Tote Placepot explained: How the Placepot works

Betting on the Tote is different to placing a bet with a conventional bookmaker, as your bet isn’t against the operator, rather an attempt to win a percentage of a shared pool. The size of the pool is stipulated by the number of punters placing bets, rather than the individual odds.

How does the Tote Placepot work?

A placepot is a Tote pool bet wherein you select a horse to place in each of the first six races of a card and all winning bets share a percentage of the total pool, with the operator taking a percentage. Big dividends are usually generated when favourites fail to place, as there are fewer winning tickets with which to share the pool, rather than due to the actual price.

How many places count in each Placepot leg?

There are fixed rules and formulas for deciding how many places count in a placepot and below we’ve included a table to make things clear and concise. It’s important to note that extra places on offer with conventional bookmakers do not apply.

How much does a Placepot cost?

The basic formula is the number of selections for each leg multiplied together, times the unit stake. Below we have included an example of how the calculation is worked out.

Number of selections per leg:

Leg 1 (three selections), Leg 2 (two selections), Leg 3 (one selection), Leg 4 (three selections), Leg 5 (two selections) and Leg 6 (one selection) = 36 lines

Multiply by your unit stake:

The next step is to multiply the total number of lines by your unit stake per line (e.g. 10p, 50p, or £1). 36 lines x 50p = £18 stake.

What happens to a non-runner in a Placepot?

Non-runners in a placepot are replaced by the SP favourite, which differs from conventional betting, which would result in the bet being voided. In the case of there being joint or co-favourites, the runner with the lowest saddle cloth number is selected instead. The downside is that non-runners can impact the number of places on offer for each leg.

How are the dividends calculated?

(Pool x return percentage) ÷ total winning units = return for a £1 stake. 

The Tote takes a percentage out of the pool (for example, 27%) and the remainder is shared out between the winning tickets. There could in theory be a pool size of £1,000,000 for major events like the Cheltenham Festival or the Grand National Festival so here’s an example.

Tote would take £270,000 out, which leaves the participants with a pool of £730,000 to take a share of. 1000 winning units would result in a dividend of £730 for a £1 stake. Those staking 10p or 50p per line would receive 50% or 10% of that total, per successful line.

How can you improve your Placepot chances?

Successful strategies include banking on one well fancied horse in the strongest legs, while picking numerous selections in the big-field handicaps with more factors to consider. Take on the short-priced favourites when the form isn’t much to shout about. Using the unnamed favourite option when you can’t decide can help but no strategy can guarantee a return.

How does the Placepot compare with the Quadpot?

The Placepot requires you to make selections in races one to six, whereas the Quadpot is a shortened version and you only pick runners for races three, four, five and six. Obviously the latter costs less to place per line but the dividends are much smaller as a result.

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