Latest news with #Placepot
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Bumper Royal Ascot payout reopens concerns about Tote betting into own pools
The fourth day of Royal Ascot last month was an afternoon that a lucky handful of punters betting into the Tote's popular Placepot pool will never forget. The favourite missed the frame in three of the six races that comprise the bet, there were just 18.15 winning units in the pool and the dividend to a £1 stake was an eye-watering £26,420.10. This was a brilliant advertisement for a bet that can be won without finding any of the six winners. But following a recent update to the Tote's website which offers more information about its Pool Guarantee Service (PGS) – a system by which the Tote itself places bets into its own pools – it also raised the interesting question of whether the operator took a share of the payout too. And the answer, the Tote said on Monday, is no. It put 'in excess of £100k' into the Placepot pool that day and, like 99.9% of the other punters in the bet, it failed to draw (although it did, of course, take the standard 27% cut of the pool). As a result, there was a big uplift to the dividend for the punters who did find a winning line, of around £10k per unit. 'On Friday 20th June at Royal Ascot, the Tote guaranteed a Placepot of at least £400,000,' a spokesperson for the operator said on Monday. 'The final pool size was £479,524.80 with results across the six races leading to a dividend of £26,424.30 which was won by 18.15 units. The Tote held no winning units in that pool which meant all of the funds used by the Tote for seeding, amounting to in excess of £100,000 on that day, contributed to the dividends that were won by other customers. Without Pool Guarantee Service the total pool size pool would have been substantially less, with a corresponding reduction in the dividend to £16,383.80 instead of £26,424.30.' The Tote, which was founded nearly a century ago to effectively allow punters to bet between themselves with no bookmaker involved, first started betting into its own pools during the Covid-19 pandemic, when there were no on-course punters for well over a year. The fact that the practice had continued once the racecourse crowds returned was first highlighted in this column in March 2022, while a study by a Tote customer which suggested the operator could be responsible for as much as 60% of some Placepot pools was sent to the Gambling Commission, which regulates gambling in the UK, in February. A month later, the Guardian reported an understanding that the Commission had launched a review of the Tote's activity. The commission itself refuses to confirm or deny whether it is investigating an individual operator, so it is impossible to gauge whether the regulator played any role in the recent update to the Tote's website, which includes a statement that 'over time this exercise [PGS] typically leaves a net profit for the Tote, which is used to help promote the Tote business.' The update also expanded on an earlier statement that PGS is designed 'to add layers of liquidity at predetermined times to make the pools deeper and more robust as they build,' by stating that 'the majority of seeding bets on multi-leg pools are placed four minutes before the scheduled off time of the first race'. It stated too that its system 'is pre-configured to contribute anything up to 50% of the estimated value of any Tote pool in which seeding takes place.' The Tote remains robust in its defence of PGS. 'Over the last six years,' its statement on Monday added, 'we have transformed how the Tote operates creating a healthier and more sustainable ecosystem thanks to Pool Guarantee Service and initiatives such as the Tote's SP Guarantee and World Pool. We have done this by responding directly to feedback, with customers consistently stating they want bigger guaranteed pools. Pool Guarantee Service allows us to provide this service in-house without the reliance on third parties to provide any significant liquidity.' Liquidity is all-important in pool betting, and it tends to flourish in jurisdictions where it has a monopoly on horse-race betting, which puts the UK Tote on the back foot from the off. It is also the case that big syndicates using sophisticated computer models and algorithms to cream off the value in multi-leg bets are now a feature of pool betting systems around the world. In a sense, the Tote is simply doing what a syndicate would be doing if the operator was not doing it first. But it is also some way from the popular idea of a strictly punter-to-punter betting product, in which the operator has no interest in the result. And while its activity in the Ascot Placepot on 20 June boosted the dividend by around £10k, the fact that PGS makes a net profit overall means that this is more than offset by reduced payouts to winners elsewhere, on other days and in other pools. Pontefract 2.10 Sparkling Pink 2.40 Muhaajim 3.10 Royal Dress 3.40 Musical Touch 4.10 Analogical 4.40 Love Is The Law 5.10 Match Play Lingfield 2.25 Penn Avenue (nap) 2.55 Monkmoor Pip (nb) 3.25 Captain Brett 3.55 Redditizio 4.25 Command The Stars 5.00 Amestris Uttoxeter 6.00 Hope Rising 6.30 Isocrate 7.00 Ajp Kingdom 7.30 Wbee 8.00 Pescatorius 8.30 Turpin Gold 9.00 Sevarana Brighton 6.12 Toussarok 6.42 Aeih 7.12 Kranjcar 7.42 Shady Bay 8.12 Lambournghini 8.42 Pietro Many punters retain a deep, almost sentimental attachment to the Tote, which was famously founded by Sir Winston Churchill to return money to racing from on-course betting, and has been a fixture on the betting landscape for 97 years. For many, there is a keen desire too for a competitive alternative to betting with bookmakers, not least as so many punters find their accounts closed or restricted if they show any sign of being an unprofitable customer for the layer. Whether a Tote that regularly bets into its own pools and makes a net profit from its betting activity is a price worth paying for that alternative is a question for individual backers to decide.
