Fairyhouse 22 2 25 Ney and Kieran Buckley jump the last to win The Tote Guarentee Available On Course Tote Rated Novice SteeplechasePhoto Healy RacingThis is a punter’s favourite! But what is a Tote Placepot? The Tote placepot is a type of pool bet particularly popular with horse racing bettors.
A placepot requires you to choose a horse to place in each of the first six races at a race meeting. This bet must be placed before the racing starts which is why Irish and UK punters turn to this bet during major tournaments.
A placepot adds intrigue and excitement to a day at the races and the each-way aspect of the bet means your chances of winning are higher than straight-win bets. Below is the Tote Placepot explained in greater detail.
Before you can take part in a Tote Placepot, you will need to sign up to Tote. All you have to do is click on the 'claim here' button below and this will take you through to the registration page.
Using the dedicated Tote Placepot betting slips at the races, or online, punters select at least one horse in each of the first six races that they believe will finish in the places — typically first, second and third, depending on the number of runners.
If a race has four or fewer runners then your horse must win, while if there are five, six or seven runners your selection must place first or second. In races with 16 or more runners, the fourth horse home counts for places.
In trickier races, punters may choose to have more than one horse running for them in the same race as part of a placepot bet. This is called 'perm betting' and it increases the cost of the bet, depending on how many different permutations are involved.
All bets placed on the Tote Placepot are 'pooled' together. The Tote takes 27% of the total pool which is redistributed within horse racing and 73% is split between the winners.
Every winning bet receives a dividend from the betting pool, which is calculated to a £1 level stake.
You can select more than one horse in each race, but this will mean that your total stake will increase. To calculate your total stake, just multiply the number of selections in each leg.
Six races with one selection in each: 1x1x1x1x1x1 = 1 perm (line). So for a £1 unit stake, this bet will cost just £1.
Advancing the bet slightly:
Six races with the following selections: 2x2x1x2x1x3 = 24 perms. So for a £1 unit stake, this bet will cost £24.
The minimum stake per line on a Tote Placepot is 10p but the total stake must be at least £2 if placed at the course or 50p on the Tote's website or app.
As the Tote Placepot is a pool bet, the returns/dividends are based on how much money is wagered on a race meeting, both online and at the racecourse as well as how many punters make successful selections.
For example:
£100,000 is paid into a placepot at a particular meeting and there are a total of 1,000 winning tickets
100,000 x 73% = £73,000 (as the Tote takes a 27% rake on the pool to invest into racing)
73,000/1000 tickets = £73 each.
In this instance the dividend therefore pays £73 for every £1 placed on a winning line.
You are always guaranteed a runner in every race after you have placed a Tote Placepot bet. If one of your selections in a placepot is a non-runner, that bet will automatically move on to the SP favourite.
The places paid out for a placepot are the same as an each-way bet:
The Tote placepot payout is dependent on how much you wagered per perm and how many perms landed.
To calculate the tote placepot dividend to a €1 level stake see the following:
The dividend therefore pays €73 for every €1 placed.
To calculate your Tote Placepot payout, multiply your stake per line by the amount of winning lines you have. Your winnings will then be either that percentage of the published €1-stake winnings or a multiple of the published dividend.
One of the most fun aspects of the Tote Placepot is that you have a higher chance of a return due to the each-way facet of the bet. It is worth trying to find horses who have a good chance of being placed at bigger prices, purely picking favourites will return only small dividends as more people tend to select favourites.
Selecting two or more horses per race can become very costly and the outlay can be huge so picking a single horse per perm who you believe has a very solid chance of placing in a race and perhaps two in the big betting races can be one of the more rewarding systems for a placepot.
To boost your Tote Placepot success in Ireland and the UK, blend strategic picks with smart betting tactics: mix favorites for safety with value horses that consistently place (e.g., course specialists or those suited to ground conditions), as 66% of favorites failed to win in 2023, per industry data.
Focus on horses with reliable top-4 form, checking racecards for course and ground compatibility. Use perm betting wisely, selecting multiple horses in tricky large-field races while banking on strong favorites in predictable ones to manage costs.
Joining a Placepot syndicate can spread costs and boost coverage, especially for major events like the Grand National or Punchestown. In volatile markets, betting on the unnamed favorite (lowest racecard number if joint favorites) is a savvy move to maximize your share of the pool.
For more information on betting and the Tote see below:
