the outright winner. The Formula 1, Formula E, Indy, NASCAR Sprint Cup and the World Rally Championship bets are available for car racing.
You’ve also got great selections in lots of other sports including horse racing, tennis, golf, cycling, GAA and cricket.
A wide choice of betting options boost the Coral rating
While win and each way bets are par for the course, Coral also offers a wide selection of other bets to keep you entertained. There are many combi-bet variations including Heinz, Superheinz, Canadian bets and Lucky 63. These combi-bets use a set number of betting options in various permutations. In the case of the heinz you have 6 betting selections. Between these six selections you’ll place a wager on 57 different results, a reference to Heinz 57 varieties of flavours.
These 57 bets are broken down as follows: 15 double bets, 20 treble bets, 15 four-fold bets, 6 five-fold bets and 1 six-fold bet.
Several Coral apps available
If you’re an iPhone, Windows or Android phone user you don’t need to worry about missing your chance to place a bet when you’re out and about. There are five different Coral apps depending on what betting service you require. The main Coral app will suit most people’s needs with access to the casino and sportsbook all in one. You’ll be able to wager on thousands of betting markets and over 250 casino games. This app is available on the Apple app store, Google play and Windows store too.
Another useful app is Connect, Coral’s Apple and Android compatible app. This allows you to track your in-store bets, watch live streaming and get news and reports on your favourite sports.
Lastly, Coral has live casino, poker and vegas apps for a true casino experience.
Mobile exclusive bonuses for Coral players
If you’ve not heard of Build Your Bet before we urge you to check it out. It’s Coral’s in-app promotion that allows you to get creative with your wagers. This football specific promotion allows you to choose different wagers from a selection of games in the Premier League, Championship, Champions League, Scottish Premiership, La Liga and Serie A. You simply choose your betting selections and the odds will be calculated for you instantly.
Game play on the app is very similar to that found on the full site. The interface works smoothly, allowing scrolling between bets and movement from one page to another with the click of a button. Another nice touch is the consistency of branding throughout. The app looks like a miniature version of the site, but has extra deals for mobile players. Given the choice, we’d choose the app any day.
A cracking casino at Coral
Coral were once merged with the high street and online bingo and casino brand Gala. The hangover of this merger is clear on the Coral website with a large part of their website dedicated to non-sports betting. You’ll find casino games offered both online and through its own dedicated mobile app.
New casino players can enjoy generous bonuses including their welcome package which gives them the choice of one of two bonuses. The first awards £50 of bonus cash from a £10 deposit. The other matches your bonus of up to £100 in its entirety. The bonus you choose may depend on your budget. For smaller budgets it would be savvy to go for the £50 extra with £10 deposit which awards you a total of £60 to play with. If your budget is a little larger you can gain more with deposits of £35 and above. This will earn you between £70-£200 to play with depending on your initial spend.
There are hundreds of slot games at Coral including the ever popular Pharaoh’s Treasure, Age of the Gods and Gladiator. Table games include baccarat, blackjack and sic bo. These are powered by gaming software from NetEnt, IGT and Cryptologic for a smooth, high quality gaming experience.
A small social media presence
Social media is the heart of Coral’s marketing strategy. The bookmaker has almost 350k followers on Twitter with another 300k on Facebook. They don’t currently yet have a presence on Youtube, but they do have a small following on Instagram which they update regularly with their newest offers.
What payment methods are available at Coral?
There are 10 different payment methods available at Coral. You’ve got credit and debit card, Skrill and Skrill 1-tap, Neteller, Paysafecard, Paypal, Ecopayz, prepaid card and Connect. To deposit you need to go to your player account and select the payment type you’d like to use.
Each payment type has instructions on how to make a deposit. With credit and debit card you’ll only need to type the cardholder’s name, your card number and expiry date to register it. Once you’ve typed in your deposit amount you add the security code from the back of your card to send the funds to your account.
With Ecopayz and e-wallet accounts you’ll be redirected to your payment provider’s website when you go to make a deposit. Once you’ve completed your transaction you’ll be redirected back to the bookie’s site ready to place your bets.
