Tote Sportsbook

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For old-school UK gamblers, Tote isn’t a new name.

This bookmaker has been around since the days of Sir Winston Churchill, having been founded by the UK government in 1928.

With several changes in ownership, Tote is now owned by the UK Tote Group—formerly Alizeti Capital—who acquired the site in October 2019.

After this purchase, Tote was then revamped.

A dedicated desktop site was released in 2020, followed by the Tote Placepot App, both of which will be the focus of this review.

So, does the modern-day version of the Tote live up to Sir Winston Churchill’s billing? Let’s find out in this comprehensive review.

Pros & Cons Of Tote Racing Pools

Pros:

• Established gambling brand
• Intriguing wagering alternatives
• Tote Plus (up to 10% bigger dividends)
• Live streaming is available
• Syndicate betting
• Tote betting guide

Cons:

• Small welcome bonus
• Welcome bonus only focuses on horse racing and excludes other Tote products.
• Only focuses on racing and football
• Relatively long withdrawal time
• No in-play betting

Would We Place Sports Bets At Tote Racing Pools?

The Tote is quite unique in many ways.

This betting site may not cover the broadest range of sports, but it provides a decent alternative for bettors interested in horse racing and football.

New bettors are rewarded with a £20 welcome offer.

This may not be the largest bonus in the world, but when you consider that you only need to invest £5, its value immediately becomes apparent.

Other features, such as Tote Guarantee and Tote Plus, help ensure that bettors get the best possible payouts.

Overall, if you’re into either horse racing or football, the Tote is a decent site where you can bet on either of these alternatives.

Betting Odds Quality

Unlike most bookmakers, prices on this site are based on a pool of prize funds rather than fixed odds.

Simply put, when punters bet on an event, their money goes into a large pool.

After the event’s winner is determined, this pool of funds—excluding the Tote’s operating fee—is split between all the winning bets.

Fortunately, the Tote has several features in place that give a boost to this aforementioned prize pool.

One such feature is Tote+, where winning Tote bets on select events with the ‘tote+’ symbol receive up to 10% bigger dividends.

Another boost feature is the Tote Guarantee. With this, the site gives punters the guarantee of always paying at least SP on winning wagers.

In the event that the Tote dividend is larger, the bookmaker will instead pay out at that price.

An In-Depth Look At Tote

The Tote, once known as the Horserace Totalisator Board, is one of the land’s oldest bookies.

In 1928, the Racecourse Betting Act led to the formation of the Racehorse Betting Control Board.

This statutory corporation was set up by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer and the future Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.

The idea behind the Tote was quite simple: many illegal off-course bookmakers were prevalent during that time, and this would provide punters with a safe, state-controlled alternative.

Also, it was a great way of ensuring that the sport of horse racing benefited from the massive chunk of gambling revenue.

In the decades that would follow, the Tote would balloon in popularity. Eventually, a bookmaker arm of the company was launched in 1973.

By the end of the 90s, the Tote had become one of the biggest bookmakers in the world.

There were many calls to privatize it, and this wish was granted in 2004 when the Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Act allowed the bookmaker to become a limited company.

In 2011, the Tote was sold to Betfred in a deal estimated to be worth £265 million.

Eight years later, in 2019, the Tote was then sold again to the UK Tote Group, the site’s current owners.

Tote Bonus Details

Like many other UK sites, the Tote rewards new users with a decent sign-up offer.

This is the site’s current flagship welcome promo: Bet £5 Get £20 In Free Bets.

This promo is exactly what it sounds like. Simply create a verified Tote betting account, and place your first racing pool wager by risking a minimum of £5.

Within 24 hours, you’ll be given a £20 Tote credit.

The £25 Tote bonus that you receive will be split as follows:

• £10 redeemable against racing bets
• £10 redeemable against the UK and Irish placepot bets

Here are some of the essential terms accompanying this sign-up offer:

• Bonus funds need to be used within seven days.
• Tote Credit can’t be withdrawn. However, anything that you win using this bonus is withdrawable.
• Tote products such as Ten to Follow, Tote virtual, and Tote football bets are excluded from this promo.
• The qualifying £5+ wager must be a racing bet.
• Bonus credit will typically be issued within 24 hours.

There are many other Tote promos, including World Pool Betting Tournaments, Tote Guarantee, and Tote Plus.

If promos are your thing and you regularly want to be updated on the latest ones, just head over to the site’s promotions tab.

Offers constantly change, so you can contact customer support to learn the most up-to-date bonuses or check the Tote promotions page.

Registration Process At Tote

To get the Tote’s Bet £5 Get £20 Welcome Offer, you first must create a new betting account.

Luckily, it’s quite easy to do so.

So even if you’ve never signed up at a sportsbook or racebook, you shouldn’t encounter any hiccups during this site’s sign-up process.

To help punters like you out, we’ve summed up the registration process down below:

• Click one of the links on this page, and you’ll be redirected to the Tote’s homepage.
• Once there, tap the white “Join” button.
• You’ll need to provide a few personal details. These include your legal name, surname, physical address, mobile number, and birth date.
• You’ll need to select a unique security question and answer combination for additional account security.
• Enter your email address.
• Select a safe and unique username as well as a strong password.
• Once you’ve accepted the site’s terms, tap the “Join” option.
• After funding your betting account, wager at least £5 on a racing bet.
• Finally, you’ll be credited with £20 in free bet credits within 24 hours.

It’s important to provide accurate information as you may be asked to verify your identity in the future.

Also, if you had previously registered on the site, you shouldn’t sign up again.

Whether it’s been a month or a year, simply use the credentials of your original account to log in.

