There are hundreds of betting sites in the current sports betting market. However, when it comes to top bookmakers, two names will be mentioned every time. Read on to find a detailed comparison between Ladbrokes and William Hill. 2021.

Bookies such as Ladbrokes and William Hill have previously shut stores in response to a crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals. The amount of money punters can place on fixed-odds betting. Ladbroke v William Hill 1964 1 All ER 465. Images supplied by Parliamentary Archives. One of the most fascinating episodes in British copyright history was the one that confronted, in the early sixties, two of the largest betting companies and bookmakers: Ladbroke and William Hill. The case arose out of a dispute over the subsistence and the infringement of copyright in William Hill’s “fixed odd” football. Know more about USA Betting ×. William Hill vs Ladbrokes – Which Site Is Better? The original free bet stake will not be returned to you. Free william themselves cannot be withdrawn. However, the winnings from a free bet can be withdrawn. Ladbrokes more information on ladbrokes free bet, refer to the terms and conditions of the offer. William Hill is a registered I.B.A.S bookmaker. For customers outside of Great Britain, this website is operated by William Hill Global PLC, a company registered in Malta with registration number C96298 and registered office at William Hill Global PLC, Tagliaferro Business Centre.

Overall Rating Winner: William Hill

When looking at William Hill against Ladbrokes, you need to consider their overall ratings. Who has the best markets? Does one of them offer better odds? Who has more promos or free bets available? What’s the difference between Ladbrokes and William Hill UK overall?

William Hill

This is one of the oldest and most well-loved names in the industry. People know it well for the number of markets available – especially for classic betting sports such as football, horse racing and greyhounds. However, it has also moved forward with the time and offers punters the chance to bet on lots of different sports and markets with lots of features. It has stayed top of the billing because it still has more to offer than most others.

Ladbrokes

This has always been one of the biggest and most well-respected businesses around. Since it joined forces with Coral, it has been one of the dominant forces in sports betting. Ladbrokes is well known for being forward-thinking, especially when it comes to offers, promos and free bets.

We’re rating both these sites as two of the best available, with William Hill slightly ahead. Keep reading for the details of William Hill compared to Ladbrokes, and why it edges this comparison.

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Sign-Up Offers Comparison

One of the things that first attract players to a betting site is the competitiveness of its welcome offer. So, how do the two deals compare? Let’s look at both promotions…

Ladbrokes

Starting with the welcome bonus from Ladbrokes, this promotion gives you £20 in free wagers when you stake £5. Of course, only new registrants qualify for the bonus, and a range of terms and conditions apply.

For one, the odds have to be 1/2 or greater to qualify. Additionally, if you use prepaid cards, Moneybookers, Skrill, Neteller, PayPal or Paysafecard to make deposits, you are immediately disqualified.

You must also make an appropriate wager within 14 days of registering to qualify, and can’t bet on totes or pools. Fortunately, you don’t require a Ladbrokes promo code to participate.

William Hill

In honor of our ongoing comparison between Ladbrokes and William Hill, we will now turn our attention to the William Hill sign up offer.

At Hill, your first £10 wager will earn you two free bets of £15 each. As always, you must be a new registrant to participate in the offer. Additionally, you’ll require a William Hill bonus code: p30.

As was the case with Ladbrokes, some deposit methods earn you an instant disqualification. You don’t qualify for the bonus if you deposit with a William Hill plus card, Neteller, Neosurf, PayPal, ecoPayz, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, Kalibra or Postepay.

Just like the Ladbrokes bonus, only wagers made at odds of at least 1 / 2 qualify for the promotion.

The Better Offer

All in all, the bonuses are very similar. However, between these two betting sites, William Hill offers a more generous timeframe for using the bets. Ladbrokes provides a meagre seven days, while Hill offers 30 days.

Neither of the promotions has any wagering or playthrough requirements, and the values are similar. Hence, except for the difference in timeframes, there are few differences between the offers.

Winner: William Hill

Free Bets and Promotions

Most punters, especially newcomers to sports betting, like to have the option to take advantage of free bets. Therefore, let’s compare the free bet offers – if there are any – of Hill and Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes is renowned for providing players with incentives in the form of regular bonus codes, and you can usually find them on the website’s promotion section or through a quick online search.

