One of the ways that the Tote differs from traditional bookmakers is the way your winnings are calculated.
How are your winnings calculated with Tote?
Traditionally, your Tote payout has been determined by three things:
- How much money there is in the pool
- How popular the winning selection is
- Tote's cut for operating the pool
So, for example, there's £10,000 that's staked on a win pool. £5,000 has been staked on Horse 1, £3,000 on Horse 2 and £2,000 on Horse 3. Once Tote has taken its cut, there's £8,075 to play for.
Horse 3 wins and so the payout is calculated by dividing the pool by the total stakes on the horse.
This is then rounded down to the nearest 10p to give a final dividend:
£8,075/£2000 = £4.00
Read our full rules for betting on Tote Win pools.
How are my winnings calculated betting with a bookie?
There are two ways to bet on a horse with a bookie: You can either take the price of the horse at the time you strike bet or bet on SP.
If you take the price, you'll be paid out at the odds on the horse at the time the bet was placed.
If you don't take the price, you'll be paid out at SP.
What is SP?
SP or starting price, is the price of the horse when the race goes off.
Generally, “SP Reporters” are given the job of calculating the starting price. They take an average of the odds being offered by on-course bookmakers to determine a price that can be used by the whole racing industry.
What is Tote Guarantee and how will this affect the Tote dividend?
With your new Tote Guarantee, you’ll never be paid less than SP.
This means, that if the dividend pays less we’ll bump it up to match the price of the horse at the off. However, if the dividend beats SP, we’ll pay you out at the bigger price.
Read more about the Tote Guarantee.
