What Is a Tote Placepot? A Simple Guide for Beginners

Contents

Introduction/Overview

OK let’s start with the very basics of understanding what the Placepot is, and even before that looking at what the Tote is, who runs it, who profits from it and the fundamental question of whether we can make a profit from betting on the Tote.

The original Totalisator was introduced at Randwick in Australia back in 1917, a contraption resembling an early form of computer that calculated all bets placed and divided the pool amongst those who had winning tickets. So, if 100 punters bet £10 each there is £1000 in the pool. If 50 of those pick the winner, the £1000 pot is divided equally and they get £20 each, the equivalent of an even money chance. Simple enough? In its purest form it really is no different to playing the lottery, however when placing a bet on the outcome of a horse race you are using your judgement and not randomly selected numbers. Therefore with good judgement it is perfectly possible to make long term profits from betting on the Tote.

The inventors of the Totalisator knew they were onto a good thing, because before they shared out the winnings they took a share of the pool, ensuring a guaranteed profit on every race regardless of the outcome. The UK government cottoned on to this and in 1928 Winston Churchill introduced the “Tote”, as it had become known, to the British public. This was a pretty lawless time for bookmaking, long before betting shops had been introduced, and punters felt assured they were betting in safe hands. And at the same time the government were making a guaranteed profit.

Over the past century the Tote has evolved into an organisation that offers a wide range of bets, some more speculative than others. To many the placepot is seen as a fun bet with a potentially decent return to small stakes if you’re having a day at the races. However plenty of serious punters see it as a serious profit making opportunity, so let’s have a look at how we can use it as part of a regular strategy.

Understanding the Tote Placepot Bet

What Is a Tote Placepot?

One of the most popular and straightforward bets with the Tote is the Placepot. Simply select a horse that you think will place in each of the first 6 races at any meeting. Essentially it is a place only accumulator, but unlike conventional bookmakers you cannot take a price or SP, the winning tickets are shared from the pool, ie the total amount placed in bets. All stakes are collected in the pool and the winning tickets are divided accordingly. The “take out” ie the amount deducted from the pool before dividends are paid, is 27%. This means that for every £100 staked £73 is shared between winners. At least 1 placepot every day usually pays £100+, and quite often they pay £500+. For example at this year’s Grand National meeting a dividend of £1273.80 was paid to £1 stake. On Wednesday 9th April at Catterick, it paid £5,802. So even at small midweek meetings it’s possible to identify good opportunities.

How the Tote Placepot Differs from Other Tote Bets

The original accumulator Tote bet was the Jackpot, whereby you need to find the winner of the first 6 races at the meeting, a daunting task that has produced some spectacular returns. The Placepot allows you back selections that you consider to have a good chance of placing, the returns are usually less than the Jackpot but in looking for horses to place your task should be more straightforward.

Why the Tote Placepot Is Popular Among Bettors

Many punters favour the Placepot because although the returns are generally lower than the Jackpot, it is fair to assume that every horse has a better chance of placing than winning. If you like identifying longer priced horses this may be a profitable addition to your strategy. Conversely, in the right circumstances backing the favourite or other short priced runners to place in 6 races is worth considering.

To many punters the Placepot is a fun and speculative bet, but to many serious punters it is part of a strategy designed to show long term profit.

How Does the Tote Placepot Work?

The Basics of Placing a Tote Placepot Bet

This is very simple, you choose a horse (or horses which we’ll come back to later) to place in the first six races at every meeting. Basically, it’s a place only accumulator. The number of places that pay are similar to each way betting:

2 – 4 runners = 1st

5 – 7 runners = 1st & 2nd

8 – 15 runners = 1st, 2nd & 3rd

Non-handicap of 16 or more runners = 1st, 2nd & 3rd

Handicap of 16 or more runners = 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th

Winnings are calculated based on £1 stake but that doesn’t mean you can only bet £1, you can bet many combinations or permutations at a minimum of 1p per line or 50p in total, which we’ll cover shortly.

