Coral

Coral Ireland Review (2023)

Coral are a well-liked and trusted brand amongst Ireland residents who enjoy sports betting or playing casino games. 

As well as their brick and mortar betting shops, Coral also runs an online sports betting site, online casino, and online poker site. In this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at all of the different parts of Coral betting and help you reach an informed opinion on whether to play at the site (and app) or not.

Some of the main highlights of Coral sports betting and casino include:

• Highly competitive odds and plenty of betting markets
• Wide selection of live-streamed sports events and in-play betting
• Large choice of casino games, especially slots and poker

A Brief History of Coral

Coral has existed for nearly 100 years! The company started as a high street bookmaker shop way back in 1926 and was founded by Joe Coral. Fast forward to the 2020s and they now have more than 1,800 betting shops, scattered across Ireland, drawing in millions of customers every week. 

As you would expect from a company that is so old and well-established, Coral has an excellent reputation as being a trustworthy and fair betting company. In recent years, Coral merged with Ladbrokes to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive gambling marketplace. 

Coral set up their first online betting site more than 20 years ago, in the year 2000,  when they bought out Eurobet and released the Coral Eurobet gambling site. In 2005, Coral Eurobet merged with Gala and became an umbrella group called Gala Coral Group. In 2016, Coral merged with Ladbrokes to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive gambling marketplace. 

The Coral sports betting site, online casino, and online poker, are all licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), which means that they are verified as safe, secure, and fair places to wager real money in Ireland. 

Coral Sports Betting Site Review

As Coral has been in the sports betting game for almost a century now, it’s no surprise that the sports betting site is one of the best available in Ireland. It is clear that Coral has invested a lot in the design, usability, and fun factor of their online sportsbook. 

Registration and ID verification are easy and quick and can be done in a few short steps. You simply enter your personal details, upload some ID documents and wait for a short while until you are allowed to deposit some cash to play with and take advantage of the site promotions and bonuses.

Range of Sports Available

There’s no doubt that Coral is one of the best online sportsbooks in Ireland for the sheer range of sports on offer. At the time of writing, there are more than 40 different sports categories to choose from, including football, rugby, cricket, golf, tennis, Formula 1, boxing, plus other less popular sports such as rowing, squash, curling, badminton, virtual sports, and eSports.

In other words, whatever sport you want to bet on, you can probably find it at the Coral sports betting site. 

As well as all the sports betting options, Coral also offers bets on popular news events such as the outcome of political elections, movie releases, and celebrity announcements.

Betting Markets 

On top of the wide range of sports and events you can bet on at Coral, there are also hundreds of betting markets and betting options for many of the more popular sports. 

For instance, if you enjoy betting on horse racing, there are more than 200 races each day with ante-post wagers available, as well as specials like winning distance and tote bets. 

Football is one of Coral’s strongest sports offerings, with more than 200 betting markets available for premier league matches and other big events. 

The payouts are bigger than average at Coral too, as the site offers some of the most competitive odds in the business. 

Live In-play Betting

It is no exaggeration to say that Coral offers one of the best live betting features of any Irish sports betting site. The live in-play betting section of the website and app was recently revamped and the new design and layout are superb.

The live betting section is easy-to-navigate, with everything conveniently arranged on one screen. As well as being able to place your bets quickly, you can also get all the information you need on the specific live event, with dozens of statistics and live odds to help you decide what bets to place.

You can also pin your favourite events to the top of the page, which makes it easy to switch between them if you are betting on multiple live events at the same time. 

The live streaming section of the Coral sports betting website is pretty good too, with plenty of coverage. You can watch dozens of football, tennis, rugby, basketball, and snooker matches, plus many other sports. All you need to do to access the live stream is to have an active account with Coral or place a €1 bet on the event for horse racing and greyhound racing. 

Bonuses and Promotions at Coral Sports Betting Site

Coral sports betting site offers a good, generous bonus to new players that sign up and place a bet at the site. The bonus is gifted as free bets, which means you can place some bets on sporting events, free of charge. 

However, you need to read the terms and conditions of the free bets as there are wagering requirements and time limit attached, which means that you’ll need to meet certain criteria to place the free bets and release any winnings as withdrawable funds.

Coral also gives existing customers plenty of promotions and bonuses to enjoy. For example, they run a regular monthly ‘super-series’ promotion for both horse racing and football punters, that regularly gives away prizes of up to €25,000.

