So, yes… Coral are a pretty big deal.
There is a danger with longstanding bookies, however, that they grow stale; that they stop caring about customer service, and offering new and exciting promotions. Is this the case with Coral too, or have they managed to move with the times? Are they still an appealing option for the modern-day gambler?
Find out, in our comprehensive Coral football review.
Endless Promotions and Betting Options.
Premier Option in Online Betting.
Table of Contents
Coral Sports Sign Up Offer
The Coral new customer offer is absolutely fantastic. For the more casual bettors out there, it genuinely might be the best on the market right now.
All you need to do is bet £5 to get £20 back in free bets. The bet can be made on any sport, and can either be a win or each way bet. Simply put the bet down, and you’ll immediately receive four £5 free bets in return.
Here are the main Terms & Conditions:
- Qualifying bet must be made at odds of 1/2 or greater
- Free bets must be used within four days of receiving them
- Cash out unavailable when using Coral free bet
You can read the rest of the Ts & Cs here, but there’s really nothing to catch you out.
Coral must truly be going all-out to attract new customers, because this is an incredibly generous sign up offer. For a short while at least, you’re essentially quadrupling your initial stake, without even having to win that first bet. Minimum odds of 1/2 give you a great shot at winning your qualifying bet anyway!
We genuinely can’t say enough about this welcome offer. If you’re even vaguely interested in betting, there’s absolutely no excuse for not taking advantage of it while you still can.
Coral Football Ongoing Promotions
To say the range of ongoing Coral promotions is extensive would be an understatement.
We counted a whopping 16 different available offers at the time of writing, covering football, horse racing, tennis and other sports. Coral also have a good mix between event-specific offers, and more general ongoing promotions.
Most eye-catching of all is the 4+ Acca Boost. Stick four or more selections in your football accumulator, and – if it comes off – Coral will boost your winnings by a tidy 10%, up to a total of £100.
Perhaps more intriguing, however, is Coral’s “Bet & Watch” offer for La Liga.
As you surely know, Spanish football isn’t being shown on British television this year, for the first time in over two decades. Well, if you sign up with Coral, and put a bet of at least £1 on a La Liga match, you can then stream that entire match. For the millions of Bale, Griezmann and Messi fans out there, this is a dream come true.
Coral offer a number of concessions related to specific matches. For example for the match between Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga customers received £5 in the form of a free bet for every goal. The minimum qualifying bet was £0 on the match odds and the maximum bonus was £15 or three free bets. Coral bets also offers something similar on many profile football matches that are generally live on television.
It would take too long to go through all of Coral’s offers here. Instead, we urge you to simply check them out for yourself. Much like their sign up offer, Coral’s ongoing promotions are some of the best currently available on the market.
Coral Football Features
The layout of Coral’s football section is excellent. Both live and upcoming games, and football-specific special offers, are all displayed at the same time, with no navigation necessary.
For the upcoming games, instead of only being shown the odds for final result – as you are on most sites – you can choose to see all your options for other popular bets. Odds for Both Teams to Score, Over/Under 2.5 Goals, Draw No Bet and more are available for every game at once, with the click of a button.
In-play betting is available, but could be improved. From the main screen, even though the odds for all games are constantly updated, you’re only shown the live scores and time remaining for some of the games. The mechanics of actually placing a live bet, however, work flawlessly, with your wagers being swiftly processed at the latest odds.
In-Play is the first option on the football main menu. The score and some key match statistics are shown for each match and the live betting interface works well. The match result odds are displayed prominently but customers can bet on more 90 other related markets which appear in the following categories:
• Main
• Half
• Goals
• Scores
• Team Goals
• Match Specials
• Other Markets
All the key information is displayed clearly but other operators provide more match details that are updated as the match progresses. Coral suspends in-play betting when there is a key event such a goal, sending-off or significant injury.
As mentioned above, one of Coral’s best football features is its live streaming. Quite a few sites offer streaming of more obscure games, but with Coral betting you can watch the biggest La Liga matchups, provided you place a small bet on them. Overall, Coral caters for football fans extremely well.
