Coral Review

Coral is one of the UK’s biggest and most iconic bookmakers, establishing itself as a leading provider for well over 90 years. A mainstay of high streets throughout the country, the brand has managed to shift all of its history and innovation online, offering multiple markets for sports fans as well as branching out to offer casino, live casino, bingo and poker games. Players certainly won’t be lacking in options once onsite and can enjoy their Coral experience across desktop, mobile and tablet 24 hours a day.

Getting Started with Coral

New players are welcomed with a promotional offer to help activate their account, with Coral currently offering £20 in free bets when you deposit and bet £5.

After opting to join, customers need to undertake a quick 3-step registration process providing some personal details and setting up their account with a password. This is a straightforward process and takes no more than a couple of minutes.

Once you have completed the registration process, you will be prompted to confirm whether you wish to set any deposit limits. This is to help safeguard problem gamblers as well as ensure everyday punters are also able to keep tabs on how much they are spending in any given period. Simply select the amount you wish to restrict your play based on a daily, weekly or monthly amount. If you do not wish to set a limit, you can select this option and continue.

Coral Deposit Options & Terms

Once the registration is complete, guests can make their first deposit through multiple payment options including:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• PayPal
• Skrill
• Neteller
• Paysafecard
• Maestro
• Trustly

After selecting your chosen payment method, simply enter the amount you wish to deposit and confirm your payment details.

The minimum deposit amount for the majority of payment methods including debit card payments and bank transfers is £5. Coral will not charge for these transactions although it should be noted that your payment provider may. Some credit card companies regard betting transactions as “cash” and may attach a fixed and/or interest charge from the date of payment so you should check just to be sure. Once your details are verified the processing of the deposit is almost instant.

One key change to their acceptable payment methods is that as of 14 April 2020, Coral will no longer accept deposits using credit cards from customers in the United Kingdom whether directly, or indirectly via an electronic service provider or eWallet. In most cases you’ll still be able to withdraw to a credit card that’s already registered to your account if that’s how you’ve deposited in the past, but just not be able to register a new credit card moving forward. (for more information, please click here)

In most cases, Coral’s verification is fully automated but in some cases they may require additional documentation to confirm any new customers are who they say they are and satisfy all eligibility criteria. They may look to verify all new accounts by requesting documentation such as, but not limited to the following;

• Valid photocard driving license (matching address)
• Valid passport (photo page only)
• Valid ID card (front and back)
• Bank/Savings account Statement (issued in the last 3 months)
• Issue letter from a credit/debit or pre-paid card (issued in the last 3 months)
• Utility bill – i.e. mobile phone, water, gas, electric (issued in the last 3 months)
• Council Tax bill (issued in the current tax year)

For a full list of possible documentation that may be requested, please visit https://help.coral.co.uk/en/general-information/legal-matters.

Coral Withdrawal Options & Terms

For withdrawals, many of the options and limit amounts remain the same as those when depositing. £5 is typically the minimum amount you must be withdrawing however Coral do state that you can contact their customer service team for assistance if you wish to make a withdrawal lower than £5.

Generally, card and bank transfer withdrawals take between 1-2 banking days to reach your account, but these can be longer and stretch up to 5 days depending on your bank’s processing times.

Please be aware that when looking to make a withdrawal, any bonuses credited to your account must have satisfied all wagering requirements and qualification criteria before it can be released as cash. There may be times you feel the balance you can withdraw and that which is showing on your account are different and in many cases will be down to this reason.

Coral Sportsbook Bonus Offer

All eligible players who have signed up to Coral can take advantage of their new customer bonus offer when depositing for the first time. The headline offer mentioned above is currently ‘Get £20 In Free Bets When You Bet £5’. In order to claim this offer, you must go through the following steps :

1. Deposit a minimum of £5 within 14 days of registering your account
2. Place a qualifying bet of £5 or more on a win or £/€5 each-way market, at fractional odds totalling 1/2 (decimal odds 1.5) or greater
3. Once you have placed your first Qualifying Bet, Coral will credit your account with 4 x £/€5 free bets. This will be available soon after you have placed your Qualifying Bet.

Bonus Terms & Conditions

As well as the main qualifying criteria listed above, there are some additional terms to be aware of in order to be eligible to claim the new customer offer. We have summarised these below.

A bet will not be considered a Qualifying Bet if it is wagered on Tote or Pools.

• Your free bet must be used within 7 days of it being credited to your account, otherwise it will expire.
• Free bets cannot be redeemed for cash at any time.
• Your free bet must be wagered in full, can be redeemed on Win or Each-Way Bets and can only be used on the following listed Bet types: Single, Double, Treble, 4-Fold and Upwards Accumulator, Forecast and Combination. Free bets are not valid on Football Jackpot, tote, other combination and multiple bets (i.e. Lucky 15s).
• You cannot cash-out your free bets
• The free bet will not be eligible for some payment methods including PayPal, Neteller, Moneybookers or Skrill

Additional Bonuses

Coral are certainly generous when it comes to giving offers and are looking to ensure both new and existing customers benefit. There is a range of deals that complement the headline offer, some of which we have outlined below;

• Place three £5 In-Play singles on any sport to get a £5 In-Play Free Bet
• 10% extra as a Free Bet up to £100 on winning 3+ football accumulators

You can stay up to date with any new offers by regularly checking Coral’s bonus and promotions page at https://sports.coral.co.uk/promotions/all

Coral Sportsbook

When reviewing our list of expectations from a leading sportsbook provider, Coral certainly doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the sheer volume of sports available for customers to bet on. We counted over 30 at the time of this review, ranging from popular national sports such as Football and Cricket through to international markets such as American Football, Aussie Rules, Baseball and Basketball. The list doesn’t end there and includes many of our furry friends such as Greyhound and Horse Racing.

