Paddy Power Review

Introduction

Paddy Power are based in Ireland, and can boast as being Ireland’s biggest, as well as the country’s most successful bookmaker. The name of Paddy Power will be familiar to many, simply because they have High Street stores widely spread across Ireland and the UK. In Ireland itself Paddy Power have 212 shops, and 107 of them in the UK and eight in Northern Ireland. Paddy Power has been established since 1988 and is the result of a merger of three Irish bookmakers. What makes Paddy Power very accessible, is an almost laid back approach to their operation, making online betting fun and entertaining. This is clear to see on their website, and with a large upturn in turnover last year from 2008, Paddy Power really do make a huge impression in online betting.





Betting Odds and Bet Management: 9/10

One thing which stands out about Paddy Power odds, is that they are presented on some very unique markets. Because the general feel about the Paddy Power website is one of fun, this means that you can find some pretty unique markets, especially when you dip into football specials. Because of this approach to online betting, you have the opportunity with Paddy Power to pick up some great odds on things which you probably never ever thought of betting on. The Paddy Power prices are pretty competitive as well, when you look at markets overall, and are particularly great when it comes to horse racing and football. All of your odds are sent over to the non-intrusive Paddy Power Bet Slip which you can collapse or expand at your leisure. When you start adding three or four bets to your slip, they automatically get hidden and are accessed with a scroll bar, which makes things a little awkward as you can’t see everything. Fortunately there is a solution to this, and you need to hit the Pop Out button, which gives a full slip in a new browser window which is much easier to use. You can login to your account with the BetSlip and manage your bets. One nice touch about the odds selected, is that you can browse the info for the bet right in the Bet Slip which tells you the event, date and pay-out places. Your potential returns are shown right there and it’s easy enough to build multiples bets. You can change the site settings to view as decimal from the default fractional odds. There’s also a handy calculator to help manage your bets. Overall, odds are great and easy to manage in your slip.


Betting Markets: 9/10

Again, as mentioned above, Paddy Power do great business on their unique betting markets. Football and horse racing really are the dominating forces on the website, and this is shown by occupying the Quick Links positions on the menu. But if you are looking for sports from wider afield such as American Football, Aussie Rules or even Financials betting, Paddy Power has great betting markets. In addition to the main listed sports, click Other Sports on the menu to open even more markets from Beach Volleyball to waterpolo. The presentation of the markets is fairly well laid out. Click on Cricket for example and you will be presented with coupons for main events which can be explored further by clicking on them (or you can just hit the outright odds and add them to your slip). If you do go into a market further, then you can go and explore more bets, or hit the More Bets button, which states how many further bets in submarkets that you can make. Over on the left hand driven menu, the separate markets within a sport are listed nicely there and are also clickable. When you do go into a particular sports, you do get the main coupons and scroll on down the page and you will see all of the other markets for that sport going on. It can be a lot to scroll through, but organised well enough (including pointing out what is on TV) to be perfectly navigable.


Live In Play Betting: 8/10

The Paddy Power Live Betting makes for a good place to do your in play betting, and is a decent enough experience although it is not as visually attractive as what some other sites offer. This is actually a bit of surprise compared to how busy the rest of the site is. Click on the live betting and you are presented with a list of the ongoing action. This is a simple format, and their well presented odds can be clicked on, and you will see updates occurring in red. If you want to explore a particular event in more detail, then click on through to see more bets for that event. Football in particular is well covered from Handicap betting to Over/Under Goals and most other things you could possibly think of. If you are following a live football match, there is a little drop down scrolling section for the highlights, such as when a goal is scored, and by whom. The Paddy Power Live In Play works well, but it is more business-like than making for a particularly enjoyable environment, which somehow goes against the grain of the rest of the site. It is practical, and you can filter the live events by sports and even add some to your list of favourites to be remembered. There is also a quick link to switch between Live Sports Betting and Live Financial Betting.