Football is the first sport that appears on the main menu on the Home Page. When clicking this option users are taken to the football page where the betting markets are displayed under the following headings:
• In-Play
• Matches
• Competitions
• Coupons
• Outrights
• Jackpot
• Specials
• Player Bets
On the day this review was done there were three fixtures in the English Premier League. the brand takes most sports on this league which is the most popular for betting in the UK and the rest of Europe. Matches are shown in many countries and there is a huge global interest in betting. Coral offers an extensive football service and the English Premier League is an important part of that service.
The three-way math odds are shown for each fixture and there is a link to the related markets of which there are over 180. Fixtures in La Liga in Spain and other major European leagues are also popular for betting and Coral offers a similar number of markets. The betting for major football fixtures appears under the following headings:
• All Markets
• Main
• Corner and Cards
• Half
• Goalscorers
• Goals
• Scores
• Team Goals
• Other Markets
Customers with Coral can also create their own bets using the Build Your Bet facility. This is Coral’s version of customised betting whereby you can combine different events in a match. Some of these events are related which means you don’t get the full accumulated odds. The odds are adjusted accordingly and there are many options to create a customised bet.
The big Premier League match of the day was priced as follows by Coral:
Manchester United 3/4
Draw 14/5
Everton 15/4
These prices equate to a profit margin of 4.5% which is about in the middle of the rage. Coral don’t compete on their prices and margins but attract customers because the brand is well established and trusted in the UK. The margins on the more speculative bets such as the correct score are average and not stand out as anything special. The newer operators have to compete on odds but Coral has other strengths.
In terms of the number of competitions the bookie football offer is limited. Whereas other operators offer betting on more than 200 leagues and Cups the Coral range is less extensive. In addition to leagues in England Coral provides match odds for matches in Spain, Italy, Germany and France. European club and international competitions are also covered. There are outright betting markets for the main European leagues in Europe.
Customers can fully cash out or partially cash out bets on selected football markets. The cash out icon indicates when this facility is available. Cash out on football matches is related to the current score and odds and the odds at which the bet was placed. If the backed team score the first goal the odds shift so that a cashed out bet will return a profit regardless of the final outcome. When the scoring goes against the bettor cash out limits the loss based on the original bet and updated odds.
Other Betting Markets at Coral Sports
Aside from football, Coral online betting also covers the second-most popular betting market – horse-racing – extremely well. There are a range of special offers for the Sport of Kings, and every race, large and small, is available to bet on.
All the other major sports you’d expect – golf, cricket, tennis and so on – are equally well represented. There are plenty of opportunities to wager on American sports and eSports, and there are some less common betting options too, such as netball, rowing and hurling.
Coral Football App and Mobile Betting Options
The Coral sports app is available on both iOS and Android devices, straight from the App Store and Google Play respectively. It enjoys generally favourable user reviews on both platforms, and our experience certainly backed this up.
The layout is brilliant, just as it is on the desktop version. The bright colours really pop, and help to make everything stand out, even on a smaller screen. You can effortlessly access in-play betting, special offers, cash out and the major markets you’re likely to bet on. It couldn’t be easier or quicker to place an in-play bet – which is crucial for all football betting apps – and you can even stream live events.
Don’t want to download the app? The mobile version of the site follows exactly the same layout, and has almost all the same features (although live streaming doesn’t seem to be available).
Coral’s outstanding mobile betting options are a God-send for on-the-go bettors.
Opening A Coral Betting Account
Customers open the account by clicking the ‘LOG IN’ button on the Home Page and then enter their unique combination of a Username and Password. Potential new customers click the ‘JOIN NOW’ button which then displays the registration screen. In step 1 personal and contact information is entered. On subsequent screens account and security details are added to a number or requited and optional fields. Once the relevant boxes have been populated the account is created and usually confirmed within a few seconds. New customers must then deposit funds before betting.