Scottish Sun
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Royal Ascot punters win ‘life-changing' sum from £1 stake after run of freak results ‘not seen in years'
Fair play if you managed to scoop the lot POT PICKERS Royal Ascot punters win 'life-changing' sum from £1 stake after run of freak results 'not seen in years' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SEVERAL Royal Ascot punters were celebrating winning 'life-changing' sums from a £1 stake - after a run of freak results not seen in years. Those who took on and conquered the Tote Placepot on Friday were duly rewarded with a colossal payout. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Cercene, left, was a shock 33-1 winner of the Coronation Stakes Credit: Shutterstock Editorial If you managed to pick a horse to place in the first six races and stuck a quid on it, you'd have won £26,424.30. Bookies were laughing as huge outsiders such as 33-1 Cercene won the Coronation Stakes. While 25-1 roughie Time For Sandals nabbed the Commonwealth Cup ahead of the likes of the well-fancied Shadow Of Light, Jonquil and Babouche. Favourite backers were licking their wounds after getting one over the layers on Thursday. But it was definitely 1-0 to the bookies on day four after just two favourites - Ethical Diamond and Amiloc - won. There were just 18.15 winning units on the Placepot. And the £26,000 dividend was one of the biggest seen in years. However, the benchmark was set in 2022 when, on one day there, the dividend was £79,125.50 to a £1 stake. Kev Matthews, Head of Racing at Tote, said: "Days like this are what the Tote Placepot is all about – a small stake can lead to a life-changing return. "Friday's dividend of over £26,000 is a perfect example. "We saw plenty of favourites turned over and a real mix of results, which gave Placepot players a rollercoaster ride all the way through to the final leg. "Huge congratulations to those who landed it." The Placepot, which requires punters to pick a placed horse in each of the first six races, remains one of the most popular bets in British racing. With tens of thousands playing every day at Royal Ascot, today's results demonstrate the unique excitement and potential rewards of pool betting. FREE BETS - GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: Establishes time and monetary limits before playing Only gambles with money they can afford to lose Never chases their losses Doesn't gamble if they're upset, angry or depressed Gamcare – Gamble Aware – Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.
The Irish Sun
21-06-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Royal Ascot punters win ‘life-changing' sum from £1 stake after run of freak results ‘not seen in years'
SEVERAL Royal Ascot punters were celebrating winning 'life-changing' sums from a £1 stake - after a run of freak results not seen in years. Those who took on and conquered the Tote Placepot on Friday were duly rewarded with a colossal payout. Advertisement 1 Cercene, left, was a shock 33-1 winner of the Coronation Stakes Credit: Shutterstock Editorial If you managed to pick a horse to place in the first six races and stuck a quid on it, you'd have won £26,424.30. Bookies were laughing as huge outsiders such as 33-1 Cercene won the Coronation Stakes. While 25-1 roughie Time For Sandals nabbed the Commonwealth Cup ahead of the likes of the well-fancied Shadow Of Light, Jonquil and Babouche. Favourite backers were licking their wounds after getting one over the layers on Thursday. Advertisement But it was definitely 1-0 to the bookies on day four after just two favourites - Ethical Diamond and Amiloc - won. There were just 18.15 winning units on the Placepot. And the £26,000 dividend was one of the biggest seen in years. However, the benchmark was set in 2022 when, on one day there, the dividend was £79,125.50 to a £1 stake. Advertisement Most read in Horse Racing Comment Exclusive Kev Matthews, Head of Racing at Tote, said: "Days like this are what the Tote Placepot is all about – a small stake can lead to a life-changing return. "Friday's dividend of over £26,000 is a perfect example. "We saw plenty of favourites turned over and a real mix of results, which gave Placepot players a rollercoaster ride all the way through to the final leg. "Huge congratulations to those who landed it." Advertisement The Placepot, which requires punters to pick a placed horse in each of the first six races, remains one of the most popular bets in British racing. With tens of thousands playing every day at Royal Ascot, today's results demonstrate the unique excitement and potential rewards of pool betting. FREE BETS - GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. . Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: Establishes time and monetary limits before playing Only gambles with money they can afford to lose Never chases their losses Doesn't gamble if they're upset, angry or depressed Gamcare – Gamble Aware – Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here. Advertisement
The Guardian
