All You Need To Know About Tote Betting

Tote betting entails placing bets with gambling organisations that run parimutuel betting systems; in Australia, this entails placing bets with any of the three TABs (Totalisator Agency Boards).

How does Tote Betting work?

Parimutuel betting systems, also referred to as "totalisator systems," involve combining all of the bets placed on an event, with all dividends being determined by the weight of money wagered on each competitor. As a result, the competitor who has drawn the most money will return the smallest dividend, while the horse who has received the least support will return the highest dividend.

The odds for each competitor will change in accordance with the money staked, and the final payouts won't be determined until the betting market closes, which happens to be when the competition starts. This means that from the time the bet was placed to the final dividend announced at the end of betting, the odds on any given runner may change significantly.

Take the Fixed Odds betting product, which is widely available on betting markets from both TABs and corporate bookmakers, to get around this.

Supply and demand theory is one way to view the tote: If a horse is in high demand, the supply of funds to meet the demand (the return) will be significantly reduced; if a horse is unwelcome in the market, the supply of funds will be greater and the return will be significantly higher.

The totes remain an important part of betting in Australia despite the growth of corporate bookmakers. In fact, a lot of bookmakers provide their customers with tote-based betting options, particularly for exotics.

Tote Products offered by bookmakers

As previously mentioned, corporate bookmakers still rely quite a bit on the dividends announced through Australia's three major totes, despite undercutting the TABs by running with lower margins and providing more competitive pricing.