Tote Placepot Explained
A quick and easy guide to Tote Placepot betting, and all the bookmakers in the UK that offer tote placepots, and other tote betting types.
Placepot Betting Explained
A Placepot, also known as a Tote Placepot, is one of the most popular pool bets on horse racing betting sites, as this type of bet offers punters a chance to win large payouts from relatively small stakes.
Tote betting is a pool betting system, which collects the total amount staked on a particular type of bet & race. The total stake then goes into a prize pool which is shared amongst the winners after deductions are made.
To win on the Tote Placepot, punters will need to correctly pick a horse to place in each of the six chosen races. You can pick any number of horses from each race, but the more horses you add, the more the bet costs.
The most famous Tote is the Scoop 6, which is a once-a-week horse racing betting pool that runs every Saturday, and occasionally on Friday evenings.
History of Tote Betting
Tote is a British bookmaker that was founded back in 1928 by the UK government, to provide a safe alternative to illegal off-course bookmakers.
Under the brand Totesport, Tote had over 500 betting shops and was the only organisation in the UK allowed to run pool betting on horse racing up until 2008. Tote was then sold to Betfred in July 2011, but it changed hands again in October 2019 as UK Tote Group took over.
Now, Tote betting is accepted in thousands of betting shops across the UK and several online bookmakers.
How to Place a Tote Placepot Bet
Most of the top UK bookmakers will have a section dedicated to Tote betting. Here you can find all of the day's meetings that offer toteplacepot bets, and other tote betting types.
In Tote Placepot, you can choose more than one horse from each race, but, you will have to pay for every line within the bet. For example, if you choose 3 selections in Race 1, 1 selection in races 2-5 and 2 selections in Race 6, the total number of lines would equal 6 (3 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 2 = 6).
To pay for this bet, you would need to pay 6 times the unit stake of the bet. If this was £1, your overall stake would be £6. Most bookmakers accept a minimum overall stake of £1. If there are 10 lines in a Placepot, the unit stake can be as low as £0.10.
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Choose a Bookmaker With Tote Betting
In order to place a Placepot bet, you will need to choose a bookmaker that offers Tote betting, such as William Hill or Betfred. If you are unsure about which bookmaker to use, we have listed a few options at the bottom of this page. We decided to go with William Hill for our test.
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Pick ‘toteplacepot’ From the Bet Types List
In the Tote section of William Hill, you will first have to choose a bet type to get started, so opt for 'toteplacepot' in the dropdown list. Here you will also find the other Tote options that William Hill offers.
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Choose the Preferred Meeting
Next, you will have to pick the meeting that you would like to bet on, with William Hill listing the eligible ones for Tote betting.
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Pick Your Selections
In each of the six legs of the meeting, you will have to pick at least one runner to place in the race.
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Enter Stake and tap 'Place Bet'
Finally, to finish the process, enter your stake and tap 'Place Bet'. Remember that your total stake depends on the number of selections picked in each leg.
Deductions
Winnings are calculated by dividing the total stakes in a pool (minus deductions %) by the number of winning tickets. The dividend is paid to the pound, so you get the amount listed in the dividend for every pound you staked.
For example, at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival, one punter managed to land £182,567.80 off a £2 Placepot. The total amount in the pool was £958,481,10, and it was shared by just 10.50 winning tickets. This gave a dividend of £91,283.10 to a £1 stake, giving the punter a massive £182,567.80 off a £2 Placepot.
The deduction percentages for the prize pools vary depending on which bookie you use. For example, William Hill deducts 27% of the final pool amount. When Betfred owned Totesport, they took 28% of the final pool amount.
William Hill's deduction percentages:
Bookmakers That Offer Tote Placepot Bets
You can find a wide variety of Tote betting pools on these bookmakers, including totepool, totequadpot, toteplacepot, and totejackpot.
| Operator | Welcome Offer | Bonus Code | Claim Offer | |
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 | Welcome Offer Bet £10 Get £50 in Free Bets | BETFRED50 | Claim Offer | New customers only. Register (excl 05/04/25), deposit with Debit Card, and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility exclusions & T&Cs Apply. |
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 | Welcome Offer Bet £10 Get £20 in Free Bets | No code required | Claim Offer | 18+. New UK customers (Excluding NI) only. Mobile exclusive. Min Deposit £10. Min stake £10. Min odds Evs. Free bet applied on 1st settlement of any qualifying bet. 30 days to qualify. Free bets expire in 7 days. Cashed out/Free Bets won’t apply. Account & Payment method restrictions apply. 1 Free Bet offer per customer, household & IP Address only. |
Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis.