Totepool Betting

Totepool betting is an alternative to traditional sports wagering, eliminating the idea of you betting against the bookmaker, where you are stuck with their fixed odds on horses or greyhounds. It is a popular method of placing a bet, both online and at outlets at nearly all of the racecourses in the UK.

How Totepool Betting Works

When you back a horse using Totepool betting, you are actually paying into a big prize pot. You don’t receive odds, because the payout is calculated by dividing the size of the pot, after the company deducts its commission or ‘takeout’, between the successful bets. If lots of people have backed a winning favourite, the payment, or ‘dividend’, will be smaller than if an outsider takes the victory and only a few people have bet on him.

Totepool winnings work a like a lottery or a sweepstake, although you have the advantage of being able to use skill and knowledge to pick a winning horse rather than relying on pure luck. Wins from Totepool bets can sometimes far exceed those made with traditional fixed odds, particularly on outsiders. However, you are at the mercy of how many other people also pick the winner and you can never guarantee the amount you will receive until the race has been run.

You will find the current expected dividend from a winning bet when you place your wager, but this could easily reduce in value if there is a rush of money placed on that runner before the race starts.

After the race is run, Totepool’s takeout is deducted from the prize pool and the remainder is divided by the number of stakes wagered on the winner. If you backed the right runner, you will receive a share that reflects your original stake. For instance, if there was £4,500 in the pool after deductions and 450 bettors backed the right horse, you would divide 4,500 by 450 to get £10 returned to winners for every £1 they bet. In this example, if you had £5 on the right horse, you’d receive £50 back.

Types of Totepool Bet

There are a host of bets on offer through Totepool.

• With Totewin you simply stake on the horse you think will win the race, receiving the dividend if you are correct.
• You can put down a Toteplace bet on any race with five or more runners. For races with between five and seven runners, you win if your selection comes first or second. With eight or more runners, your choice can come first, second or third, and in handicaps with 16 or more runners, you will receive a payment for your bet finishing in the first four.
• An Eachway bet is where you combine a Totewin and Toteplace bet, doubling your stake because you are making two wagers. You can place these bets on any race with five or more runners.
• Totepool selects six races every Saturday across the country as part of Scoop6. You receive the huge Win Fund for picking the six winners and the more modest Place Fund for picking six horses that place, according to the Toteplace rules. Anyone who picks all six winners also goes into the next week’s Bonus Fund competition, where they have to pick the winner of a selected bonus race to win a big cash prize.
• The Jackpot is a daily version of Scoop6, but only pays out to punters who back all six winners at meetings selected by Totepool.
• With Placepot, you must choose horses that place in each of the first six races at your chosen meeting. This type of bet is available on races at every course in the country.
• Quadpot is like Placepot but requires you to pick placed horses in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth races at a meeting. The payouts are generally lower than with Placepot.
• Picking the winner of three consecutive races at a selected meeting could help you win big with Totetreble. Totedouble is the same concept, but needs you to predict two consecutive races.
• Exacta requires you to pick the first and second runners in the right order. A reverse Exacta allows your choices to finish in either order, but the stake is doubled as that counts as two bets.
• If you go for a Trifecta, you must select the runners that finish first, second and third in the right order, with a reverse Trifecta allowing them to finish in any order with the first three, but costing you six times the stake due to the six possible combinations.
• A Swinger offers the chance to select two of the first three runners in any race with a field of six or more. They can finish in any place within the first three, in any order.
• A Quickpick works like a Lucky Dip on Lotto; pick the type of bet you want and the stake you’d like to put down and the computer picks the horse for you!