Your guide to betting with the Tote

Unlike racecourse bookmakers who offer you odds – or prices – for betting on each horse in a race, the Tote offers you a pool bet. This means the betting stakes on a given race are pooled together and, like a lottery, is then shared out among customers with winning tickets.

The Tote has a minimum bet of just £2 and accepts cash and card across all courses making it one of the most convenient ways to place a bet on-course.

Betting with the Tote at oncourse supports racing, with most of the revenue flowing back to the individual racecourse. So, by choosing to bet with the Tote, you can do so knowing that racing is benefiting too.

TOTE BETS

Win and each way (win and place) bets are very popular with customers. However, you may also try to win more with an exacta, where you need to pick the first two in the correct order.

It wouldn’t be a raceday without a Placepot.
One of the most famous tote bets is the placepot which rewards customers who can pick a horse to place in each of the first 6 races. It’s a chance to win big from a small stake and at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival this year, one racecourse customer won more than £182,000 to a £2 stake!
To take part, just fill in a Placepot slip at any Tote kiosk and hand it to a member of the team. 
Just remember, to join in, you need to do your placepot before Race 1.

LUCKY PICK

A ‘lucky pick’ bet, is the easiest way to bet on-course. Similar to the lucky dip on the National Lottery, the lucky pick is designed to be smart as it uses a special formula which is weighted towards the more likely outcomes in an event. You can ask for an individual lucky pick bet on any bet type. So, you could get a lucky pick placepot at the start of the day and ask for lucky pick win bets on any race. 
You can also buy lucky pick wallets, which give you a selection of bets for £5, £10, £15 or £20 wallets. 
There are two types of lucky pick wallets. Meeting wallets are sold before race 1 and include some bets that lasts for the whole day (such as the placepot). Race specific wallets are specific to one race. 
You can ask for a lucky pick at any Tote kiosk or team member on-course.