How Many Races Are Included?

The Placepot is based on the first 6 races at every race meeting in the UK and Ireland.

What Happens If My Selection Does Not Place?

If your horse does not place, regardless of whether it’s the first or last race, your bet is lost.

What Happens If a Horse Is a Non-Runner?

If you are betting the placepot online and your selection is a non-runner then it will automatically erase that horse from the race. If your selection becomes a non-runner after your bet has been placed then you will always revert to the SP favourite in the race. In the case of Joint or Co favourites, you will have the horse with the lowest racecard number. This rule also applies if you decide to choose the unnamed favourite as your selection in the race.

Tote Placepot Rules & Payouts

How Winnings Are Calculated

Quite simply, the winnings are calculated thus:

All bets placed go into the pool, 27% is deducted and the remainder is divided amongst the winners based on a £1 stake. At this year’s National meeting the total fund (after the take out) was £503,748, a dividend of £1273.80 was paid to 395.48 winners. Those sums don’t add up – right? That’s because somebody might have a 10p winning line that pays £127.38 and someone else a £2 line that pays £2547.60. 

Minimum & Maximum Stakes for Betting

The minimum stake per line is 1p, winnings are based on a £1 stake so if your 6 selections all place you’ll receive 1% of the dividend. The minimum stake per slip is 50p, there is no maximum stake.

What Happens If No One Wins

If the placepot is not won at a meeting it is normally rolled over to the following day, it may pay to keep your eye on this scenario as the pool is likely to be larger.

Best Strategies for Tote Placepot Betting

How to Choose Your Selections Wisely

Ahhh, deciding which horse is going to win a race – something you’ve undoubtedly wrestled with countless times. When it comes to the Placepot your mindset has to change, you see you are not looking for the most likely winner of the race, you’re trying to find a runner, or runners, that are likely to place. The obvious starting point is the favourite and those near the top of the market, a perfectly reasonable assumption. The problem here is that the majority of punters are doing exactly the same thing and the Placepot pays its biggest dividends when fancied runners aren’t placed and the pool is shared between fewer winning tickets.

You are most likely to get a large pay out when one or more favourites do not make the frame, as with every other type of betting most punters will follow the market. If you can identify false favourites, and/or fancied horses you think unlikely to place, you potentially have the chance of a decent pay out.

It’s perfectly possible to bet the unnamed favourite in each race and on occasions that’s a legitimate starting point. Having analyzed each race you may decide that in small fields on decent ground every favourite has a decent chance of winning, let alone placing. If you can’t pick any holes in their chances then a simple one line bet could pay a reasonable dividend. But as with every other strategy we all know it’s not that straightforward.

The key to selection is to look for horses that run consistently, your mindset needs to veer from trying to find the winner at a value price to identifying horses that are likely to place. You may be put off backing horse to win with form of 223432, it may lack pace or determination, but consistent types like this are ideal for the Placepot. Similarly, avoid short price runners with form of 102100, this is the type you can look to eliminate from calculations when choosing your selections.

The Role of Race Form & Statistics

The obvious place to start is the Race Advisor Ratings. Without referring to the betting market, look for horses that have produced a good rating under today’s conditions, and just as importantly put a line through inconsistent or out of form and unfit runners. Ignoring the order of the racecard, start with races where plenty of information is available, where the Race Advisor Ratings have plenty to go on and are therefore most reliable and accurate. You should be able to narrow the field down to 2 or 3 runners that you consider to have a good chance of placing, regardless of the odds. In races such as the Stewards Cup or the Festival Handicaps this is a much more onerous task, and although the dividends are potentially much more rewarding it will require hours of study at meetings where all 6 races are very competitive. That said, if you think 3 or 4 of Mullins runners in different races are potential bankers you may well have an edge.

