What is World Pool?
World Pool is a collaboration between global totes and the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).
World Pool allows bettors from all over the globe to bet into a single pool, bringing them together into one multi-million pound pool betting experience.
Through national commingling, racing fans from countries such as Hong Kong, Australia, France, the USA and the UK all effectively bet into the same pool for each race.
After huge success for World Pool across key British and Irish fixtures such as Royal Ascot and British Champions Day, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is set to host more World Pool days on British and Irish race meetings.
What does that mean for bettors?
By having a number of different countries betting into the same overall pool, it means racing fans can pit their wits against bettors from all around the globe. More importantly though, it means that there will be more liquidity in the pools, with opportunities better value as a consequence.
With more individuals betting into the pool it means that big stakes bettors will have less of an impact on the dividend, providing more robust betting opportunities.
UK runners could be underestimated by the international pools, or the raiders could be looked over by the UK Tote customers. This difference of opinion could ensure a bigger price that one might be expecting about certain horses on the day.
When are the World Pool days?
World Pool events in first half of 2025 include:
January
Sun 19th January – Hong Kong – Sha Tin – Stewards’ Cup & Centenary Sprint – Partial card
Fri 24th January – UAE – Meydan – Al Maktoum Challenge Day – Partial card
Sat 25th January – South Africa – Kenilworth – Cape Town Met Day – Partial card
February
Sat 22nd February – Saudi Arabia – King Abdulaziz – Saudi Cup Day – Partial card
Sun 23rd February – Hong Kong – Sha Tin – HK Gold Cup & Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup – Partial card
March
Sat 29th March – South Africa – Turffontein – SA Derby Day – Partial card
April
Sat 5th April – UAE – Meydan – Dubai World Cup Day – Partial card
Sun 27th April – Hong Kong – FWD Champions Day – Partial card
May
Saturday 3rd May – 2000 Guineas – Newmarket – Full card
Saturday 17th May – Lockinge Stakes Day – Newbury – Full card
Saturday 24th May – Irish 2000 Guineas – Curragh – Full card
Sunday 25th May – Irish 1000 Guineas & Tattersalls Gold Cup – Partial card
Sunday 25th May – Hong Kong – Champions & Chater Cup – Single race
June
Saturday 7th June – Derby – Epsom – Full card
Tuesday 17th June – Royal Ascot – Ascot – Full card
Wednesday 18th June – Royal Ascot – Ascot – Full card
Thursday 19th June – Royal Ascot – Ascot – Full card
Friday 20th June – Royal Ascot – Ascot – Full card
Saturday 21st June – Royal Ascot – Ascot – Full card
Sunday 29th June – Irish Derby – Curragh – Full card
July
Saturday 5th July – Eclipse – Sandown – Single Race
Saturday 5th July – Durban July – Greyville – Single race
Sunday 6th July – German Derby Day – Hamburg – Partial card
Saturday 26th July – King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes – Ascot – Full card
Sunday 27th July – Champions Cup Day – Greyville – Full card
Sunday 27th July – Grosser Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen Day – Munich – Partial card
Tuesday 29th July – Glorious Goodwood – Goodwood – Full card
Wednesday 30th July – Glorious Goodwood – Goodwood – Full card
Thursday 31st July – Glorious Goodwood – Goodwood – Full card
August
Sunday 3rd August – German Oaks Day – Dusseldorf – Partial card
Sunday 10th August – Grosser Preis von Berlin Day – Hoppegarten – Partial card
Wednesday 20th August – York Ebor – York – Full card
Thursday 21st August – York Ebor – York – Full card
Thursday 22nd August – York Ebor – York – Full card
How much money is bet into World Pool?
World Pools were available on both Royal Ascot and British Champions Day last year, where bettors had the chance to win a share of some monumental pools.
As well as the straight Win and Place markets, World Pool will be in operation for a number of Exotic bets such as the Tote Swinger and Quinella, which were involved last year, plus new additions the Exacta and Trifecta.
Some of these bet types are extremely popular in other racing nations, even more so than the Win market. For example, last year at Royal Ascot, there was nearly £2 million more bet into the Quinella pools than the Win pools across the meeting.
What bet types are eligible for World Pool?
• Win – 17.5% Takeout
• Place – 17.5% Takeout
• Quinella – 17.5% Takeout
• Swinger / Quinella Place – 17.5% Takeout
• Trifecta / Tierce – 25% Takeout
• Exacta / Forecast – 19.5%
• Treble – 25%
Is there a maximum bet or maximum payout?
There are no maximum limits to the amount of money that can be staked or won on a Tote bet. (The size of the pool provides a natural limit to the available winnings)
Are there any bet types which aren’t World Pool?
The Placepot and our other multileg bets won’t be commingled. The Tote Exacta is another pool which will only be available to UK bettors.
How can I watch World Pool races?
You can watch every World Pool race live at Tote.co.uk by simply logging into your account having previously made a deposit.
More about World Pool
World Pool was created by Hong Kong Jockey Club and brings together racing fans from over 20 nations so everyone is effectively betting into one pool creating huge liquidity. It's like the EuroMillions version of the lottery.
World Pool in the UK is operated by the Tote. You can bet with the Tote at tote.co.uk, tote.ie, or on the Tote App, at a racecourse, or with a bookmaker as most offer Tote bets in shops and online.
The pool betting model means the Tote is agnostic about results so welcomes winning customers and will not restrict bet sizes.
The international nature of World Pool means there is some great value to be found across markets. For example, Hong Kong racing fans will tend to over bet on jockeys they know so shorten their price, meaning other runners are over-priced respective to their chances.
There are currently seven bet types included in World Pool. These are Win, Place, Forecast, Trifecta (first, second and third in correct order), Quinella (first two in either order) and Swinger (two in the first three) and Treble.
The 2021 Derby was a World Pool event for the first time and saw the pool grow from £1.7 million to over £26 million with winners paying more on the Tote. For example, Adayar paid £20.24 on the Tote compared to 16-1 with bookmakers.
There are 22 World Pool days on British and Irish racing in 2023, including QIPCO King George Diamond Day, first three days of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the first three days of the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, Longines Irish Champions Day at Leopardstown and QIPCO British Champions Day.
World Pool means bigger financial returns to British racing through increased media rights payments to racecourses and more revenue generated via pool betting.
