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What is a Tote Placepot and How Does it Work?

KILBEGGAN Racegoers queueing to bet with The Tote at the County Westmeath venue HEALY RACING
Photo Healy Racing
This is a punter’s favourite! 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.

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.

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How Does a Tote Placepot Work?

At any race meeting you have the opportunity to choose one or more horses to place in the first six races on the card. A total of three places are paid if there are eight or more runners in the race. If a race has four or fewer runners then your horse must win.

The total amount bet on the placepot by punters goes into a ‘pool’. The Tote takes 27% of the total pool which is redistributed to the sport of horse racing and 73% is split between the winners. The final dividend is calculated to a €1 level stake.

You may choose to partake in ‘perm betting’ where you can pick more than one horse in a race. This is calculated by multiplying the number of selections in each race then multiplying this number by your stake.

Calculating Tote Placepot Cost

It is very simple to calculate what your placepot will cost.

  • E.g. if you choose 2 horses in each race and place a €2 stake:
  • Number of selections:
  • 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64
  • €2 (stake) x 64 (selections) = €128

What Places are in a Placepot?

The places paid out for a placepot are the same as an each-way bet:

RunnersPayout
1 - 4 runnersWin bet only
5 - 7 runners1st and 2nd place at 1/4 odds
8 - 11 runners1st, 2nd and 3rd place at 1/5 odds
12 - 15 runners1st, 2nd and 3rd place at 1/4 odds
16+ runners1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place at 1/4 odds

Tote Placepot Payout

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:

  • €100,000 is paid into a placepot at a particular meeting and there is a total of 1,000 winning tickets
  • 100,000 x 73% = €73,000
  • 73,000/1000 tickets = €73

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.

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Tote Placepot Non-runner Rules

If one of your selections in a placepot is a non-runner, that bet will automatically be placed on the SP favourite. This can be a little frustrating for punters but it is a huge positive that your bet is still valid.

If there are joint-favourites for a race then your bet will be placed on the horse with the highest racecard number.

Tote Placepot Tips

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 more in the big betting races can be one of the more rewarding systems for a placepot.

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