The challenge here is you are trying to identify selections in the type of race you may not ordinarily favour: 2 year old maidens, 20 runner sprint handicaps, bumpers, we all have races we tend to avoid. This is where multiple selections, or permutations, enter the equation.

Spreading Risk with Multiple Selections

Spreading risk, or using permutations (perms) is the strategy serious Placepot punters will utilise. Taking the previous example, if Mullins has three hot favourites on any day at the Festival, they are our bankers for the day, we can now concentrate on narrowing down the field in the other three races.

Let’s imagine we put the  Mullins horses in the first three races and in the other three consider there are three runners that have a good chance of placing, the perm is calculated thus:

1 x 1 x 1 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 27 lines.

We might change it to:

1 x 1 x 1 x 2 x 4 x 3 = 24 lines.

To coin the phrase, the permutations are endless.

The Placepot winnings will be calculated to a £1 stake, so by all means stake £27. However you can stake as little as 1p a line so if your perm was:

2 x 3 x 4 x 3 x 3 x 2 = 432 lines

Your stake can be as little as £4.32 or as much as £432. Indeed in all cases if you are very confident you can place the same bet as many times as you wish, a £10 line pays ten times the dividend.

Using Banker Selections to Optimize Bets

An ideal Placepot opportunity will involve two, or ideally three bankers (remember these are horses you are confident of placing, not winning) and perming the other three races with more than one selection. So in deciding if a meeting looks suitable for a serious approach the Placepot, the first step is to look at races where you consider a runner has a good chance of placing. Remember you are not trying to find the winner, the second favourite at reasonably short odds in a field of 8-10 runners is a good example of a runner you might not choose to back to win on it’s own but is ideal for the Placepot.

Look for consistent horses, suited to the conditions, high in the Race Advisor ratings in the other races. That sounds too obvious, but often you’ll ignore these type of horses because you don;’t think they’ll win. Plenty run into a place at decent prices, if you can perm two or three of these in races combined with a couple of bankers you have a chance of a decent payout for a relatively small outlay.

In putting together a solid Placepot, start with the favourite and other short price runners: use the bullet proof ones as bankers and look to oppose others, perming 2 or 3 longer priced horses with a decent chance of making the frame.

Common Tote Placepot Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Not Researching Horses & Jockeys

A mate of mine never backs a Ryan Moore mount each way, he claims that despite him putting every horse he rides into the race with a chance, once that chance has gone he eases off. Only the jockey can confirm the veracity of my friend’s assertion. The point being, virtually all of Moore’s mounts are overbet, meaning for both win and place purposes they go off at shorter prices than they should. In the earlier example of the big payout at Catterick, in two of the six races all of the placed horses were double figure prices. Consequently those who concentrate on shorter priced selections were knocked out meaning fewer winning tickets.

Therefore it can pay to identify hungry jockeys determined to gain the best placing for their rides in order to impress connections. Similarly, in races where you might not bet often such as maiden races, check out the trainers record – are they having three quiet runs in order to gain a decent handicap rating? For example  I wouldn’t be in a rush to put a Sir Mark Prescott unraced 2 year old in my placepot. As with every other process, look to eliminate runners before arriving at your selection(s) and not the other way round.

In valuable races, usually non handicaps, don’t be put off by smaller yards hoping their horses run into a place in order to gain valuable place money. This can throw up decent price placed horses.

Ignoring Race Conditions & Track Bias

A while back, a well known and successful punter made some good money backing forecast permutations from favourably drawn horses at certain tracks. There are very few secrets in terms of track and draw bias these days, and for instance in races at Chester it’s not too difficult to discount the chances of plenty of runners in decent sized fields. Perming three or four well drawn horses, assuming they are near the top of the Race Advisor Ratings, is a logical place to start and consistently throws up long priced placed horses.

Conversely, poorly drawn but well handicapped horses can run into a place from a poor draw, so don’t be rigid in your selections.

