Tote betting guide for beginners
The tote started operations back in 1928 with the main purpose of offering offer on-course pool betting on horseracing as an alternative to starting price betting with bookmakers. Tote betting remains popular on-course but these days you can also have a tote bet off-course in retail betting shops and with online bookmakers.
Tote betting works like this: all the money placed on tote bets goes into a pool. The tote deducts a proportion of the pool to cover its costs and the Tote's contribution to UK horse racing. The remaining sum of money in the pool is then divided by the number of winning tickets to give a dividend. Dividends are paid out to every £1 staked. So if the dividend were £25.00 and you had a £5 bet then your payout would be £125 (£25 x £5).
You can have a variety of tote bets including the following:
Tote Win Betting
The most popular form of horseracing betting is to select a horse to win. The horse you pick must beat all the other horses in the race. It's easy to keep a track of the payout you will receive if your horse wins as the tote pool updates on the tote screens (on-course or in the shops) every few seconds to show the payouts for each your selection.
You can place a win selection on any horse race in the UK. The minimum bet for a single selection is £2. To mark your selections you can do this in a number of ways, by race card number, horse name or un-named favourite.
Tote Place and Each Way Betting
To have a bet on a horse to be placed there must be a minimum of 5 runners. As there are races with different amounts of runners, the number of places that payout in a race varies with the number of runners.
- Up to 4 runners – place betting is not available
- 5, 6 or 7 runners – there are two place dividends (1-2)
- 8+ runners – there are three place dividends (1-2-3)
- 16+ runner handicaps – there are four or more place dividends (1-2-3-4)
The minimum place bet is £2.
Each-way betting is available on the tote (this bet combines a Totewin and a Toteplace bet) on races with 5 or more runners. If your selection wins then you have a win dividend and a place dividend.
Tote Placepot Betting
The tote Placepot has captured the imagination of the punting public and this is without doubt one of the most played tote bets. For those who wish to have an interest in the afternoons racing the Placepot provides the ideal bet to keep you involved throughout the day. There are Placepots each day at every British race meeting. The objective of the Placepot is to pick a placed horse in all 6 Placepot races at your selected meeting. The Placepot races are always races 1 - 6 unless otherwise stated.
Tote Jackpot Betting
The tote Jackpot is one of the most popular tote pool bets and comes from only one meeting each day (excluding Saturday when the focus moves to the Scoop6).
The objective is to pick the winners of all 6 Jackpot races at the Jackpot meeting. Obviously, this isn't easy and the big dividends paid on the Jackpot reflect that difficulty. The Jackpot is often not won and rolls over to the next meeting meaning that large pools can build up very quickly.
The Jackpot races are always the first 6 races on the card at the selected meeting. You must enter your selections before the first race and the payout or dividends are declared after the last Jackpot race.
If you just want to a single line (picking one selection in each of the 6 races) then the minimum stake is £1. If you wish to do a lot of combinations then a minimum stake of 50p is permitted, rising thereafter in multiples of 50p, providing a minimum total of £1 is staked.
Tote Quadpot Betting
With the Quadpot you select a horse to be placed in each of the last four Placepot races of any single Placepot meeting. Many Placepot punters use the Quadpot when their go Placepot goes down. The Quadpot races are always races 3 - 6 unless otherwise stated.
Tote Exacta Betting
The Straight Exacta is better known as a forecast where you try and select the winner and the second in the correct order. The minimum stake for single entries is £2, rising thereafter in multiples of 10p. Un-named selections (e.g. the favourite) are not accepted in Exacta bets. A bet containing a non-runner will be void.
The Combination Exacta is better known as a reverse forecast which allows you to select the first and second horse in any order. The minimum bet stake for this type of bet is 10p rising in multiples thereafter of 10p provided a minimum of £2 is staked. Within the Combination any individual Exacta bet containing a non-runner will be void but the others will stand.
The Banker Exacta requires you to select the winner and allows you to make multiple selections any of which may finish second. Within the Banker combinations any individual Exacta bet containing a non-runner will be void but the others will stand. The minimum stake is 10p, rising in multiples thereafter of 10p, provided a minimum of £2 is staked.
Tote Trifecta Bets
Some punters like a real challenge and the tote Trifecta provides it. You must select 3 horses to finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the correct order. It's difficult but the payouts are usually very good to those punters who manage it. Trifecta races are usually chosen on races of 8 or more runners.
There are a few variations of the Trifecta Bets – Straight, Combination or Win Banker.
A Straight Trifecta bet means you must select the first, second and third horses in the correct order. Single entries are accepted with a minimum unit stake of £2, rising thereafter in multiples of 10p. Permutation entries are accepted with a minimum unit stake of 10p rising in multiples thereafter of 10p provided a minimum of £2 is staked. Returns
A Combination Trifecta bet is a little easier in that it requires you to select the first, second and third horse in any order in a Trifecta race. Any number of horses from 3 upwards may be selected. The amount you need to place on combination entries are accepted with a minimum unit stake of 10p rising in multiples thereafter of 10p provided a minimum of £2 is staked
The Banker Trifecta bet is a nice variation on this bet type in that it requires you to select the winner of a Trifecta race and allows you to make multiple selections for which you think will finish second and third. The amount require to place a bet on a Banker Trifecta are accepted with a minimum unit stake of 10p for combinations, rising in multiples thereafter of 10p, provided a minimum of £2 is staked.
Tote Scoop6 Betting
Probably the most publicised tote bet. 100,000 people worldwide play every week. Details of the six nominated races are printed in all UK Saturday morning national newspapers, and get a mention on the Channel 4 racing programme: The Morning Line, with all the show's presenters giving tips for the Scoop 6 races. It costs just £2 to play when you select a single horse in each race – though you can opt to increase your chances of winning by picking more than one horse in each race.
The Scoop6 bet runs on Saturday's and the objective is to select a horse to win or be placed in each of six nominated televised Saturday races. Quite often the win fund is not won and rolls over to the following weekend. It's not that unusual for winners to go home with £250,000+. Ron Nicholson of Bournemouth 'scooped' £878,939 for a £4 stake in April 2004.
There is also a bonus fund. The winner of the Scoop 6 has the opportunity to select the winner of the most difficult race on the following Saturday – and this bonus fund can also be very substantial.
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