Tote Review

If you live in the UK, then you probably love gambling. That is why, new bookmakers keep surfacing, and they offer you state-of-the-art sportsbook features and gaming experience. One such top-notch online casino, set up in 1928 by Sir Winston Churchill himself is Tote. We bet you didn’t know this!

In 2020, the upgraded and revamped Tote website was launched. Soon after, the makers also launched the Tote Placement app, to help you find all your Tote bets. Convenient, right? Tote is not like your average bookmaker, and we’re not just saying it. It is truly different as it is run on the concept of betting pools. 

In this review, we’ll take you through everything you must know about Tote. We’ll also highlight its strengths and weaknesses as we go. Read ahead and find out.

Betting Pools at Tote

When you wager your money at Tote, instead of it reaching a bookmaker, all bets are pooled. Tote betting works on a simple principle. The more people bet on the winner, the smaller the winning dividend for everyone. Similarly, if fewer people place a bet on the winner, the larger is everyone’s share. 

You can place your bets into a plethora of pools. This is similar to placing your bet on the horse of your choice at a racing event. The following are the most commonly picked single-leg pools:

• Win
• Place
• Each-Way

Tote v/s Fixed Odds

In the case of regular fixed odds, you will get a fixed price for your chosen winner. However, at Tote, whatever you put at stake gets pooled with other users who have bet on the same winner. If your collective bets happen to win, congratulations! 

The entire pool, after Tote deductions, will be divided by the number of winning tickets. You will then get your ‘dividend’. 

The Tote Odds

The calculation is straightforward, unlike other bookmakers fixed odds. Take the total pool and divide it by the number of winning tickets, to get your odds. Here are the steps with an example to make it easier for you:

1. Take £5000 as the collective pool amount for a horse race, after Tote deductions.
2. Assume that your selection’s pool was worth £1000 or 20% of the entire pool.
3. The winning dividend is equal to £5000/£1000 or £5.0, per winning ticket for your selection.
4. The odds will be 4/1. 

 

Tote Promotional Offers

If you’re looking for a bookmaker with exciting promotional offers, not just for new entrants but existing ones too, Tote is it! It offers many welcome offers, guarantees, free spins, as well as special offers. You are free to take your pick and win exceptional payouts. 

• Welcome Offer: Bet £10 and Get £30 + 20 Free Spins

This offer is for new online customers, who are 18 and over and reside in Ireland or the UK. At a £10 stake, you win £30 and 20 free spins. Here is all that you must know:

 

How to Opt-In?

1. Register on Tote and wager a minimum of £10 on a racing pool of your choice. 
2. If you opt for an Each-way bet, you must bet at least £10 win + £10 place.
3. You will get your wins credited within 24 to 48 hours after the bet is settled. 
4. You can redeem the Tote credit against all fantasy and racing bets.

Terms and Conditions

• Tote credit is valid for 7 days.
• You cannot withdraw, substitute, or exchange the credited wins.
• The 20 free spins can be redeemed on Big Bass Bonanza and other specials, from time to time. 
• Any payouts from your free spins will be credited to your Tote account and you can withdraw them in cash. 

• Stayer’s Club

This club offers you a chance to win rewards by showing your loyalty. If you stay, you win weekly rewards, it’s that simple! There are various other benefits that you can check out if you wish to opt in. Let’s look at the rewards and levels for existing Tote customers:

1. £2 Stayer’s Credit: On 6X qualifying bets worth at least £2 each, over a week.
2. £5 Stayer’s Credit: On 6X qualifying bets worth at least £5 each, over a week.
3. £10 Stayer’s Credit: On 6X qualifying bets worth at least £10 each, over a week.

 

The Various Types of Tote Bets

From exotic pools to multi-leg and single-race wagers, there is no shortage of bet types at Tote. This ensures that you get to experiment and find your lucky bet type. You can find the following popular bet types on the Tote website as well as on a racing course:

• Win, Place, and Each Way

Here, you can bet on a horse to win or get a certain place in the race. Furthermore, you can also combine the win and place pools and create an ‘each-way’ bet.

• Swinger

If you believe in two horses in a race and they end up grabbing two out of the first three positions, you win! The following combinations work:

• 1st and 2nd placement
• 1st and 3rd placement
• 2nd and 3rd placement

• Exacta/Reverse Exacta

If you can guess the first two horses that might finish the race, you’re good to go. However, if you can guess the names but in no particular order, you can go for a reverse exacta bet. £2 is the minimum bet amount for exacta and £1 for each reverse exacta.

