Tote Reviews 2025: The Best Bookmaker For Pool Betting

Gambling.com Rating: 9.3/10

Our Verdict: A household name in British horse racing, Tote is the best pool betting site in the UK.

Quick Summary: Tote at a Glance

Tote is one of the UK’s most unique bookmakers thanks to its pool betting model.

When betting with the Tote, the money staked on a race or event is pooled together. If you back the winner you get a share of the pool prize (rather than a payout at fixed-odds).

Pool betting can result in bigger wins - but you don’t know your potential payout until after betting closes, so you can’t lock in a price upfront.

However, if you want to bet at fixed-odds as well as on pools, Tote offers these markets for 27 sports outside of horse racing.

The site and app function well and I was able to claim a high-value welcome offer as a new customer.

On the downside, I found that Tote only accepts debit cards, while the live streaming service is generally limited to racing only.

But if pool betting interests you, I highly recommend Tote as a reputable bookmaker backed by nearly 100 years in operation.

Our Tote Rating Explained

Gambling.com Rating: 9.3 (Highly Recommended)

Find out more about how we rate betting sites.

Tote Welcome Offer vs Offers From Competitors

I found Tote’s welcome offer was really straightforward to claim. 

After betting £10, I received a £10 free sports bet and £20 in Tote credits once my bet settled.

The £10 bet is for a fixed-odds market, while £20 is for betting on racing pools - so the offer allows you to try both styles of betting. There's also 20 free spins for the Tote online casino.

Bet £10 get £30 deals are on the more generous side when it comes to welcome offers - although sites like Spreadex and Betfred have bigger sign-up deals than Tote.

Here's a quick look at how the offer compares with welcome bonuses from rival bookmakers:

Top 5 Tote Offers For Existing Customers

Tote’s promotions are largely focused on horse racing. 

You won’t find the same range of promotions for sports like football that sites like bet365 and LiveScore Bet offer. 

But the racing-focused promos are varied and valuable. They keep me returning to this site on big race days.

Here are five of my favourite Tote promotions:

Tote Horse Racing Betting

Horse racing betting is where the Tote has made its name.

The placepot is my favourite type of Tote pool bet, where I choose a placed horse in each of the first six races at a meeting, with the chance to win big from small stakes.

Over the last five Cheltenham Festivals, the average placepot payout for a £1 winning bet has been £7,126.

There’s also a good selection of racing promotions to choose from.

Tote+ gives your winnings a 10% boost, while the Tote Guarantee ensures that all winning pool bets pay out at least as much as the fixed-odds starting price - or even more.

I also like the Stayers Club - a weekly loyalty scheme that rewards regular bettors with up to £10 in Tote Credit.

Streaming is available for all UK and Irish races. I watched every day of the Cheltenham Festival live on the Tote app last year. Unlike with other bookmakers, you don't need to have placed a bet to watch a stream.

Tote Football Betting

Tote holds its own when compared to the UK’s best best football betting sites. 

I found 220 betting markets for a Premier League match between Brighton and Liverpool - similar to the amount I found at Betway and William Hill. 

Pricing is generally decent and I found the bet builder worked well. I easily built a four-leg bet builder on Man City vs Real Madrid, combining match result, BTTS, total corners and cards markets. 

Tote usually runs football pool promotions during big tournaments, which can offer larger payouts than fixed-odds bets, depending on the pool size. 

I'd like to see some more football promos like boosts and early payouts, which sites like BoyleSports offer.

Tote Cricket Betting

I usually use Unibet for cricket betting (because of live streams), but Tote is not a bad option either. 

You can’t watch the action live, but odds hold up well against the top cricket betting sites.

I bet on a T20 Blast match between Nottinghamshire and Durham, which had 80 available markets. That sort of depth is impressive - and I was even able to bet on obscure markets like Nottinghamshire to win the coin toss.

I'd like to see a few more cricket-specific promotions added, however.

Tote Tennis Betting

While Tote doesn’t generally offer many promotions for sports aside from racing, I took advantage of a nice acca deal for betting on Wimbledon. 

I claimed a £5 free bet by betting £25 in accas over the week. I've also seen this deal pop up around other Grand Slam tournaments. 

When betting on the French Open, I got a valuable price boost on Carlos Alcaraz to win a quarter-final tie against Tommy Paul (2/1 up from even money). 

And I followed my bet in the in-play section, which has a handy little point-by-point tracker. 

The only drawback with this tennis betting site is the lack of live streams. 

Sites like bet365 and Ladbrokes are better options if you want to watch tennis live while you bet.

Tote Golf Betting

Tote’s not a bad option for golf betting - especially if you like to hunt each-way value. 

When browsing markets for the US Open, I found that Tote paid out on seven places at 1/5 of the win odds - which is above average.

Tote runs occasional golf pools for majors, which is another reason why I like betting on golf here.

Tote Rugby Betting

I bet on the Six Nations with Tote and was pretty happy overall.

