How to Win the Placepot — Beginner’s Guide

The Placepot is one of the most popular types of bets at the racetracks. Since it is rather straightforward and has a great payout potential, both social bettors and seasoned punters enjoy testing their luck and skills with the Placepot bet. In our guide, we will tell you everything you need to know about the Placepot bet. We will cover how it works and its rules. More importantly, we will show you a few tips and tricks that may help you learn how to win the Placepot.

Eight Quick Facts About How to Win the Placepot

• All bets placed on the Placepot go in the same pool, and the money is later divided among winners.
• The more people bet on a runner, the lower the odds for that runner.
• The Tote Placepot returns on average around £400, but you can easily win thousands of pounds if you are lucky and skilful enough.
• You can bet on multiple selections per each leg with the Placepot bet.
• Betting against popular opinion is an effective strategy for winning the Tote Placepot.
• The more selections you make, the more expensive it will be to place the Placepot bet.
• If your horse is a non-runner, your selection is replaced with an SP favourite.
• To win the Placepot bet, you need to predict runners that will place in all races in a single meet.

What Is a Placepot Bet?

The Tote Placepot bet is a pari-mutuel horse racing bet, which means every Placepot bet that is placed ends up in a total pool. The Tote takes 27% from the total pool, and the remaining 73% is distributed among winners. Because of that, you can often win huge payouts for a small investment.

The average Tote Placepot payout is a bit over £400, but quite a few punters managed to win thousands of pounds. In fact, one lucky punter won as much as £180,000 from a £2 bet. Of course, how much you may win depends on the number of winners, the total pool size, and your bet.

If it sounds too confusing and you’re wondering “How does Tote Placepot work?”, rest assured that there is nothing too complicated about it. The Placepot bet is as easy as it gets, and it is the first bet of the race day where you will bet on races one to six.

In some cases, if the first race is a charity one, you will bet on races two to seven. If you wish to learn more about it, make sure to read on.

Tote Placepot Rules

The first thing you should learn about a Placepot bet is how to win it. There are several ways to do that, and it all depends on the number of runners in a race.

If there are two, three, or four runners, you will have to pick the winner. If there are five, six, or seven runners, you can pick either a winner or a horse that places. With eight or more runners, you can pick the first three, while you need to correctly predict horses that will finish in the first four if there are 16 or more runners in a race.

One of the most important Tote Placepot rules you should know about is that you are not limited to a single selection when making the Placepot bet. Usually, there are six races in a single meeting, and you can choose and bet on as many runners per leg as you like. However, the more runners you bet on, the more expensive it will be to place the bet.

Apart from the number of winners, Tote Placepot returns also depend on the amount you stake. The minimum stake per line is generally 5p or 10p, but some operators may allow even 1p per line. Additionally, you need to bet a minimum total amount — usually either £1 or 50p.

Placepot Betting Explained

Placing a Placepot bet is relatively straightforward. All you have to do is mark your selections on a Placepot slip that looks similar to a bingo card. With other Placepot slips, you may be required to put the numbers of the horses you are betting on, so make sure you have your racecard ready.

As we mentioned earlier, the more selections you make, the more it will cost to place a bet. „How much does a Placepot bet cost?“, you wonder. Well, it depends on several variables, such as the minimum stake per line and the number of runners you bet on. However, while it may sound somewhat tricky, calculating how much you will have to stake is as easy as placing a bet.

While it won’t technically help you learn how to win the Tote Placepot bet, knowing how to calculate the amount you will need to stake is essential for the Placepot betting. The easiest way to do that is to multiply the number of each selection you make per leg.

For example, if you bet on two runners in two legs and on one selection in the other four legs, the number of lines you are betting on would look something like this:

1 x 2 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 4 lines

Still unsure what a Tote Placepot is and how to find out how much you need to bet? Let’s try another example. This time you want to bet on four runners in a single leg and two selections in every other leg. In that case, the number of lines you will have to cover would look like this:

2 x 2 x 2 x 4 x 2 x 2 = 128 lines

If you wish to learn how to make a Placepot bet online, the process is relatively the same, the only difference being that you would fill out a digital Placepot slip. However, be mindful of how many runners you wish to bet on since the amount you need to stake skyrockets the more selections you make.

If you are betting at the track, simply multiply the number of lines you are betting on with how much you are willing to bet per line, and you will calculate the amount you need to stake to make the Placepot bet.

Now that you know virtually everything there is about the Placepot bet, the only thing left to do is place a bet yourself. “Where can I place a Placepot bet?”, you ask. The answer depends on whether you prefer betting online or at the tracks.

You can place your bets with the Tote operator at the tracks. Moreover, if you prefer betting online, many reputable online bookmakers allow you to make a Placepot bet. In fact, we have already prepared a list of the best horse racing betting sites in the UK for 2021, so make sure to check it out.

Tips and Tricks for Winning the Tote Placepot

You should know several things before placing the Placepot bet, some of which you may even use to your advantage and potentially make a profit. The first tip we have for you is to avoid betting on favourites.

Knowing how odds are calculated with the Placepot bet is perhaps the most relevant part of learning what Placepot betting is since it will directly influence your betting strategy. Namely, the odds on individual runners are calculated by dividing the total pool by the amount the house takes and then dividing the remainder with the amount wagered on that particular runner.

In other words, the more people bet on a single runner that is most often the favourite, the lower the odds for that runner.

Of course, if you wish to learn how to win the Placepot, betting exclusively on the favourites is perhaps the most logical thing to do. Moreover, Tote operators often encourage people to bet on favourites since slips usually offer an option to bet on one, and many punters prefer placing wagers on them.

However, if you wish to make a profit, we advise against betting on favourites since many punters bet on them. Because of that, the odds on favourites are generally low. Even if you end up winning the Tote Placepot, it is unlikely that you will make a life-changing profit. After all, your runner needs to place and not win the race, and you can get a much bigger dividend by betting smart.

For that reason, betting against popular opinion is a viable strategy. The most effective way to do that is to bank horses you have a strong feeling about and those that can place, and then add two or more selections for races with several viable options.

Another strategy you can use to secure a hefty Tote Placepot payout is to make non-runners work in your favour. Horses marked as non-runners are replaced on a betting slip with a favourite to win. If there are co-joint favourites, your bet is replaced with a horse with the lowest racecard number. Rather than betting prematurely, bet on the horses you know are going to run.

Ultimately, knowing how to win the Placepot is just a matter of experience and knowledge of taking valuable information and using it to your advantage.

If you wish to learn more about picking a horse that can place, you should first learn how to read a racecard and study a horse racing form. We have already written a guide on it, so make sure to check it out and make an informed Placepot bet.

The Bottom Line

Even though the odds and payouts of the Placepot bet work a bit differently, the Placepot is a bet just like any other. While we have shown you several tips and tricks that can help you learn how to win the Placepot, your knowledge about horse racing and experience as a punter will be your best tools for winning.

Before you bet, make sure that you understand how lines can affect your stake. Lastly, we recommend that you create a viable strategy that excludes betting on favourites and instead bet on runners who have good chances of winning and can simultaneously net you a nice profit.