• Trifecta

Exactly like the name suggests, in a trifecta bet, you have to bet on the horses who you think will take up the first three positions. Alternatively, you can bet on a combination trifecta and choose up to six permutations of the order. 

• Placepot

A placepot is set to keep you hooked on the website all day long! It is also one of the most popular bet types and a kind of race-day ritual. Moreover, it has a £450 average payout to a £1 stake, which is awesome. All you have to do is bet on a horse to finish in the first six positions at any meeting. 

• Jackpot

The jackpot begins at a £10,000 minimum pooled fund. You can check out the live jackpots through the ‘bet types’ tab under the dropdown menu. Additionally, these jackpots happen daily and you have to guess the first six to win at a jackpot meeting. 

If luck is on your side and your chosen permutation ends up winning, you get to take home a large sum. This is a truly exceptional opportunity, considering the low stakes. 

 

Tote Payment Methods

• Only two deposit methods are accepted
• Withdrawal through Visa and Mastercard only

This is where Tote falls short. All the top bookmakers in the UK offer multiple payment options including PayPal, Skrill, Credit Cards, etc. However, at Tote, you can only make use of your debit cards. On the brighter side, the withdrawals are swift and hassle-free. They are usually cleared within 3-5 working days. 

 

Tote Ten To Follow 

If you’re an ardent horse racing fan, this is something that will definitely check your list. The Ten To Follow section on Tote is a season-long betting option. Using a well-curated list of over 500 horses, compiled by the Racing Post and Tote, you can select a stable of up to 10 horses. 

Horses at Tote

In order to make this seamless, the intelligent algorithm system can auto-fill the best horses for your preferred stable. Moreover, you will get a balanced group that can help you win the most points. This algorithm uses historical data and TTF performance to execute its functions. 

Your horses will win points in case they win or according to their placings in their respective races. This occurs throughout the season. In addition to a free-to-play competition, each paid entry costs £5, except for Ireland where it costs £5.5. 

The following is a list of some of the horses available in the section:

• A Dream to Share 
• Banbridge 
• Conflated 
• Energumene 
• Fact To File 
• Fastorslow
• Iroko 
• Irish Point 
• Sir Gerhard

Monitor Your Performance

When you’ve placed money on something, it’s only natural that you’ll be interested in monitoring the performance. To facilitate this, scores are continually updated, usually within minutes of the result declaration. Furthermore, to ease your mind, you can make changes to your stable after paying for it, but before a set deadline. 

The Tote website is comprehensive and informative regarding the points system and how it works. You can register your stables on the website itself. As an icing on the cake, a minimum of £10,000 is awarded to the winning pool. However, the main prize pool is dependent on the total entries. 

 

Tote Sportsbook 

Gambling platforms are significantly dependent on their sports section and their competitiveness is also determined based on it. Therefore, Tote has a vast sportsbook. Here is a list of some of the sports offered by Tote:

• Cricket 
• MMA 
• Football 
• Boxing
• Darts 
• Snooker 
• Ice Hockey 
• Baseball 
• Table Tennis 
• Basketball 
• Boxing 
• Golf
• Rugby League 
• Rugby Union 

• Cricket on Tote 

Numerous competitions are accessible on the Tote website, mainly from England and India. In addition, international matches are also available. Any cricket fan would go berserk seeing the quantum of markets on the platform. 

• Football on Tote 

There is a larger variety in terms of countries when it comes to football. Here is a list of a handful of popular competitions:

• Copa Argentina 
• Copa do Brasil 
• Primera Division 
• Premier League 
• Superliga 
• Bundesliga 
• Super League 
• UEFA Euro 
• Olympic Tournament
• Ballon D’or 
• LaLiga 

• Tennis on Tote

Tennis is a sport where you must bet on the best player. Only a regular watcher can adequately gamble on the game. Tote offers a great platform to those people. If you’re one of them, you should check out the sports section on Tote. 

You will find the most popular games such as Grand Slams along with the smaller matches from a range of countries. 