05-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Gambling Commission launches review into Tote's betting pools activity
The Gambling Commission, the government's betting watchdog, is understood to have launched a review of the Tote's betting activity. The former state-owned betting operator is under scrutiny over whether it is fulfilling its obligation in its pools to make it 'clear to customers in plain language' that they could in effect be betting against the Tote itself when they gamble on small-stake, high-win pools, such as the popular Placepot bet. The Commission will now assess whether the operator is compliant with the regulator's rules to ensure that gambling is 'conducted in a fair and open way' and to make the extent of the Tote's involvement in its pools 'clear to customers in plain language'. The Commission's decision to assess the extent and nature of the Tote's staking in its own betting markets comes a few weeks after the regulator received a detailed analysis, compiled over two years by a longstanding racing fan and punter, which suggested that the Tote's own money now accounts for up to 60% of the cash invested in its key daily Placepot bet, which will have a guaranteed minimum pool of £750k on each of the four days of next week's Cheltenham festival. Pool betting, also known as a pari-mutuel, is designed to remove the bookie from the betting process by pooling the total stakes on a race and declaring a dividend to a £1 unit once the operator has taken a percentage of the gross pool in commission. The Tote, meanwhile, has been a feature of the British betting landscape since 1928, when it was set up by an act of Parliament introduced to the house by Sir Winston Churchill to offer pool betting on racecourses. Nearly a century later, the majority of its customers still perceive it as essentially a bookie-free process in which punters bet among themselves. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, however, when racing continued for many months behind closed doors, the Tote launched what it described as a Pool Guarantee Service (PGS), in which it 'seeded' its pools with automated bets up to four hours before the start of a race with the aim of ensuring 'greater predictability for customers about what the pools will pay on any winning bet'. The Gambling Commission accepts that some licensed operators participate in their own products, in order to 'make products more attractive to the wider customer base by providing more gambling opportunities and/or making prizes larger'. This includes the practice of seeding markets, which is commonplace in many pool betting systems around the world, to encourage liquidity in pools. At the same time, though, the regulator also requires operators to communicate the nature and extent of its involvement to customers 'in plain language … as part of providing fair and open gambling'. The Tote's terms & conditions acknowledge that it is involved in seeding, and also that its PGS process 'also seeds some multi-leg pools such as the Placepot'. It does not detail the extent of its involvement, however, while the analysis sent to the Commission last month, which has been seen by the Guardian, suggests that the overwhelming majority of the Tote's betting in Placepots takes places around three minutes before the start of the first race in the bet, rather than an hour or more in advance. Rather than 'seeding' the markets, last-minute injections of significant cash into the pool are more typically associated with syndicates employing high-frequency automated betting strategies to identify overpriced permutations in multi-leg bets. The Placepot bet is available every day, at every UK and Irish meeting. Covering the first six races of the day, the bet requires punters to select a horse in each race to be placed. In practical terms, if a significant percentage of the Placepot pool is actually the Tote's own money there is likely to be an inevitable impact on the payouts that winning punters receive. At next week's ultra-competitive Cheltenham festival, for instance, if a backer found a winning Placepot line on a day when several short-priced favourites finished out of the frame, a monster payout might well be declared with only a handful of winning tickets. There will be no way for the winning customer to know, however, if one or more successful tickets were placed into the pool by the Tote itself, thereby denying them an even bigger slice of the pool. As the analysis sent to the Gambling Commission also points out, the Tote enjoys a 'significant information advantage' over its customers when betting into its pools, which could create 'an inherent conflict of interest' in which the operator's 'profit or loss is dependent upon, and inversely correlated with, their customer's loss.' When contacted on Wednesday, the Gambling Commission declined to either confirm or deny that it is reviewing the Tote's activity in its pools as it has a policy of refusing to comment on individual cases. The Tote has also been contacted for comment.