If you try to create another Tote betting account, you’ll have breached the site’s terms and may end up being locked from both accounts.

Tote App Experience

If you prefer to bet via mobile, you can conveniently do so through the Tote app.

Whether you’re an Android or iOS user, simply launch your default app store, search for Tote: Pool Betting, and download the first relevant result.

The app boasts high ratings on both the App Store (4.5) and Google Play (4.8), and we definitely agree with most users here.

Like Tote’s desktop site, the app employs the same red and white theme, giving the app a more vivid and refreshing feel.

Aesthetics aside, the app conveniently does what it’s been designed to do.

With a simplistic layout, navigation is super smooth, ensuring that you can easily hop from one page to the next.

With almost no glitches, everything loads quickly—this comes in handy when you’re in a rush to place a wager.

Most importantly, there are no tradeoffs with the desktop version.

So whether you decide to bet using a PC or a mobile, you’re guaranteed the same features.

Tote Site Experience

While some users prefer to bet via mobile, most old-school bettors would rather stick to their PCs and desktops because of the larger displays.

At Tote, this comes in handy if you want to stream a race.

Similar to the Tote: Pool Betting mobile app, the desktop version has an attractive red and white theme that’s bound to please most users.

Everything on the desktop site is neatly arranged.

In the top-right corner, users can switch between different Tote products (Ten to Follow, Virtuals, Games).

There’s a main menu on the left side, which contains most of the essential links.

This simple but efficient layout ensures that punters can easily navigate the site.

Most importantly, you won’t have to worry about lag or slow loading times.

Whether you’re placing a wager or watching a horse racing stream, as long as you have a stable connection, anything you select should load quickly and efficiently.

Tote Sports Betting

At Tote, bettors can only place bets on two sports: horse racing and football.

The site also has other verticals. These are Ten to Follow, Tote Fantasy, and Virtuals.

You’re also limited in the types of bets that you can place.

Here’s a simple rundown of the main Totesport horse racing and football betting markets:

• Win/Place: Here, you’re simply betting on runners to either win or place.
• Exacta: In this wager, you must accurately predict the first two finishers in a race.
• Swinger: If you back two horses that finish inside the top 3, you’ll get a share of the prize pool.
• Trifecta: Essentially, you’re predicting the three runners to finish in the top 3 places.
• Tote Placepot: Here, you’re betting on a horse to place in the first six races of a specific meeting.
• Quadpot: If you want to skip the first two races of the day, the quadpot allows you to back a place finisher in races 3, 4, 5, and 6 instead.
• Jackpot: Just predict the winner of the first six races, and the jackpot is all yours. It’s as simple as that!
• Scoop6: On Fridays and Saturdays, six races are selected, and it’s up to you to pick six winners. Wager just £2 per bet, and you stand a chance to win tens of thousands. In some cases, you can even walk away with a six-figure profit.
• Pick 7: This is a seven-leg bet builder for a selected football match. You can either choose your own or join a syndicate.
• 1 x 2: This is simply a football accumulator where you have to correctly predict the result of five games selected by the Tote.

Notable Features

Here are some notable features that you’ll find at the Tote:

• Live Streaming: Users can watch live races.
• Virtual Games: There are plenty of virtual betting events. You can wager on events such as horse racing, greyhound racing, football, basketball, and American football, just to name a few. There are even tons of virtual marble racing markets.
• Tote Plus: In selected pools with the tote+ symbol, bettors get an extra 10% on their winnings.

Understanding Betting Options

Bettors have access to plenty of betting markets at the tote, most of which we’ve already mentioned.

The minimum amount you can risk will depend on the type of wager you’re placing.

In general, the minimum unit stake is 1p, while the minimum total stake is 50p.

The typical pool deduction rate is 20% (this is the amount that Tote charges for operating costs).

Deposit & Withdrawals

As we mentioned in our pros and cons section, banking methods are one of the site’s downsides.

With no options like e-wallets or a bank transfer, you must use a debit card if you wish to transact on this site.

Making Deposits

To make a deposit, you can use either of these debit cards:

• VISA
• Mastercard

The minimum amount you can deposit is £3.

Making Withdrawals

If you wish to withdraw your funds, you’ll have to settle for either of the following debit cards:

• VISA
• Mastercard

Withdrawals take between 3 to 5 business days to process, which is less than ideal for most bettors.

The minimum withdrawal amount is £5, while the most you can withdraw in a single day is £9,000.

Loyalty Program

The Tote doesn’t have a loyalty program. However, there’s a slightly close alternative.

A promo called the Stayer’s Club rewards bettors who’ve made six or more bets during a given week.

Here are the rewards attached to this weekly promo:

• Make six or more bets worth £2, and you’ll earn £2.
• Make six or more bets worth £5, and you’ll earn £5.
• Make six or more bets worth £10, and you’ll earn £10.

Customer Service

If you want to contact a Tote customer service representative, you can use either of these methods:

• Live Chat
• Email (customercare@tote.co.uk)
• Phone (0800 032 8188)

The site’s customer care team is available every day between 8 am to midnight.

If you have a basic query, e.g., about account registration, just jump over to the site’s FAQ section.

Tote Racing Pools Safety And Security

The Tote is a safe and secure site.

Once owned by the UK Government, it’s now under the arm of the UK Tote Group, where it operates with a license from the UK Gambling Commission.

Regulators like these are known to enforce strict standards, meaning that sites like the Tote need to meet such high-security standards before they can be allowed to operate.

On top of this, the site employs modern SSL data encryption, which gives it the security of a financial institution.

However, basic account safety starts with yourself.

For starters, always opt for a secure username and password, and ensure that no one else has access to these core credentials.