These codes can give you a variety of things, such as free bets, moneyback for losses, risk-free bets and other benefits. They change regularly, so be sure to keep an eye out to avoid missing the latest deal.

William Hill

The William Hill sign up offer requires a bonus code, as we’ve mentioned already, but this operator doesn’t stop there. The Hill regularly entices players with special Ladbrokes promo codes – such as money back offers, risk-free bets, bet boosts, money back offers and free bets. The reason Will Hill is better is the range they provide to punters.

Barely a week goes by where you won’t find an exciting new William Hill promo code online, so for that reason, they take the crown here.

The Better Offer

Again, as in all areas of this comparison, this is tight running. However, William Hill currently seems to have more options on their promos than Ladbrokes does, so they get the win here.

Winner: William Hill

Loyalty Program

The next battle in the Ladbrokes v William Hill war is that of loyalty programs. Loyalty programs are essential for keeping regular players coming back for more, and the best betting sites understand that need.

Here we’ll review what each operator has for loyal players. You may be disappointed by what you’ll find at one of these top sportsbooks.

Ladbrokes VIP Club

Ladbrokes offers a loyalty program called the Grid. With the Grid, you earn points by making wagers online or playing games in-store.

As a reward, you’ll receive coupons for Ladbrokes football, horse racing and other sports. You may also get coupons for other Ladbrokes games. Past benefits include a £10,000 cash prize and trips to the Ascot races.

William Hill VIP Club

Decidedly, our comparison between Ladbrokes and William Hill demands that we now look at the competitor. If you are a lover of William Hill bingo, then there’s a loyalty program for you, but sports fans will be highly disappointed at the lack of a loyalty system for them.

Unfortunately, there’s no loyalty program specifically for the sportsbook. In this case, at least, Ladbrokes is clearly the winner. We’re not interested in bingo as part of this comparison. It’s a real shame as we would expect an operator with a reputation as good a William Hill’s to look after loyal punters.

The Better Offer

Overall, there’s not much to compare here as Ladbrokes is a much better VIP system for sports bettors. This is such a shame as we would expect more from William Hill in terms of rewarding its most loyal players.

Winner: Ladbrokes

Available Markets and Sports

Many people like to wager on one specific sport. To them, only one is of interest, and they’ll seek the site that offers them the best opportunities for that particular choice. However, by far the largest group of punters are those who enjoy the diversity and want a large variety.

William Hill

William Hill offers 34 different betting categories, including staples like football, esports, cricket and horse racing. However, they also cover more niche markets like darts, hurling and ice hockey. Furthermore, William Hill also offers plenty of features for betting – including a special Bet Builder option, where you can create your own bet. It also offers cash out and partial cash out.

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes, on the other hand, has a total of 38 categories. Of course, the staples like football, cricket and horse racing are no less critical for this operator. However, they offer some different niche markets. Examples include badminton, bandy and chess.

Several of the betting categories at Ladbrokes sports aren’t available at Hill. For example, you could bet on athletics or MMA, neither of which are present at Hill.

The Better Option

Ladbrokes has the lead on available markets. Nevertheless, it’s a very tentative lead, and a few strategic moves from Hill could see them leading instead. If diversity is what you are looking for, either one of these companies should serve your needs quite well.

Winner: Ladbrokes

Odds

Something that is of significant concern to any punter is the odds available at a sportsbook. Bearing that in mind, we’ll proceed to compare the odds of Hill and Ladbrokes.

William Hill

For the sake of this section, we will be looking at the odds of football. In this particular area, Hill has a significant lead on the odds that they offer. That’s not to say that they provide more odds, just that they mostly have better ones available. However, they also take the lead when it comes to horse racing and greyhounds as these are its strongest areas.

Ladbrokes

In general, when comparing the two companies, Ladbrokes odds weren’t quite as competitive in this area. Even so, Ladbrokes has a much better system for displaying the odds. Their betting page allows you to switch easily between fractional, decimal and American odds. Also, we found that Ladbrokes is a site that has a number of enhanced odds offers when it comes to big football matches and sporting events. So, there will be times when you might get the better deal at Ladbrokes.