The Football Super Series involves picking out several correct outcomes such as first goalscorer, full-time score, etc. to climb a monthly leaderboard. Also, football punters will get a €50 instant reward if they pick four correct results on a specially selected game.

As well as the frequent special sporting promotions, Coral also gives punters the chance to win some extra money by way of ‘Smart Boosts’. Smart boosts are odds enhancements that Coral adds to selected betting markets which give punters an extra chunk of cash on top of any winnings they gain. To find a ‘smart boost’ deal, look out for a little symbol or icon next to the event and market.

Coral Sports Betting Mobile App

Coral offers a single app for both the sports betting side of the business and the casino. The app is beautifully designed, both in terms of design and the user interface which is exceptionally easy to use.

You can place sports bets really easily and quickly. The in-play live betting section is really nicely designed and makes it super-quick to place your bets in the heat of the moment.

You can download the Coral Sports and Casino app for Android devices from the Google Play Store where it has a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5, after 2790 reviews.

You can download the Coral Sports and Casino app for iOS from the Apple Store where it has a rating of 3.3 stars out of 5, with 1657 reviews.

Coral Casino Review

Although Coral is mainly recognised as a sports betting brand, due to their big chain of high street betting shops, the company also offers a high-quality online casino that is as good, if not better, than other online casinos in Ireland. 

Range of Casino Games

Coral has a respectable selection of casino games available, but it is by no means the biggest range of games available in an online casino. There are a little over 200 slots and table games available, so compared to some other sites that have 500 and more individual games, Coral has a bit of catching up to do.

The reason that the Coral range of games, especially slots, is limited, is due to the fact that they only use one game development studio - Playtech. This means that you get a consistent feel across the games on the site and they are made to a high standard of design and playability, but you may get a little bit bored as the slots are mostly quite similar to each other.

Slots games include titles such as Deuces Wild, Mega Jacks, Aces and Faces, Pick ‘em Poker, and 2 Ways Royal. There is a good mixture of classic, traditional slots, themed slots, and video slots on the Coral casino site.

Live Dealer Casino Games at Coral

The live dealer games bring a taste of a real-life casino experience to your home. The dealers and croupiers are all real people who are filmed in real-time at a studio and broadcast to your computer or device over the internet. You are able to place your bets and interact with the dealer and other players as you play. 

Coral’s live dealer casino was improved in 2015 with a software relaunch and provides an excellent all-around experience. There are some nice little touches, such as being able to find your favourite croupier or dealer, rather than having to look through each table to find them.

The social element of the live dealer casino games at Coral can help bring the whole experience to life and make it more enjoyable. There are several live dealer games running at any given time at Coral online casino, including roulette, blackjack, baccarat, hi-lo, and hold’em poker.

Bonuses and Promotions at Coral

At first glance, it may seem that Coral’s casino welcome bonus is not all that generous. However, although the actual amount may be lower than other casinos, there are some advantages. The main advantage is that Coral’s wagering requirements are lower than most of the other online casino sites, which means you will release your bonus funds much quicker than at other sites.

The welcome bonus is split into different parts too, which means you can get a bonus on the first three deposits, rather than just one. Coral also gives you free spins to use on the slots games at the site and some bonus funds to use at the live dealer casino only.

Coral runs ongoing promotions and special offers periodically for existing players. The extra promotions and bonuses are usually given as free spins. 

Loyalty Rewards Scheme

Coral has a loyalty rewards scheme called VIP Coral. If you play frequently on the site, you get a membership to the VIP program which gives you access to special bonuses and promotions, a points system with lucrative prizes, and dedicated customer support, in case you need it.

The VIP Coral rewards work by collecting comp points for playing casino games and depositing funds into your account. You can exchange your comp points for cash prizes, bonuses, and access to special events.

As you collect more points, you climb up through the levels of membership - bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. The value and quality of the prizes increase as you progress through the levels. 

Payout Percentages

In terms of payout percentages or return to player (RTP) rates, Coral scores pretty highly. The payout percentages of most of their slots are above 95%, with two slots games, Ocean Princess and Ugga Bugga, set at an RTP of more than 99%, which is about as high as you can get and makes them an exceptionally good value over the long run.

So, if you’re looking for a good chance of decent winnings over the long term, then Coral casino comes highly recommended.

Coral Casino Mobile App

Coral offers a single app for both the sports betting side of the business and the casino. The app is beautifully designed, both in terms of design and the user interface which is exceptionally easy to use.