The minimum deposit you can make with most payment providers is £5. The only exception is Paypal which needs to be £10 or larger. If you’re keen to get started with the bookmaker you’ll be pleased to know your payments are instant from all payment methods.
How do I withdraw my winnings?
You can withdraw from your account using Visa and Maestro debit cards, VISA and Mastercard credit cards, Paypal, Skrill (but not 1-tap), Neteller, Ecopayz and bank transfer and Connect. There is no charge for withdrawals.
Neteller, Paypal, Skrill and Ecopayz take up to 24 hours to reach your account. After this are bank transfers and credit and debit cards. Allow between two to five working days for these payment types.
Connect doesn’t work like that. It’s a payment method that allows you to top up or collect your winnings at any Coral bookmaker. This is a great way of avoiding withdrawal times.
Phone, email and chat online
If you have any problems navigating the Coral site you can always try their FAQ which has the answers to commonly found problems. If you still can’t find the information you need get in touch with their customer service team. They’re available 24/7 via email for non-urgent queries, live chat for a quick resolution and telephone if you discover the Coral website down.
- Name of company: Coral Interactive (Gibraltar)
- CEO: Carl Leaver
- Address: Suite 711, 1st Floor, Europort, Europort Road, Gibraltar, GX11 1AA.
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone number: 0800 44 00 11
A VIP deal for those with big budgets
Coral Priorities is the name of the Coral VIP section and it’s clear who they’re prioritising in this deal; the big spenders. The scheme awards points based on your monthly spend. The more you spend the higher the tier you are on.
Here’s how many points you earn per game:
- two points for every £10 stake on scratchcards, slots and bingo
- point for every £10 stake for other casino games
- two point five points for every £10 on single sports bets
- three points for every £10 multiple bets
Here’s how many points and minimum deposits you need to spend to qualify for each tier.
Using the figures provided above, players who wagered nothing but single sports bets earning two points per bet would need to spend £6,000 to reach the 1,500 points required for bronze. As you can see, this is not for those with a small bankroll. But what do you get for being a VIP?
You’ll receive bonuses that are much better than the ones offered to usual players. We’re talking hundreds of pounds in extra bets rather than £20. Is this the right deal for you? Only you can be the judge of that.
Coral is fully licensed for UK players
If you’re a UK player you’ll be relieved to hear that Coral is not only licensed in its home country of Gibraltar and is regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner, but also holds a UK licence too. Coral is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission who are world-renowned as one of the most exceptional gaming regulators around. You can be assured that all your sports bets, casino games and bingo bets are safe and impartial.
Keeping yourself safe online
Any responsible bookmaker would look after its customers when it comes to online gambling. After all, they’re in an industry which deals with thousands of bets daily. During our Coral review it became clear that they are one of the good guys when it comes to curbing gambling addiction.
Take a look at the very top of the home page and you’ll see a link on responsible gambling. There’s a link at the bottom of the page as well in case you missed the first, sitting next to the Gambleaware icon.
Clicking the responsible gambling link brings you to Coral’s responsible gambling charter where they outline their commitment to ethical gambling provisions and their pledge to help those with gambling issues find help if they need it. They make good on their promise a little further down the page.
The bookmaker has added their own self-assessment test that players can complete to assess their gambling habits. You can also request full transaction details by going into your account settings. They’ve also included a budget calculator and time and money diary so you can accurately assess the amount you’ve money and time you’ve spent on their site and what you can realistically afford to gamble. This is a bookmaker that puts players first, and it shows.
Bet £5 and get £20 to play with
Next up in our Coral review is the bookmaker’s welcome bonus deal. While lots of bookmakers offer players deals that require a large cash deposit at the outset, Coral have gone for something different. This bonus is the equivalent to a 400% matched bonus. All you need to do is place a deposit of £5 using a valid payment method and you’ll receive £20 extra to spend on any sport you like, even Coral esports. Is the bonus offered by Coral trustworthy and does it pose good value for money? Read on to find out.
