Lads lures recreational punter with Best Odds Guaranteed boost

Ladbrokes is ramping-up its recreational customer charm offensive with the introduction of a price boost to the ever popular horseracing Best Odds Guaranteed bonus.

The bookmaker has tweaked the now ubiquitous offer and created Best Odds Guaranteed PLUS (BOG+), which sees the firm pay out at the next price up should a punter’s selection win at a higher SP than the price taken at bet placement.

For instance, if a customer backs a horse at 3/1 and the selection wins at 7/2, Ladbrokes will settle the bet at a boosted price of 4/1.

“This is a fantastic and ground breaking initiative and one which will give us significant differentiation in the crowded and sometimes stale market place,” Jessica Bridge, Ladbrokes PR manager, said.

The offer is available on mobile and web and on all UK and Ireland races to a maximum stake win stake of ?200 or ?200 each-way. BOG+ will not be applied to multiples.

The offer of BOG+ fits in with Ladbrokes CEO Jim Mullen’s plan to invest margin back into marketing as the operator looks to build its recreational customer base and attract punters of the “right value”.

BOG+ is also an offer which, in the main, should only reward the recreational punter with the more ‘shrewd’ racing bettors more likely to back a horse which subsequently shortens in the betting.

News of the new offer comes after the operator yesterday posted a 37% hike in Q1 digital revenues despite suffering heavy losses at the Cheltenham Festival.

Mullen described the Festival as the most competitive and aggressive he had ever witnessed and said there were instances where rivals had “abandoned bookmaking principles”.