Overcomplicating Selections with Too Many Permutations

Let’s imagine you decide you want to put horses in each race in your Placepot

2 x 2  x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64 bets.

You may think you have a decent chance of winning. The average Placepot in 2023 was £466, the equivalent of a return of just over 6/1. You may consider that to be perfectly acceptable but remember you are studying 6 races in some depth. 

Every time you add a runner to your perm although you increase your chances you reduce the potential odds in the same way as when you are coupling or “dutching”. In order to maximise both profits and opportunities of winning, concentrate on meetings where you can find at least two place bankers.

1 x 1 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 = 24 bets.

Taking the average payout of £466 your return is now slightly better than 18/1. A couple of things to consider: how often do you back 18/1 winners? And if you placed the above perm at 18 meetings of your choice how often do you think you’d collect? With patience and scrutiny you could be on the way to a steady profit. 

Tote Placepot vs. Other Pool Bets

Tote Placepot vs. Tote Jackpot – Whatʼs the Difference?

This is very straightforward: to win the Jackpot you need to find the winner of 6 races, to win the Placepot your selection needs only to place. Needless to say, the Jackpot dividends are much higher, but the same permutation opportunities exist.

Tote Placepot vs. Scoop6 – Which Is Better for You?

The Scoop6 is another very popular Tote bet, held every Saturday over 6 selected races (usually televised) the pool frequently goes over £1 million. The stake is £2, once again there’s no reason why you can’t make multiple selections, making this a really popular bet amongst weekend punters. It’s probably not a medium for serious punters unless there is a rollover when syndicates will perm many horses in each race looking for a decent pay out. Indeed syndicates will also get involved in the Placepot when the size of the pool justifies it.

FAQs About Tote Placepot Betting

Can I Bet on the Tote Placepot Online?

Yes, open a Tote account or place the bet with many other online bookmakers.

How Are Tote Placepot Dividends Calculated?

The pool is divided among all winning tickets to a £1 stake, so if the pool (after deductions) is £5,000 and there are ten winners they receive £500 each. If you place a 10p perm, regardless of the number of selections, you’ll collect £50.

What Positions Count for a Winning Tote Placepot Bet?

As with all types of place betting, be mindful of the rules:

2 – 4 runners = 1st

5 – 7 runners = 1st & 2nd

8 – 15 runners = 1st, 2nd & 3rd

Non-handicap of 16 or more runners = 1st, 2nd & 3rd

Handicap of 16 or more runners = 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th

How Does the Tote Make Money?

Quite simply the Tote deducts 27% of all money staked before sharing out the winnings, which means 73% of the total money placed is divided amongst the winners.

Is Placepot a Good Bet?

To most punters the answer is a resounding NO!

The average bettor will struggle to identify a horse with a decent chance of placing in one race a day, let alone six, and if they did the price would be so prohibitive it would be pointless in the long run. But the fact that much of the Placepot pool comprises this mug money, it can present solid opportunities for punters determined to make steady and regular profits combined with the occasional big win.

In Summary

In an earlier blog “What Type of Punter Are You?”, we invited you to examine your modus operandi. The vast majority of punters lose money in the long term, for a number of different reasons. I’d bet a decent sum that an even bigger majority treat the Placepot as either a mug’s bet or something to have a couple of quid on at the races for a bit of fun. In that blog we discussed fun bets and eradicating them.

Serious punters can treat the Placepot as a potential source of oolong term profit – on days when the “shape” of races isn’t good due to short priced favourites, thus restricting what might be seen as your usual selection process, and at times when you fancy some outsiders that can be permed with shorter priced runners. As with every other type of bet you’re not going to win all the time, in fact it’s highly likely you’ll lose most of the time. But a sensible perm on the right sort of card can provide decent and ongoing profits.

When betting on the Tote Placepot most of the pool is made up of money from clueless punters hoping for a big win, sensible selections and a conservative perm can help you relieve them of their hard earned money!