• F1 on Tote 

F1 racing has found its way across the globe and has fans worldwide. It is a thrilling sport indeed, along with being dangerous. Gambling on F1 is also similar. The markets on F1 are detailed and have a place for all sorts of punters. Here is a catalogue of a few racing drivers you can bet on: 

• Sergio Perez 
• Max Verstappen 
• Charles Leclerc 
• Oscar Piastri 
• Lewis Hamilton 
• Lando Norris 
• Fernando Alonso 
• Pierre Gasly
• Lance Stroll 

Besides F1, you can take an interest in other motorsports as well. These include Speedway and NASCAR. 

 

Horse Racing on Tote 

As mentioned earlier, Tote is amazing when it comes to horse racing. In addition to the Ten To Follow, you can play multi-leg and single-leg bets. The website has a separate section for horse racing where you can find what you enjoy the most. Horse racing on Tote includes the following bet types:

• Placepot 
• Scoop6 
• Jackpot 
• Treble 
• Exacta 
• Trifecta 
• Swinger
• Quinella 

 

Gaming on the Tote Website

A great punter deserves a great gaming platform. Only with a good set of options can a player win loads of money. Tote has a fantastic gaming section wherein you can play the following exciting games:

• Slot Games 
• Megaways 
• Jackpots 
• Table Games 
• Drops and Wins 
• Scratch and Instant Games

An advantage that Tote offers is that it adds new games to its catalogue continuously. You can browse these under the ‘New Games’ section. Moreover, the ‘Most Popular’ section lets you find the games that everyone is crazy about. 

Using the significant assortment of games, you can spread your risk and try your luck on multiple avenues.  The ‘slot games’ section on Tote offers a huge variety and you won’t get tired of playing there. Some of the most popular games on Tote are:

• Mega Moolah
• Sugar Rush 
• 20p Roulette 
• Wild Wild Riches 
• Fishin’ Frenzy 
• Big Bass Amazon Xtreme 
• Shield of Sparta 
• Wolf Gold 
• Immortal Romance 
• Diamond Mine Extra Gold 
• Big Bass Bonanza 
• Gold Blitz

 

Safer Gambling with Tote

Gambling is fun, but only till it’s in your control. When it gets out of hand and you get entangled in it further, it can wreak havoc. To prevent this, Tote makes every possible effort to provide a safe and supportive environment. 

It also takes special efforts to verify your age through a robust process. Here are some of the Safer Gambling tools available on its website:

• Deposit Limits

Before you place a bet, Tote recommends that you set a deposit limit. These limits can be daily, weekly, or monthly. Moreover, you should contemplate your budget and risk appetite before you set or change your deposit limit. It may take up to 24 hours to change the limit and you will have to confirm it. 

• Reality Checks

Reality check alerts help you manage your time on the site. The notification will pop up, alerting you if you cross a specified time on the site. It is surely an important step towards safer gambling.

• Gaming Opt-Out

Even if you wish to take a break from gambling, Tote is with you, all the way. Thus, you can remove games or specific sections from your account. This added customization offers a state-of-the-art, yet secure experience.

There are many other tools such as:

• Account closure
• Self-exclusion
• Temporary suspension
• GAMSTOP

 

Tote Website and Customer Support

• Stylish and classy colour-scheme
• Simple and hassle-free navigation
• The font is too small in certain ‘help’ sections, which hampers readability

The red, white, and navy blue colour palette is pleasing to the eye. The choice of font too, gives it a different feel from its competitors. In addition, both the website and the mobile applications are easy to navigate, and the categorization is clear. The graphics are great too.

In certain sub-sections such as ‘bet types’ and ‘promotions,’ the font is a little too small. That is something they could work on, as it causes added strain to the eyes. Overall, the technology is up to par with top bookmakers and the bet pooling and other unique features give it an edge over competitors. 

 

Final Words

Tote clearly strives to provide an unforgettable user experience with the website and the app. Along with that, it is focused on expanding its sportsbook and features, in a bid to stay ahead in the market. Well, most UK punters find it appealing, don’t they? 

Where it needs to do better is its limited payment options. Complete reliance on debit cards can be very inconvenient for some users. They must also work on offering live streams of major sporting events along with in-play betting, to stay neck to neck with competition.

That being said, it is your responsibility to understand the odds and risks before you wager your hard-earned money. Also don’t forget to check out the welcome offers or the live promotional offers before you place a bet. Good luck betting!