What is the Tote?

The Tote was set up by the government in 1928 and is a form of “pool betting” which means that all bets placed on a race goes into a pool, which is then allocated to the winners equally.

What is it?

One of the most popular ways to bet on horse racing, particulary when at the races, but also now online. It is very different to traditional bookmakers and has a variety of poolson offer.

We will go into a bit more depth on these bets below.

How does it work?

The bookmakers market is affected by the amount of money placed on certain horses, which is manually adjusted by traders. The Tote works differently having the bets placed to win or place entering into a cumulative pool.

If the horse wins or is placed, that money is shared between the winning tickets in the same way that the Tote Placepot or Jackpot are shared.

Tote Bet Types

The Tote offers various bets;

  • Win & Place – Pretty sraightforward with little explanation required.
  • Exacta & Trifecta – The Tote version of a forecast or tricast bet, where you need to slecte the first tow or three to finiah in a race.
  • Placepot – To put it simply you need to select a horse or horses to place in each of the first 6 races and then winnings are dvided up between the winning tickets. Learn more here
  • Quadpot – Same as the placepot but only 4 races instead of 6. You cna read a bit more about that here
  • Jackpot – There is only 1 race meeting a day where you can bet on the Tote Jackpot and it works the same as the placepot but you have to select the winning horse in all of the first 6 races at the chose meeting.
  • Scoop6 – Works the same as the Tote Jackpot but there will be 6 races selected across different cards on a Saturday only.

Can I bet on Tote prices with a bookmaker?

Bookmakers will accept bets at Tote odds but this can be risky as Tote odds can change dramatically in a short space of time and you can’t guarantee odds or take a fixed price. Bets will be settled at the Tote odds when the race started. Often outsiders in a race can see big odds differences and can be worthwhile whereas it wouldn’t be uncommon to see a favourite go off considerably less that with the bookmakers. All in all you have much less control over odds with the Tote.