The bookmaker offers several banking options including credit and debit cards, bank transfer and e-Wallets. Once the account has been funded customers select a market and click on the odds. Options are added to the Bet Slip and the type of bet is selected. When the stake has been entered the potential return is shown. After te bet has been accepted the customer account balance is updated accordingly. The three basic procedures are easy to follow and can be completed in five minutes or less. New customers who are attracted by a betting market can quickly open an account, deposit funds and place a bet. Its is the range of markets and the welcome offer attract new customers.
Banking Options
Coral support a nice wide range of payment methods, including debit and credit cards, PayPal, Skrill and Neteller.
Pleasingly, they only require a £5 minimum deposit, as opposed to the £10 which bookies normally ask for. All deposits, regardless of payment method, are processed instantly.
Withdrawals can be made using all of the same options, and do not need to be made using the same method you used for your deposit. The minimum withdrawal amount is a measly £0.01, which again is far below the industry standard. Withdrawals take either up to 24 hours, or 2-5 working days, depending on the method.
Security and Safety
Given Coral’s pedigree, you might simply guess that they’re completely secure. When you’re potentially committing to a bookie for months, or even years, however, it’s worth checking. In this case, you should absolutely be asking, “Is Coral legit?”
Coral actually have almost no information regarding their security measures on their website, which is surprising. That said, they do hold a full UK gambling license, meaning they’ve passed a series of strict security checks. Aside from that, literally all we could find out about Coral is that they hold a SSL certificate (which you’d expect from any major bookie).
Due to their sheer size and longevity, you can assume Coral are pretty secure. We’d have liked a lot more information about how exactly they protect their customers’ accounts, though.
Customer Support
The Coral customer service options are excellent… when you can find them. Support is available via live chat, phone and email. The live chat is open 24/7, which is obviously great, and you can call them between 08:00-22:00 GMT.
As is often the case, Coral do try to shepherd you towards the slowest form of support – email. Click on “Contact Us”, in the top-right, and email will seem to be your only contact option. You have to go into another “Contact Us” page, in their FAQ section, to find the live chat… then another page to locate their phone numbers!
Elsewhere, Coral’s FAQ section is outstanding. It’s arranged in an intelligent manner, the search engine works flawlessly, and the articles are helpful and visually clear.
It could be easier to find the contact options, but – that aside – their customer service is brilliant.
Coral Sports Betting Layout and Design
Coral use the familiar logo and branding on their website. In addition to the sportsbook the Coral gaming produce range also includes a casino, games, slots, bingo, poker and virtuals. Navigation is intuitive and the screens are well laid out and informative.
There is a good balance between the current and upcoming events and the promotions for new and existing customers. The screens are not too cluttered and the A-Z list of sports means users can locate a match and market quickly. The markets that have enhanced odds are displayed on the Home Page and links take customers to these markets without the need for too many clicks and too much navigation.
Coral Company Details
Coral were originally founded by Joe Coral in 1926, who opened his first physical bookmaking shop in 1943.
Over the intervening decades, even as Coral have enjoyed tremendous success, they’ve been involved in a number of mergers and buyouts. Since 2005 alone, they’ve been bought by Gala for £2.18 billion, then merged with Ladbrokes in 2015, then bought out entirely by GVC Holdings (a massive name in the gambling industry) in 2017 for up to £4 billion.
Through it all, Coral have remained a huge presence on the British betting scene. They have some 3,500 physical outlets, and over 25,000 staff on their books.
Coral Football Betting Bottom Line
Coral unquestionably represent one of the premier options in sports betting. Despite being a long-established brand, they’ve certainly managed to move with the times.
Between the excellent Coral Android app and its iOS counterpart, their massive range of ongoing promotions, and their exceptional streaming options, this is a feature-packed offering. It’s a user-friendly one too, from the intuitive interface, to their solid customer support options, all the way through to low minimum deposits and withdrawals.
There’s literally one negative we’ve picked out in our Coral review, and that’s the lack of clarity about security. Given their full UK license, and their sheer pedigree, however, we’re prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt there.
There’s absolutely no excuse for not hopping straight over to Coral’s site, and taking immediate advantage of their generous “Bet £5, Get £20” sign up offer. You’re highly unlikely to regret it.
