Paddy Power Review: Licence, Racing, GAA and the Small Print

Paddy Power is licensed in Ireland for betting: the GRAI register lists PPB Counterparty Services Limited, which trades as Paddy Power and Betfair, as a remote betting licensee from 11 August 2026. For an Irish punter that means a sportsbook answerable to a regulator at home. The casino and games side is another matter, and it is covered further down.

Below: what the licence covers, how the racing offer works, and which of the operator's own terms deserve more attention than its advertising gets.

The Paddy Power licence, read closely

Since 1 July 2026 any online bookmaker taking bets from people in Ireland needs a remote betting licence from the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. Paddy Power's is held by PPB Counterparty Services Limited; the register entry reads: GRAI remote betting licence GRAI-1003-RB-26-0001 (PPB Counterparty Services Limited), valid 2026-08-11 to 2029-08-10. Before the switch the same company held a remote bookmaker's licence from Revenue, which Revenue no longer issues.

Two points matter. First, the licence is for betting and nothing else. The GRAI has not issued a single gaming licence, and does not expect to start until early 2027, so the casino, slots and games under the Paddy Power name run on the operator's other licences, not an Irish one. Second, the licence holder is shared with Betfair's sportsbook, so a complaint about either goes to the same Irish regulator. Our licensing guide explains the register in more detail.

Who owns Paddy Power

The brand belongs to Flutter Entertainment plc, which also owns Betfair. The Betfair Exchange is licensed separately, as a remote betting intermediary, under Betfair International plc; the sportsbooks of both brands sit under PPB Counterparty Services Limited. In practice that means the two sportsbooks share a regulator and a parent, while prices, promotions and account rules are set brand by brand. Our Betfair review covers the exchange side.

Paddy Power horse racing betting

Racing is where the firm earns its place. The Paddy Power races markets are built around UK and Irish meetings, and the brand has sponsored the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival since 2020.

Best odds on UK and Irish racing

According to its help centre, Paddy Power offers BOG on UK and Irish racing as an opt-in concession: you switch it on, then a winning bet is settled at the starting price if the SP beats the price you took. Since 11 August 2026 the concession applies only to stakes at or above a minimum set out in those help pages, so a small-stakes punter should check before relying on it.

A worked example: EUR 10 to win at 4/1, the horse wins and returns an SP of 6/1. At the taken price the return is EUR 50; under BOG it is EUR 70. Had the SP drifted only to 7/2, you keep the 4/1 and the EUR 50. If the horse loses, the concession changes nothing. Our page on bookies offering BOG compares the conditions across licensed firms.

Horse racing today and results

People search for Paddy Power horse racing today and Paddy Power racing results today because the bookmaker's own racecards double as a form guide for many punters. Racecards and results are not unique to any bookmaker, though: official results come from the course and the starting prices are returned on course. Our racecards and results pages carry the day's feed without a betting slip attached.

GAA, rugby and golf

Plenty of Irish punters look for Paddy Power GAA, rugby and golf markets. Market depth for a club match or a URC fixture changes week to week, and we could not verify counts from the operator's own pages, so none are listed here. What holds generally: the inter-county championships, the four Irish provinces in the URC and the golf majors draw the widest markets, and lower-profile fixtures draw thin ones with bigger margins.

For GAA punters the 2026 football rules matter more than the bookie: a score from on or outside the 40m arc is worth two points, which is worth remembering when reading a total-points line.

The Paddy Power calculator question

A large share of searches ask for a Paddy Power calculator, bet calculator or odds calculator. We found no source confirming a stand-alone calculator from the operator, and the arithmetic does not depend on the bookmaker in any case. Our bet calculator handles singles, each-way bets and multiples in fractional odds.

An each-way example, settled the standard way: EUR 5 each-way (EUR 10 in total) at 8/1 in a non-handicap with eight runners, paying 1/5 the odds for three places. If the horse finishes second, the win half is lost and the place half is settled at 8/5: EUR 5 plus EUR 8, so EUR 13 back. If it wins, the win half returns EUR 45 and the place half EUR 13, so EUR 58 in all.

Games, casino and bingo under the Paddy Power name

Paddy Power runs a casino and a games product, with a separate Paddy Power Games app listed on Google Play for Ireland. None of it is covered by the GRAI licence, because no Irish gaming licence exists yet. We could not confirm which foreign licence covers Irish players on the games side, nor whether a live casino or Paddy Power bingo is currently open to Irish accounts. Until the operator's terms state that plainly, treat the games side as a separate product with a separate regulator.

Deposits and withdrawals

Promotion terms published by the operator name debit card, Apple Pay, Pay by Bank, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller and Paysafe among accepted methods. Credit cards are out for every licensee: section 165 of the 2024 Act, in force since February 2026, bans credit for gambling. The minimum deposit is and the stated withdrawal time is ; where either is blank, we had no confirmed figure. Some promotions exclude e-wallet deposits, so read the offer before choosing a method.

The app and the welcome offer

The sportsbook app is listed on the Irish App Store and on Google Play. Our Paddy Power app page sets out which app does what. The current new-customer deal, if one is live, reads: . We could not confirm a live offer on the date of this review, and the sign-up offer page explains how to read one when it appears.

Limits, time-outs and what is still to come

Licensees must let customers set monetary limits on remote gambling under section 164 of the Act, so Paddy Power has to offer deposit limits; each operator also runs its own self-exclusion. The National Gambling Exclusion Register, which will block a person across every licensed operator at once, is written into the Act but was not operating in October 2026. Until it is, self-exclusion has to be done bookmaker by bookmaker. Betting is for adults only, 18 and over, and our responsible gambling page lists Irish support services.

Verdict on Paddy Power for Irish punters

Our verdict is nap: the right licence, a broad racing book and an opt-in BOG worth switching on. Its form line is weakest on terms clarity: the minimum-stake rule on BOG and the exclusions in promotions are the kind of detail that sits in help pages rather than on the bet slip. Read them once and Paddy Power is a sound first account for an Irish punter. 18+ only.

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