What Are Tote Bets?

The Tote Placepot is probably the best-known Tote bet and is available at meetings throughout the UK.

To win the Placepot, you need to select a horse to be placed in each of the first 6 races at that meeting. Your return depends on the final declared dividend to a £1 stake.

You can perm your bet by taking more than one horse in any race, but the number of lines increases quickly.

Examples:

• 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64 lines
• 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 729 lines
• 2 x 1 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 2 = 48 lines

If you play 64 lines at £1 per line, the total stake is £64. If you play them at 10p per line, the total stake is £6.40.

The Quadpot works in a very similar way to the Placepot, but instead of covering the first 6 races, it covers 4 races only – usually races 3 to 6 on the card.

You need to select a placed horse in each of those 4 races.

Because it covers fewer races, it is generally easier to land than a Placepot, but the dividend is often smaller as a result.

It is a popular option for punters who want a lower-cost pool bet while still keeping an interest across several races.

The Tote Jackpot is one of the more demanding pool bets because you need to find the winner of the first 6 races at the designated meeting.

It works much like the Placepot in terms of staking and permutations, but the difficulty is much greater because placed horses do not count – only winners.

There is usually just one Jackpot meeting on a given day, and if nobody wins the pool, it can roll over to the next qualifying meeting. That is why the Tote Jackpot can sometimes build into a very attractive prize pool.

The Scoop6 is one of the biggest Tote bets and usually takes place on selected Saturdays, often across major races.

To land the full Scoop6, you need to pick the winner of all 6 selected races. Because of the difficulty, the pool can become very large and often generates a lot of attention.

There are also associated place and bonus elements depending on the specific Tote rules in place at the time, but the core idea is simple: find all 6 winners and you are in line for the biggest share of the pool.

This is a high-risk, high-reward bet and is often played in syndicates or with perms to cover more runners.

Tote Win
A straight win bet into the Tote pool. Your horse must win, and your return depends on the final declared win dividend.

Tote Place
A straight place bet into the Tote pool. Your horse must finish in the required places, and the dividend is based on the place pool.

Tote Exacta
You need to pick the first 2 horses home in the correct order. Similar to a straight forecast, but settled as a Tote pool bet.

Tote Trifecta
You need to pick the first 3 horses home in the correct order. Difficult to hit, but capable of returning sizeable dividends when the right race shape sets up.

With Tote multi-race bets such as the Placepot, Quadpot and Jackpot, non-runners are handled differently from normal bookmaker bets.

If one of your selections becomes a non-runner, the Tote normally substitutes that horse with the starting price favourite for that race. If there is joint favouritism, the Tote applies its own rules to determine the substitute.

This is an important rule to understand because it means your ticket stays alive, even if one of your selected horses does not run.

As always, it is worth checking the Tote rules on the day if you are playing into larger pools or special promotions.