The popularity of ESports is also represented as well as increasingly popular, non-sporting markets such as politics. All the latest odds on both domestic and international political outcomes are offered online and the odds are highly competitive when compared to other bookmakers online.

Betting & In-Play Markets

When scouring the many markets available on a variety of sports, we thought we would take a closer look at the depth of markets on a single upcoming football match.

Immediately we can see that Coral are looking to help punters make more informed decisions by making data and team stats available once a game selection has been made.

Customers can get a feel for the form of a team, their best players, league standings, previous head to head results as well as other information which can help their chances of making a successful pick. Having such data readily available and in a digestible format certainly enhances the experience online and punters can choose what is relevant to help shape their decisions.

The range of game specific markets is good with Coral offering odds on outright win/lose/draw for the game as well as player, card, corners and time specific markets. All selections are clearly laid out making it easy to read the options available and make a pick.

Placing a bet was simple enough after selecting the odds of a specific pick, in this case Bayer Leverkusen to win. The bet confirmation was almost instant although one thing that could be improved in terms of user experience would be for the bet slip to follow a punter down once they make a selection. But on the whole it was a smooth experience with the option to cash out being made available immediately.

Any self-respecting online sportsbook will also offer its customers the opportunity to create their own bets and accumulators and Coral is no exception. However the ability to create a multi-bet option isn’t as intuitive or functional as other operators. After building up a few selections, I wasn’t able to get odds as an accumulator as you would elsewhere. After selecting the Bet Builder option, I had to look at the drop down of markets and navigate through the ones I wanted rather than select directly from the market tabs. This was a little disappointing and it was confusing to know once I had made a selection of bets, what stake I was putting down or able to put down as there was simply a ‘Place Bet’ button at the right hand side of the compiled bet. This function could certainly be improved and is not recommended to a new user to avoid placing an unwanted bet.

Live Streaming

The website gives customers access to live streaming events all year round, another great feature that allows customers to watch events for free from the comfort of their home and also get involved in the action.

Coral claims to offer unlimited access to over 2,000 sporting events every week which is in excess of 100,000 events every year! Below is a sample of some upcoming games with a summary of how many markets each event will have available for punters to bet on as they combine their picks with the live action.

You can also enjoy additional content provided by Coral through their Coral TV offering which can be found at https://news.coral.co.uk/videos.

Loyalty & VIP Programs

Coral offer benefits and a more seamless experience through their Coral Connect Card offering. Being a cardholder allows members to enjoy many perks such as being able to collect their online winnings from any one of their 1800+ high street shops. In order to obtain one, customers are required to go in-store where their friendly staff will be more than willing to help you through the process and get you signed up. The brief steps are outlined below;

1. Register an account online at https://sports.coral.co.uk/
2. Go to any of Coral’s 1800+ shops around the UK
3. Supply staff with your username
4. Coral staff will then provide you with your free Connect Card and a PIN

Benefits Of A Connect Card

If customers needed that little push to get themselves in-store and get their hands on a Connect Card, you only need to look at the perks of being a member below;

Offers & Bonuses : New members usually get a reward simply for signing up in the first place. This is further boosted by exclusive offers available to members to enjoy both in-store and online

Deposit In-Store To Play Online : If you have some loose cash and don’t want to go to the bank to deposit in order to load up your account, then you can simply pop into a Coral store and put cash on your card. This can then be used online.

Collect Online Winnings In-Store : As mentioned previously, customers can collect their winnings at a Coral shop, removing the need for funds to clear in their bank accounts before being able to withdraw them.

Seamless Experience : Once your card is loaded, customers can look forward to placing bets and playing a range of games such as bingo, poker and live casino on their desktop, phones, tablets or in-store without needing to transfer funds around.

Safety & Security

Coral takes the security of all its members very seriously claiming that their ‘security team uses sophisticated software and monitoring techniques to ensure that proper security is maintained at all times.’

The company deploys the highest level of encryption to protect all their online transactions with their online payment center using ‘128-bit encryption technology and Secure Socket Links (SSL) to ensure the security of all transactions, and to ensure that all data remains confidential. Financial transactions are conducted in complete accordance with applicable laws and the standards of the international banking community.’

Additional points regarding security is that :

• Each account may only be accessed via a unique username and password
• Players at Coral are only allowed to have one account, which will go through a verification process before being approved
• the most sophisticated random number generator in the online gaming industry is used to shuffle and deal each hand

Given these measures, we certainly feel comfortable using the Coral platform where all personal and financial information is safe and kept confidential.

Customer Service

Coral have provided both phone and email addresses for customers to use if they need to reach out regarding any issues. These are :

Phone Number : 0800 44 00 11 (from within the UK)

0800 2797917 (from within the UK)

+44 (0) 208 507 5544 (from outside the UK)

Email Address : [email protected] – [email protected]

They also have an online chat facility which customers can navigate to once online.

However during the current Coronavirus pandemic, they are unable to provide phone support and recommend getting in touch via chat or email.

Restricted Countries

Coral have a clear outline of the countries where they can accept business from and state the following locations as being accessible for their services :

• Argentina
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Croatia
• Gibraltar
• Guernsey
• Iceland
• Isle of Man
• Jersey
• Lebanon
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Republic of Ireland
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• San Marino
• Slovenia
• United Kingdom