The Better Option

This is a very tight match as both have their pluses here. Overall, on an average day, we found that William Hill does offer better value when it comes to odds. Having said that, it’s always good to see whether Ladbrokes has any deals and special odds available. It’s also easier to access the odds on Ladbrokes site. On average, we have to give the edge to William Hill though.

Winner: William Hill

Live Betting & Streaming

No comparison between Ladbrokes and William Hill would be complete without taking a closer look at the options for live betting and live streaming.

Both operators offer a wide array of options for in-play betting – trading blows on the well-loved sports. William Hill football is a particularly well-loved category for this operator. Both sportsbooks cover horse racing, e-sports, and other popular betting staples.

Ladbrokes

Live streaming at Ladbrokes has plenty of top features you can enjoy as a member, with various sports available on a given day. The cash-out option is one of the most user-friendly on the market, and you can quickly see how to activate it while watching the action unfold.

Unfortunately, the interface is quite confusing, which can make the process slightly frustrating. This is particularly apparent when you’re betting on multiple live games and would like to switch between them.

William Hill

If you’re looking for a William Hill live stream, you won’t need to look very hard. The Hill offers live streaming on a significant percentage of the in-play betting options. You can also narrow down the in-play category by activating the ‘streaming events only’ function.

William Hill is best loved for its football live streaming. The range of leagues and competitions covered by this gambling behemoth is astounding. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option if football is your favourite sport to bet on.

The Better Option

William Hill offers better streaming options than Ladbrokes, which leaves them at a slight advantage. Both are some of the best in the industry when it comes to live streaming and in-play betting, so either one would work well. However, William Hill as the edge here.

Winner: William Hill

Mobile Betting App

One thing that more people place more importance on now, is the quality of the betting apps. In our comparison Between Ladbrokes and William Hill, we discovered a surprising amount of similarities between mobile apps.

Ladbrokes

To access the Ladbrokes login from the app, you click on the login tab in the menu. Nevertheless, it is still easy to find.

The Ladbrokes app, as with their desktop site, has a straightforward layout. There is a single page for sports, and one for racing. Scrolling through the page to find what you are looking for is easy enough – Ladbrokes horse racing, greyhound racing, and harness racing each have a category. Similarly, Ladbrokes has divided the sports page into multiple categories.

William Hill

The William Hill login, on the other hand, is the first thing you see when you open the application. When comparing to Ladbrokes, the William Hill app is a classical style application. Not unlike the desktop site, William Hill mobile could probably use a bit more organisation.

If the categories were well divided, as in the case of Ladbrokes, the application would have been a clear winner. It’s easy to use, responsive and shares the style of the parent site. However, the app contains so many games, betting options and other segments that it comes across as quite cluttered.

This operator would do well to consider producing individual apps for the casino and sportsbook. The massive amount of content on a single application means that it can perform very slowly at times.

Once you get used to it, you are likely to enjoy this application – despite its faults.

The Better Option

Unfortunately, in this section of our comparison, we are unable to provide a clear-cut answer regarding which app is best. The Ladbrokes app is quite bland in all honesty.

On the other hand, Hill offers a stylish mobile app that’s much too cluttered. In the end, you’ll have to compare them for yourself and sign up with the one you like most.

Winner: Draw

Our Final Verdict: Winner William Hill

It has been no mean feat to reach a verdict after our comparison between Ladbrokes and William Hill. In many ways, both of these sportsbooks are very similar.

Nevertheless, saying that we like both companies equally would not be much of a verdict. William Hill is an old brand, known and loved by many. Many people stick around merely for the sake of William Hill football. The more diverse gamblers stick around for the joys of the Hill casino.

The Ladbrokes betting market has a bit of a lead on the options at Hill. However, the difference is so slight as to be almost irrelevant. A few simple additions and strategic moves from Hill could bring them out on top.

The real defining aspect between these two companies is with which one you feel more comfortable. Overall, Will Hill is just ahead with some of the most crucial elements, just clutching a victory in a head-to-head battle. Despite that, whichever one of these two companies you choose, you’re going to be satisfied.

