Unlike racecourse bookmakers who offer you odds – or prices – for betting on each horse in a race, the Tote offers you a pool bet. This means the betting stakes on a given race are pooled together and, like a lottery, is then shared out among customers with winning tickets.

The Tote has a minimum bet of just £2 and accepts cash and card across all courses making it one of the most convenient ways to place a bet on-course.

Betting with the Tote at on-course supports racing, most of the revenue taken here at York flowing back to our racecourse. So, by choosing to bet with the Tote, you can do so knowing that racing is benefiting too.

Win and each way (Win and Place) bets are very popular with customers. However, you may also try to win more with an exacta, where you need to pick the first two in the correct order. 

It wouldn’t be a raceday without a placepot.

One of the most famous tote bets is the placepot which rewards customers who can pick a horse to place in each of the first 6 races. It’s a chance to win big from a small stake- in March 2019, one racecourse customer won more than £182,000 to a £2 stake!

To take part, just fill in a placepot slip at any Tote kiosk and hand it to a member of the team.

Just remember, to join in, you need to do your placepot before Race 1.

Not sure which horses to choose? Try a lucky pick bet

A ‘lucky pick’ bet, is the easiest way to bet on-course. Similar to the lucky dip on the National Lottery, the lucky pick is designed to be smart as it uses a special formula which is weighted towards the more likely outcomes in an event.

Lucky pick is available for any Tote bet. So, you could get a lucky pick placepot at the start of the day and ask for lucky pick win bets on any race.

You can also have lucky pick wallets which give you a selection of bets and are available for £5, £10, £15 and £20.

There are two types of lucky pick wallets. Meeting wallets are sold before race 1 and include some bets that lasts for the whole day (such as the placepot). Race specific wallets are specific to one race.

Ask for a lucky pick at any Tote kiosk or team member on-course.

Bet Descriptions

Single race bets

Totewin

It's Simple...pick the horse to win a race! You can place a Totewin bet on all races.

Toteplace

Pick a horse to be placed (information on what is a placed horse below). You can play this bet on all races with 5 runners or more. 

Toteeachway

Choose a horse to either win or be placed in any race.  

Toteexacta

For this bet, you’ll need to pick the 1^st and 2^nd horses in a race, in the correct order.

This is ideal if you want to choose more than one horse in the same race, or there is a hot favourite.  An exacta is available on all races with three or more runners.

With a Straight Exacta you need to select the horse you want to finish 1st and the horse you want to finish 2nd. They must finish in the correct order to get a return.

A Banker Exacta is where you select the horse you think will win the race then choose as many horses as you want to finish 2nd. The more horses you pick, the more the bet will cost.

A Combination Exacta means you can pick two horses to finish 1st or 2nd in any order. This increases your chances of winning but also doubles your total stake. You can pick more than two horses to finish in the top two with a Combination Exacta. For example, selecting five horses and collecting if two of them finish 1st and 2^nd.

Totetrifecta

Pick the 1^st,2^nd and 3^rd in the correct order. Win big by selecting the first three home.

Win big by picking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the correct order. The ultimate betting challenge. Available on all races with three or more runners.

There are three ways to play the Trifecta; Straight, Banker and Combination. With a Straight Trifecta you need to select the horses to finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd. They must finish in the correct order to get a return. A Banker Trifecta is where you select the horse you think will win the race then choose as many horses as you want to finish 2nd or 3rd. The more horses you pick, the more the bet will cost.

A Combination Trifecta means you can pick three horses to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any order. This increases your chances of winning but also increases your total stake. You can also pick more than three horses to finish in the top three with a Combination Trifecta. For example, selecting five horses and collecting if three of them finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Toteswinger

Simply pick two horses to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in any order.

You're a winner if your selections finish 1st and 2nd, 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 3rd. Avaliable on all races with six or more runners.

Multi race bets

Toteplacepot

Pick a placed horse in the first six races.

Permutation betting offers more chance to win and is available on the Placepot where you can select more than one horse in each race. 

Totequadpot

Just like the Placepot but on less races, pick a placed horse in races 3-6.

Totejackpot

Pick the first six winners at the Totejackpot meeting.

Pick the winner of the first six races at a selected meeting each day. With a minimum guaranteed pool of £10,000 each day, it's your chance to win big for a small stake.

Permutation betting offers more chance to win and is available on the Jackpot where you can select more than one horse in each race. Perm bets will cost more depending on the number of selections. To calculate the cost of a perm bet, simply multiply the number of selections by each other. For example, 1x1x3x2x1x3 = 18 bets. Then calculate your total stake by multiplying the number of bets by your unit stake. For example, 18 bets x £1 = £18.

Totescoop6

The Totescopp6 is available every Saturday and at selected festival meetings throughout the season.

With the Scoop6 there are three ways to win. Pick the winner of all six selected races to scoop the big money Win Fund.

There are three chances to win with the Scoop6:

• Pick the winner of all six selected races and scoop the Win Fund.
• If you get the Win Fund, you also get a risk-free shot at the Bonus Fund by picking the winner of one single race the following weekend.
• There's also a Place Fund for any customer who picks six placed horses so you don’t even have to pick the winners to be a winner

Standard Place Terms

What is a placed horse?

Permutation bets are available by picking more than one horse in a race.

A 'perm' or permutatiuon is a combination of bets on one race, where you spread your stake across mutliple selections. For example, if you were to choose more than one horse to place in each race when building you Placepot, you will be doing a 'perm' bet.

Perm bets will cost more depending on the number of selections. To calculate the cost of a perm bet, simply multiply the number of selections by each other. For example, 2x3x2x1x1x2 = 24 bets. Then calculate your total stake by multiplying the number of bets by your unit stake. For example, 24 bets x 50p = £12.