The Coral welcome bonus in detail
Let’s get to the nitty gritty of the Coral sign up bonus and see how Coral ratings compare to other bookmakers out there.
When you sign up on coral’s website for the first time you can opt in or out of their welcome bonus. As mentioned above this gives you £20 of extra bets for a £5 deposit. But before you get the extra funds you need to place a bet using your deposit on a sporting event. This must be a win or each-way bet. No other bet type is suitable for the offer. The odds of the bet are also crucial. You have to give coral a fighting chance, so odds must be 1.5 (1/2) or larger. If your win bet is an accumulator bet each leg of the bet must be 1.5 or larger too, so be sure to check before you place your bet. Even 1 leg with lower odds will invalidate your rights to the bonus.
Unlike some of their competitors, the £20 will be given in four separate bets of £5 each. This gives you extra chances to win and extra chances to get to grips with the bookmaker’s sports selections to see if you like using the site. This is a great opportunity to see answer for yourself the questions ‘is Coral reliable?’ and ‘do I consider Coral trustworthy?’.
These free bets cannot be cashed out early and operate under similar odds and sports markets as the qualifying bet.
How do Coral odds stack up?
While most odds on Coral are standard, the bookmaker does have a few tricks up its sleeve to give added value to the player. This comes in the form of promotions, and Coral have quite a few. You’ll find the promotions online but Coral in shop odds are also enhanced.
To give you an idea of the offers currently available on Coral’s website we took a look at the promotions page. Here you’ll find all the latest Coral offers. The first thing we noticed was the coral acca boost. Place a £2+ acca bet of 4 legs or more and if it comes in, Coral will boost your winnings by 10%, effectively raising the odds value of your bet.
The site also have a new customer offer only odds boost which focuses on a specific boxing event between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker. Place a £1 bet and if it wins you’ll receive enhanced odds of 25/1. If the bet loses though you’re still a winner. You’ll be given a £5 sporting bet for your trouble. That’s a 500% matched bonus on your £1 wager.
How is Coral’s live game?
No Coral sportsbook review would be complete without a look at live betting. With Coral being one of the largest bookmakers out there we were expecting big things. Thankfully Coral delivers. Live betting is displayed on the home page and on the sports page.
The first thing we discovered was you could change how live bets are displayed on your screen to make them easier to see. There’s a list view, which we found cluttered, an event view which would come in handy for an event with a lot of competitors. Our personal favourite is multi-view. This lets you add up to eight individual events you are following from a drop down list of all current live events. Odds for each possible outcome are listed in their individual windows and you can cash out with one-button click. This is the easiest way to watch live betting. Well, unless you have live streaming.
Live streams can be found under the sports tab where a ‘watch now’ button gives you access to the streams. To watch any live streams you’ll need to wager at least £1 on a single wager, £2 on a double. Live streaming is only available on UK and Irish horse racing.
Coral scored 86 out of 100 in our bookmaker test
Coral scored an incredible 86 out of 100 in our test score, and it’s no surprise really as they aced almost every test element. Sure, there was a slight hitch when it came to their VIP bonus which is only accessible by those with large monthly budgets, but then again, VIP does suggest exclusivity. The website excelled time and time again when it came to those fundamentals every player needs. Bonuses are generous and allow players from all budget points to get a piece of the action. Odds are also favourable. Some markets even enjoy boosted odds to give players a better return for their money.
Coral Strengths and Weaknesses
Despite having a history that dates back over 90 years Coral hasn’t missed a step when it comes to tech. They have five separate mobile apps which all work perfectly every time. Combine this with the decent bonuses, particularly the bet £5 receive £20 sportsbet and you can see why fans rate them so highly.
We were also bowled away by the support dedicated to players needing help with problem gambling. The amount of information added to their responsible gambling page and helpful features was incredible. Not only did they give advice, but they also offered tools such as a budget calculator and betting limits to help players manage their budget and account effectively. While many bookmakers would be concerned with their bottom line, Coral is clearly concerned with the person behind the bet. That is a very rare thing nowadays.
