A Closer Look At Tote Betting With Online Bookmakers 

Are your bookmakers' odds not appealing for your chosen win bet or each-way bet? Did you know that Tote Betting offers an alternative way to bet on a horse race? This post will examine everything you need to know about Tote Betting, what it is, the markets available and how the winnings are paid out.

But let’s begin by discovering where you can find Tote Betting online and which bookmakers offer this particular type of bet.

What is Tote Betting and Who Offers It?

Tote Betting is a form of horse racing bet that is an alternative to standard odds betting. Tote bets are available on races only, and on a select number of markets for that race, the Win Bet, Place Bet and Each Way Bet. 

Tote Betting began life as an on-course betting option, ostensibly an alternative to placing your bet with one of the bookmakers offering odds in the betting ring.

In the modern era, as many bookmakers began an online service or opened as an online-only bookmaker, such as bet365 Sport, Tote Betting became one of the options they could offer to customers wanting to bet on a horse race.

This means that Tote Betting markets are found at a large number of online bookmaking sites, including Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power, and online-only operators such as Bet365 Sport. 

Let’s now explain the differences between a standard bet with a bookmaker, compared to a Tote Bet.

Tote Betting vs. Standard Betting

The main difference between a Tote Bet and a Standard Bet is that with the Standard Bet, you are quoted odds for your selection, and your potential returns are worked out from those odds.

For example, if you backed the horse Best Rate at odds of 8/1 (9.00), then a £10 bet on this horse to win would offer potential returns of £90 (£80 in winnings, plus your £10 stake back). 

With Tote Betting, there are no stated odds for each selection (though some bookmakers may show current odds prices for each runner in a race as a guide to how much the pool is likely to pay out). When you place a Tote Bet, your money is placed into a pool of bets for that race, which increases in size with each bet made on that market.

Then, when the race is run and the result is known, everyone who backed the winner is paid a percentage of the total prize pool for that bet. The amount each individual wins is based on the size of each winning bet’s stake and how many other punters backed that horse as a winner.

Let’s explain this in more detail employing a simple example:

Tote Betting – A Simplified Example

A punter places a £5 tote bet on a horse to win a race with guide price odds of 8/1. Remember, in Tote Betting, these odds are used only as a guide and not to calculate your winnings. They are more of an indication of what you can expect as a winning return based on the amount of money in the Tote Prize Pool.

By the time the race starts, the bookmaker has collected £10,000 in total win bets on that race across all the different runners. This is the Tote prize pool for that bet on that race. 

As Tote bets can be made up until the race starts, the exact dividend payable on the race cannot be shown in advance and will only be calculated once the race has ended.

The punter’s selection then wins the race, meaning they win a proportionate share of the prize pool based on the size of their stake.

The proportion won from the Tote Prize pool is expressed as an equal share of the prize pool to a £1 stake. 

So, in the example above, let's say £1,000 in bets backed the horse to win. To work out the dividend per £1 staked, divide the total prize pool by the total amount staked on winning bets. In our simple example, this is £10,000 / 1,000 = £10.

That means for a £1 stake on that horse, an equal share of the Tote prize pool would be £10.

However, not every punter will have bet £1 on the horse. So the final part of the calculation is to work out your exact share of the prize pool. In the example above, our punter placed a £5 bet on the horse. So their total win would be 5 x the £1 dividend (which is £10 per £1 staked). 

Therefore, the punter would win £50 on the Tote. 

You will notice that the Tote return for that bet on a horse with odds of 8/1 paid out more than you would receive back with a similar £5 standard odds bet winning (£45). This is one of the benefits of Tote Betting, and we’ll explore this in more detail later in this post.

This is a very simplified example of how Tote Betting works. The number and size of bets and the prize pool for a race will involve much more complicated numbers and calculations. Additionally, Tote deducts its cut from the total prize pool before the final dividend is worked out after the race. 

However, dividing up the prize pool between the winning bets, in proportion to their stake bet, remains the same.

Types of Tote Betting Markets

Simple Tote Betting Markets

There are generally three popular types of simple Tote Betting markets you can back on a race. They are:

Tote Betting – Win Bet

A Tote Win bet is what it says on the tin. It is a bet on the horse winning the race. You will earn a share of the prize pool if your horse wins the race. 

Tote Betting – Place Bet

This is a bet on the horse finishing in one of the designated places for that race. For the Tote the places awarded a prize depend on the number of runners in a race.

• Four or fewer runners – No Place Betting accepted.
• 5-7 runners – Top two finishers
• 8+ runners – Top three finishers
• Handicap races with 16 runners or more – Top four finishers

As there are more options for a place bet with the Tote (your horse can finish in the top two, three or four, depending on the race), the guide price odds for this bet will be shorter than the win-only bet option.

Tote Betting – Each Way Bet

When tote betting, an Each Way bet combines the Win Bet and Place Bet. Half of your stake is placed on the Win Bet and half on the Place Bet.

As with the standard each-way bet, if your selection wins, both your bets pay out at the stated dividend amounts for each bet. If your selection only places, only the Place bet pays out. If your selection finishes outside the paying places, your bet loses.

Exotic Tote Bets

Many bookmakers offer several other Tote Bets, often grouped under the term “Exotics” in addition to the simple Tote Bets.

These bets often run across several races and combine many selections into a single bet, meaning that even a small initial bet can result in a high-value return, should your bet win. Some of these popular Exotics include:

• Tote Exacta – A bet which requires the bettor to select the horses that will come first and second in a race.
• Tote Trifecta – A similar bet to the Exacta, but this time the punter must select the horses that come first, second and third in a race.
• Tote Placepot – A multiple-selection bet where the punter must select a horse in each of the first six races of the meeting, all of whom must win or be placed in the result.
• Tote Quadpot – A similar bet to the above Placepot, but this is a bet on races 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the meeting, rather than the first six, but the aim of picking a horse to at least place in all four races remains the same.
• Tote Swinger – This is a more complicated bet on a single race where a punter can select two (or more) horses to finish in the first three to earn a share of the prize pool. Both horses must finish in the top three for this bet to win. The more horses you add to your Tote Swinger bet, the higher the value of your stake will be, as this increases the number of ways your bet can win.

The Pros and Cons of Tote Betting

Pros

• Tote betting offers various betting opportunities for single and multiple horse race selections.
• Payouts can be greater in value than standard odds bets, especially on longer odds selections that attract fewer backers in the Tote market. 
• There is a good choice of low-stakes/high-return betting options with the Tote.

Cons

• There are not as many options for punters with the Tote as for standard bet types.
• Payouts for selections that are shorter priced or favourites can pay out less than backing the horse in the standard odds market.
• You don’t know what the dividend for your bet will be until the race is completed.

Tote Betting – Conclusion

Tote betting is surprisingly simple to follow and offers customers a great option to their standard odds betting. It is widely available with online bookmakers, such as bet365 Sport, and often can offer punters more generous returns, especially on selections comprising of one or more long-odds runners. 

So, if you are a fan of horse racing, then adding Tote Betting to your arsenal is a wise move for any value-seeking punter!

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