Images supplied by Parliamentary Archives

One of the most fascinating episodes in British copyright history was the one that confronted, in the early sixties, two of the largest betting companies and bookmakers: Ladbroke and William Hill. The case arose out of a dispute over the subsistence and the infringement of copyright in William Hill’s “fixed odd” football coupons, a sheet of paper on which lists of forthcoming matches were printed. William Hill had been using these coupons since the early 1950s and, when Ladbroke had decided to enter the field, it adopted a similar product. The coupons are depicted in the attached images along with a table comparing the content of the pools coupons of the parties with those of their competitors (to highlight what was original or perculiar to the claimants). The claim primarily related to the coupons as compilations (no claim was made as regards the football fixture details themselves).

Even at the start of the litigation, the parties had chosen formidable counsel. William Hill was represented by Frank Soskice QC (1902-1979), who in 1964 became Home Secretary. Ladbroke’s leading counsel was Gerald Gardiner QC (1900-1990) who had represented the defendant publisher in the trial relating to Lady Chatterley’s Love and in 1964 would be made Lord Chancellor.

At first instance (The Times, 27 June 1962, p 8D), Lloyd-Jacob J found that Ladbroke had copied William Hill’s material but held that no copyright subsisted in the coupons themselves. The judge awarded a limited injunction in relation to copyright infringement in the rules.

Ladbrokes Or William Hill Actor

In December 1962, the Court of Appeal, led by Lord Denning MR, allowed William Hill’s appeal (Diplock LJ dissenting). (That decision was ultimately reported in [1980] RPC 539). One argument, that the pools coupons were artistic work was rejected by Lord Denning. He observed ([1980] RPC 544:

Ladbrokes Or William Hill Results

“They also say that it is an “artistic work”, but here they are in some difficulty: because, in order to claim artistic copyright, it would have to be a “work of artistic craftsmanship” and few would presume so to describe it. It has no more appeal to the aesthetic sense than a set of logarithm tables or an income tax return, which are more apt to produce a feeling of revulsion than a sense of beauty.”

However, Lord Denning MR did consider the selection of 16 lists of different bets, and their incorporation in a coupon with headings and notes was a “compilation”, and Ladbrokes had infringed by copying fifteen of the lists and much of the headings and notes.

Ladbrokes Or William Hill Obituary

In January 1964, following seven days of argument the previous November, all five of their Lordships (Lord Reid, Lord Evershed, Lord Hodson, Lord Devlin and Lord Pearce) dismissed the appeal and upheld the finding that the coupons were copyright-protected “original” compilations and that Ladbroke had infringed.

Ladbrokes Or William Hill Racing

In delivering their judgment, the Lords emphasised the amount of work, money and ingenuity devoted by the plaintiffs and the substantial copying that the defendants carried out. The decision cemented the centrality of the requirement of “labour, skill and/or judgment” to any finding of originality under British law. They also highlighted the type of comparison necessary to appreciate a copyright infringement. Instead of dissecting the work, an overall comparison of the two works was required.

A few months after the decision, a soccer Bill was drafted containing an explicit reference to the question of copyright. Instead of football coupons, it embraced the possibility of protecting the information contained in the coupons: the fixtures. Interestingly, the object of the Bill was to allow the Football League (and the Association) to claim royalties on the use of betting fixtures. Although the politician who proposed the introduction of the Bill, Mr Harry Howarth (1916-1969) had the support of the then Minister responsible for sport, Dennis Howell (1923-1998), his political dream drastically faded away when the Board of Trade opposed it, criticising it for encompassing a fundamental departure from the principles of existing copyright legislation.

The question of protection of fixtures has returned to the courts in recent years in the context of the European Union’s Database Directive, Directive 96/9/EC. In three “Fixtures Marketing” cases, the Court of Justice has indicated that database right does not subsist in football fixture lists.

In the light of EU harmonization of copyright, in particular the Infopaq decision of the Court of Justice, the significance of the Ladbroke case in the UK is a little unclear (though it will be of persuasive value in countries that derive their copyright laws from the UK Copyright Act 1911). Whether Ladbroke would be decided the same way following the European test (“author’s own intellectual creation”) is unclear. Precisely what “choices” were made by the author(s) of the coupons, how much freedom there was (whether they were “creative choices”, and whether the author(s) stamped his, her or their “personal touch” can only be assessed through a detailed examination of the facts. The images reproduced here help with such an assessment.