Ladbrokes becomes first Irish Bookmaker to offer Tote Betting Thursday July 17th 2008: In a landmark development for Tote Ireland, Ladbrokes are to offer Tote pool betting in their Irish shops from July 17th 2008. In-shop customers will be able to bet into live Tote pools in Ireland and the UK. Under this development over 200 Ladbrokes shops will be linked to the Tote pools through the Irish Tote. This new deal will make the following bets available to Ladbrokes in-shop customers; Irish & UK Placepot, Irish Jackpot, UK Jackpot, Scoop6, Win, Place, Each-Way, Exacta and Trio. The small-stake, big-payout bets such as the Placepot and Jackpot are expected to be very popular with high street punters. Tote Ireland have also announced a change in the Irish Jackpot to coincide with this launch. From July 18th 2008 the Irish Jackpot minimum stake will change from 50 cent to ?1. Joe Lewins, Chief Executive of Ladbrokes, said, "Ladbrokes are delighted to welcome Tote betting to their shops and as always are very keen to support Irish horse racing. It is a progressive move for Ladbrokes and part of our ongoing policy to try and give something back to our customers. Making large pools of money available to our customers for a small stake is core to this policy and we look forward to celebrating our first big in-shop Tote win." Alexis Murphy, Chief Executive of Tote Ireland, said, "We are delighted that customers right across Ireland will now be able to share in the fun of Tote betting. We expect that there will be particular interest in big Placepot pools in Ireland and the UK, not to mention the forthcoming Jackpot guarantees at Galway and other festivals. Other big attractions of Tote betting for punters include being able to do Place-only bets to participating in some of the big UK Jackpot and Scoop6 rollovers."
