Ladbrokes' stroke of.... genius or madness?

At the time of writing, Ladbrokes have launched an astonishing 500% offer for all new customers. By depositing and betting a mere £5 on any bet this World Cup 'season', all punters are entitled to FOUR free £5 bets to spend as they see fit.

To me, this seems ludacris. God knows what's going through the minds of the Ladbrokes big-wigs when they sorted this deal out, but it surely can't pay off, can it? Even the least knowledgable or greediest of punters are bound to win most of their £5 deposit back in one of the five £5 bets they've placed due the offer. Those more tactical are sure to win more if their bets pay off.

With a current 7/1 for England to lift the World Cup this year, it's pretty safe to say that the majority of (British) punters will use this as one of their bets. Sticking with patriotic bets, a fair few of those betters will fancy Wayne Rooney as the cup's top scorer at a reasonable 9/1.

Those more cynical, or - if I must admit - clever, will no doubt be attracted by hotly-tipped favourites Spain and Brazil at 4/1 and 9/2 respectively, with David Villa a hot pick for top scorer at a respectable 8/1. Those more daring may pick for the likes of Robin Van Persie or long-shot Miroslav Klose to attain the golden boot, at 12/1 and 33/1 respectively. With both strikers hot on form for their token countries, it's not hard to see why they'd be kicking a fuss up this coming month.

With so many obvious, and a few rather more farfetched yet still extremely attractive bets on the table, for just one of a punter's five bets to come through a winner would enable them to claw back their deposit as well as a profit - however measly this may be. I simply can't see how Ladbrokes can pull this tactic off successfully. The only reason I can assume is long-term, with punters getting hooked into gambling post-World Cup and consequently placing bet after bet on losing teams in the coming days/months/years after the competition has finished.

Experienced punters or simply those with the awareness of rival betting shops in direct competition for consumers will be aware that numerous betting companies are offering lucrative offers for new customers. When I signed up to Betfair around six months ago, I was handed a £10 free bet which I placed on Rafael Nadal winning a French Open tennis match (played on court, where Nadal dominates). The bet pulled off, and I won a tidy some of money, however small. This World Cup however, I've switched to Ladbrokes for the time being simply for this offer. I've placed a fiver in my account, thrown it on Villa to claim the golden boot, and went on to place four different bets on mostly sure-fire winners for the tournament. However, what Ladbrokes possibly haven't considered is the fact that a good few "new" customers are already members of rival companies. After the World Cup, indeed a few may jump ship and proceed to put their money straight into Ladbrokes' huge pockets. However, I don't think I'm alone in being more than ready to revert straight back to my original bookies once the tournament is over and (hopefully) my winnings have been put straight into my bank account.

I really think Ladbrokes have shot themselves in the foot here, with a huge gamble foreseeably impossible to pull off. That said, good luck to them albeit however much they proceed to lose. I've read somewhere that more than £1bn is estimated to be placed on World Cup bets this June and July, with a fair share no doubt heading Ladbrokes' way. I sure hope, for Ladbrokes' sake, these bets fail or they can kiss goodbye to a very tidy sum of money this year.