When it comes to horse racing, tote betting is extremely popular in Singapore. Singaporean punters enjoy placing tote bets on a number of different local and international thoroughbred racing events that take place each year. Like pari-mutuel systems, the tote betting system allows for the pooling of money and dynamically adjusted odds. In fact, the odds vary because of the dynamic nature of tote pools - money comes in from Singapore and abroad. However, unlike pari-mutuel systems, which take a cut before distributing what's left to winning tickets, fixed odds systems are much more straightforward.

Learn how horse racing tote betting works and how to win at it. Our expert tipsters have pooled their knowledge and experience to explain what tote betting is and how to work out the odds. You will also find a complete list of the top sports betting sites in Singapore that offer tote betting.
Best Horse Tote Betting Sites in Singapore
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100% Match
Up to $100 |
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100% Match
Up to $300 |
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100% UP TO €25
+ €10 FREE BET |
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Bet €10 Get €30
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Bet €10 Get €30
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Bet €20 win €200
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R100
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What you will find on this page:
- What Is Tote Betting?
- How Does Tote Betting Work?
- Types of Tote Bets Online
- Pros of Tote Betting
- Cons of Tote Betting
- Which Countries Use the Tote?
What Is Tote Betting?
One system of betting that punters share is fairly easy to describe. It is called tote betting, and it is one of the main ways to bet on horse racing. When you place a tote bet, your money is pooled with that of other bettors. The winning bettors then split the pot among themselves, but not equally. The size of your share of the pot depends in part on the type of bet you placed and how many other people placed winning bets of the same type. If you win on a Tote bet, the payout you receive is more like a dividend than a straight win. And tote betting is not unique to England. Horse racing bettors around the world use the same basic system.
How Does Tote Betting Work?
The tote betting system requires you to pay attention to the odds that are advertised for a particular horse race. You have the option of either betting on fixed odds, which are set by the bookmaker before the race starts, or joining the pot and placing tote bets, where the odds can change at any time as more and more players join the pot. For a single race, the most popular types of tote bets are the win bet and the place bet. Here is a step-by-step guide to placing win tote bets.
- Choose a horse from the group (consider the odds).
- Place a bet on the result or the finishing position of the horse in the race. Your bet slip will show the name of the horse to help you keep track of the race.
- If the horse is listed as the favorite, your share of the payout will be minimal. In fact, it will be the smallest payout the horse is capable of giving.
- As a result, the smaller the number of punters who picked the winning horse, the larger your share will be.
Types of Tote Bets Online
Although it may seem wise to choose the bet that most people choose, tote betting doesn't make these bets worthwhile. The payouts are simply not favorable; in most cases, they're not even close to fair (to be fair, betting on horses is not even close to a fair game). Here are some formulations of tote bets that may offer higher returns if you win:
- Exacta at the Tote - where bettors must guess the order in which horses finish first and second.
- Tote Trifecta - Winning bets must predict the first three horses to finish in the exact order.
- Each-Way - a combination of a win bet and a place bet.
- Tote Placepot - during the first six horse races on the given race card, the better must guess who will win each event. . . .}else {
Pros of Tote Betting
Tote betting has several advantages over the traditional fixed odds betting that most of us are familiar with. Here are just a few: - The tote offers better odds than most, and sometimes all, bookmakers. - The pool is much larger to win from and to place bets in. - Payouts tend to be larger. - You can receive payouts before the race is completed, allowing you to place your bets before the event. - And finally, in some jurisdictions, the tote is operated by private companies that don't have to pay taxes, which makes for much larger payouts in a legal context!
The wagering system used by many racetrack operators is known as tote betting, and it is a delightful competitive platform for bettors. The name "tote" is a throwback to the days when such pools were literally tallied in and around a cashier's booth. Since then, the science and art of constructing keep-the-race-live pools has improved dramatically, as have the human mechanisms for digesting the information that leads to better betting decisions.
Tote betting, or pari-mutuel wagering, is a common form of betting on horse and greyhound races. In this system, all bets are pooled, and those who bet on the winner receive the same payout from the pool; this encourages cooperation among players. The tote helps maintain the fairness and integrity of racing by preventing horseplayers from manipulating fixed odds bets. By delaying a race, they can ensure that generous returns are paid. The high stakes also drive down the payouts, which acts as a deterrent to fixing.
Cons of Tote Betting
Tote betting, which is a form of pari-mutuel betting, can be problematic for players because they have no way of knowing exactly what they will receive in return when they place a bet. This is not so much a problem with the odds, which can go up or down depending on the amount of money placed on different runners, but rather with the nature of the pool itself and how it must be managed in order for it to function at all. If even late money coming in can affect how much money is left in the pool to divide among the winners, players can only wonder why they might not just place their bets in a way that is more in line with... them.
A person who places a bet in this betting system is not betting against the house; instead, the person is betting against all the other individuals who have also placed bets and expects to receive a share of the total pool after the race has run and the correct outcome has been determined. Tote betting originated in France in the early 19th century and eventually came to the United States. Today, it is widely used in both France and the United States. In tote betting, the odds are determined by the total amount wagered on each race. What this means is that if a significant wager affects the market, such as if the total pool suddenly increases significantly, then this can affect the adjustment of the odds as well as the payouts for all other individuals who have placed bets.
Which Countries Use the Tote?
Betting on horse racing in the United Kingdom often takes the form of tote pools, where customers win by picking the correct (multiple) horses to win. Unlike most of the rest of the world, however, when it comes to betting on a race, fixed odds betting is much more popular in California than the pari-mutuel system. And it's just not used as much for betting on a race-to-race basis.
Tote Betting, also known as Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), is a form of betting administered by the French government. It is a state-controlled monopoly and is the most popular form of gambling in the country. Tote betting, which is run by the PMU in France, is a popular and easy way for customers to bet on horse races. It has a very distinctive system that uses a pool betting structure that allows users to place bets in an extensive network of more than 10,00 sales points or to bet by phone, internet or mobile. As one of the largest tote operators in the world, PMU's totes offer customers easy access to the forms of sports betting they enjoy.
In the United States, horse tracks use tote betting as their only form of betting. At each track, a large board displays the current odds for all runners, based on how much money has been placed in the pool. When players use the tote to bet, they are not actually betting against the house. Instead, they are betting against other players. In order for the pool to be large enough for the track to cover its operating expenses, the tote must pay out as little as possible.
The most popular form of betting on horse racing events is called tote betting, and it is the type of betting most commonly seen at racetracks around the world, and especially in places like Hong Kong and Japan, where it is an official and legal form of betting.