The casino section of the app gives you access to all the games that feature on the website, including the full range of slots games and traditional casino table games.

You can download the Coral Sports and Casino app for Android devices from the Google Play Store where it has a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5, after 2790 reviews.

You can download the Coral Sports and Casino app for iOS from the Apple Store where it has a rating of 3.3 stars out of 5, with 1657 reviews.

Coral Online Poker 

Coral Poker is one of the best online poker sites available right now, especially since it moved to software provided by the well-known, trusted, and respected PartyPoker network in 2020. Before that Coral Poker was powered by iPoker.

The software at Coral Poker is nothing short of fantastic, with clean, clear graphics and fast animation and gameplay to make the poker playing experience smooth, fun, and exciting. 

Coral Poker offers a good range of poker games including Texas Hold ‘Em, Omaha, and Omaha Hi-Lo Split. There are dozens of cash games running at various stakes, as well as hundreds of daily tournaments with a good range of low, medium, and high buy-ins. You can also play Sit & Go Jackpot games known as “Spins”. Spins are fast-paced three-player mini-tournaments that give you the opportunity to win big amounts with relatively small buy-ins.

The rake, which is the fee charged by Coral on cash games and tournaments, is in line with most other big online poker rooms. The rake is set at 5% on all cash games but is capped at different amounts depending on the stakes. Tournament fees range between 6% and 10% of the buy-in amount. Spins are raked between 4% and 8%.

The nice thing about Coral Poker is that there are always plenty of players online, which is important for a poker room as you are playing against other real people rather than the house (casino). 

The Coral Poker welcome bonus is generous with free tournament tickets and cash bonuses on offer. There is also a loyalty rewards scheme that offers players further bonuses and prizes the more they play on the site.

The Coral Poker mobile app is second to none with all the features that you can find on the desktop version. The software is excellent and makes playing poker on your mobile device a real treat.

Coral Online Bingo

Coral offers a lively and varied online bingo experience. The great thing about Coral Bingo is the range of games and the large number of bingo rooms that are available. If you love bingo, you’ll love Coral bingo.

Even at quiet times of the day, you’ll find hundreds of people playing in the various online bingo rooms, which allow you to chat with other players, so you get a social experience as well as the excitement of potentially winning a bit of money. In fact, you can win more than just ‘a bit’ of money as there are some big jackpots up for grabs on Coral Bingo, with some bingo jackpots that are upwards of €5,000 or €10,000!

You can play games such as Arena bingo, Bargain bingo, Boost bingo, Bingo Beats, as well as themed bingo games such as Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Friends, and Deal or No Deal. You can also choose from different levels of bingo such as 30-ball, 75-ball, 80-ball, and 90-ball, depending on your preference. 

One of the unique features at Coral Bingo is the cash-out bingo that borrows the cash-out feature of sports betting and allows you to opt for guaranteed cash winnings when you have one number left to get, just before getting a full-house. Coral gives you 20 seconds to decide whether to take the guaranteed win there and then, or carry on to see if you can get a full-house before anyone else and scoop a bigger prize.

As you can probably tell, there is so much variety on offer at Coral Bingo and a thriving community to socialise with, that it’s unlikely you’ll ever get bored.

As well as playing directly from your PC desktop, you can also download a Coral Bingo app for your mobile device, which works well and easy-to-use.

Coral Customer Support

Coral’s customer support is very good, with agents available 24/7 to quickly resolve any issues. To contact customer support services at Coral Sports and Casino, there are four options:

• Live Chat - You can use the chat feature that is built into the customer support section of their website and it is available 24/7.
• Telephone - You can contact them 24/7 on the following number: +44(0) 208 507 5544
• Email - You can message Coral customer support team at help@coral.co.uk
• Direct messaging - When logged into your customer account through a browser or the mobile app, you can use the internal messaging system to contact support directly.

Payment & Withdrawal Methods

There are several ways to deposit real money funds into your Coral account, including debit cards, instant banking, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, EcoCard, PaySafeCard, UKash, and ClickandBuy. The minimum deposit varies between €5 and €20, depending on your chosen method. Coral is one of the few online gambling sites that accept €5 minimum deposits with most opting for €10.

Withdrawals at Coral Sports and Casino can be processed using debit cards, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, EcoCard, instant banking, ClickandBuy or direct bank transfer.