Website: 8/10

Land yourself on the home page of Paddy Power and you may be taken back just a little bit by the visual impact it makes. There is an eclectic and hectic feel about the Paddy Power website, especially with its green, orange and white theme going on. There is a lot going on at the home page, and it seems as if they are worried that punters may miss out on something, but on the other it shows just how much they have on offer. At the top of the page is the latest current promotions which are on offer, as well as the highlights of the latest live and upcoming sporting action. Under that, there is the list of live in-play betting opportunities, then below that more sports markets, and below that there are even more betting opportunities. What Paddy Power do, which is a really nice touch, is mix in their betting odds with humorous news stories. Sometimes though, they get lost a little bit on the busy home page, and with all the graphics running down the right hand side of the page offering promotions and such, the eye really does get drawn around everywhere. Some people may find the Paddy Power design a little distracting. But go into a market and things start to calm down a little bit in the centre of the page. It perhaps isn’t the greatest looking site, nor the best colour scheme, but somehow it all comes together and the quick links on the menu bar at the top of the page help you get around the site easily. Other sections of the website include Poker, Casino, Spread Trading, Games, Player, Lotteries and Bingo, so there is actually plenty to do on there. There are extra features such as a blog, which does make pretty interesting reading, good results and form services as well as video previews for upcoming sporting events, plus Paddy’s Toolbar which you can add to your browser to keep you up to date with lives prices and events.


Customer Service: 9/10

If you find that you have a problem, or just need a little help with the Paddy Power online betting, then help is readily at hand. Support numbers and the email address is right underneath the sports book menu, and so are readily available. Heading back up to the top of the page, there is a link to Live Help which comes in very useful, and a pretty extensive Help Centre, all backed up with Help Videos. One thing about Paddy Power, is that you can clearly tell that they are thinking of the customer when it comes to their website, and the services which they run. If you do want to contact Paddy Power support, then lines are open 24/7, 365 days a year for your convenience. Paddy Power actually was a finalist in the European Call Centre Awards 2010 with an average response time of 15 seconds over the phone, and 21 second on live chat. There is also a call back service if you want Paddy Power to contact you. It helps you sign up with confidence.


Promotions and Free Bets: 10/10

Paddy Power really is one of the first stops and one of the first names that you think of as a punter when wanting to go look for special event promotions. It is something which they have become very well known for, and that is because they constantly roll out great cash back offers. They really specialise in offering cash back coverage on big sporting events, such as football matches, tennis tournaments and golf. You can’t miss their great offers, just hit their home page and you will see their latest offers, or follow the link from their quick pick section of the sports book menu. The promotion which they are most famous for really is their Last Man Standing competition, where you have a chance at jackpots by predicting one football result per week. Each of the tournaments run until there is just one man standing at the end, who wins the prize. This is hugely popular and a great feature on the site. There are also 2 For 1 Bets available, plus if you check out their blog, you can also win yourself prizes such as football shirts. There is also an ongoing accumulator half time saver offer, which refunds lost stakes on accumulators which are winning at half time, but lose at full time on football matches. Paddy Power really do promotions and free bets for your sports betting very well and is a huge pull for them. As a welcome bonus, you can earn a £50 free bet!


Summary: 9/10

A great fun online betting service is run by Paddy Power and they are well worth signing up with. If promotions are your thing, then you will be in the right place with Paddy Power, and they are worth sticking with, even if the website isn’t the easiest on the eye. They are a very well rounded and balanced online bookmaker, and they have crammed in as much betting stuff as they possibly could. Whatever you want from an online bookmaker, it will be on the site somewhere. Paddy Power have made a great name for themselves, and you will have an entertaining time on their website. The overall usage on there may not be as efficient as some online bookmaker, but it has to be said, that you do have everything from great prices to great promotions and more. There is a newsy, community kind of feel to Paddy Power and that is something which many people will enjoy.







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