All the markets you’d expect from a top rugby betting site were covered, from match winner and handicaps to total points lines. 

Odds were very strong: I backed France -7.5 vs Italy and Tote’s price matched what I got at Betfred (which is probably the best rugby betting site I’ve tested).

Tote doesn’t have rugby-specific promotions - although not many online bookmakers do outside of a handful of sites.

Tote Darts Betting

I bet on the PDC World Championship with Tote. Core markets (match winner, correct score, 180s) were covered and odds were pretty competitive.

Tote lacks darts-specific promos, whereas a site like BetMGM has plenty of darts boosts and special deals.

For occasional darts betting, Tote is fine, but serious arrows fans might find better value and more promotions elsewhere.

Tote Snooker Betting

Tote’s snooker betting section is pretty bare-bones in my opinion.

I had a punt on the World Snooker Championship and found the markets basic - there wasn’t much beyond winner, correct score and handicaps. 

That said, odds were in line with prices from William Hill, which is a site with a very good snooker offering. 

Combat Sports at Tote

I was very happy with Tote’s MMA and boxing betting options.

I got odds of 6/4 on Katie Taylor to beat Amanda Serrano, which was the best price I found when I checked rivals - better than Ladbrokes and Coral, who were offering 11/8. 

I was most impressed with the MMA section, however, which includes odds for promotions like Cage Warriors and PFL, as well as the bigger promotions like the UFC.

A lot of betting sites don't match that level of coverage.

My only gripe: I'd like if MMA markets could be combined in a bet builder, which doesn't seem to be possible here yet. 

More Sports & Special Markets at Tote

Tote covers 28 sports in total - solid, but not as many as Bzeebet’s 44, for example.

US sports are well-represented - with the basketball betting section standing out. I was able to bet on the NBA playoffs with lots of market variety and competitive odds.

The Esports betting section has odds for all the big video game titles like CS:GO, League of Legends, Dota 2 and more. 

They even list politics betting markets (like the next UK Prime Minister) and TV events such as Eurovision and Love Island. 

Tote Odds & Market Variety

Because of Tote’s pool betting model, this bookmaker often pays out more on horse racing than you’d get at fixed-odds.

I’ve found this is particularly the case when backing outsiders.

For popular sports like football and golf, Tote’s fixed-odds prices are up there with the best in the business. 

For example, I placed bets on three Premier League matches and found that Tote matched William Hill’s odds twice and beat them once. 

However, coverage for niche sports is thinner, with limited depth on snooker and darts.

In short, Tote is a solid bet for major sports, while its pool-based value on horse racing remains a big positive.

Tote Bet Builder

Tote’s bet builder is improving all the time and has now been expanded to cover five sports.

The same-game acca is available for football, tennis, basketball, baseball and American football - allowing up to six legs in a bet. 

It's more versatile than William Hill's bet builder, but not as complete as bet365’s, which covers 14 sports and allows you up to 12 legs.

Here’s how it compares to bet builders from other betting sites:

Live In-Play Betting at Tote

I’ve always enjoyed betting in-play with the Tote. 

I regularly use it for football and tennis, as I find the live stats console really useful. 

Football in-play markets are comprehensive: I regularly see between 100 and 120 live betting markets for Premier League matches when a game is in-play.

The cash out feature generally offers decent value. Less reputable sites tend to low-ball me with cash out offers - but not the Tote.

However, as I've already mentioned, there are better live streaming betting sites out there with a bigger range of sports shown live.

User Experience & Site Design

Tote’s site is visually clean, with a red and white theme that you might be familiar with if you've placed bets with the Tote in-person at a racecourse.

In terms of design, it's almost on par with 10bet, which is one of the best-designed online bookmakers in my opinion.

Navigation is intuitive and things are pretty easy to find, whether you want to place pool bets on racing or fixed-odds bets on other sports. 

Promotions are accessible from the top navigation bar, while the placepot tab shows you which meetings are eligible for he Tote's signature bet.

Load times are fast on both desktop and mobile, while the in-play service comes with statistics and graphics that help you track the action.

I'd like if a search function was added so I could locate teams and markets without having to tap around and find them manually. This seems like it would be a pretty easy fix, so I'll be monitoring the site to see if it's added.

Overall, however, Tote is one of the most user-friendly betting sites in the UK. 

Depositing & Withdrawing Funds

Tote Betting App

Tote’s betting app comes highly-rated from users on both the Apple App Store (4.5/5-star user rating) and Google Play Store (4.6/5-star user rating). 

And from my experience, the Tote app fully deserves the positive user ratings it has received.

During testing, I used the app to bet on live football and was impressed by how quick and easy it was to move between markets and place bets in-play. 

I also like the fingerprint login service for added security, as well as the app's clear design.

If you're betting on horses or greyhounds and watching live streams, I recommend the app as it works slightly better than the browser version of the Tote site.

Overall, this is one of the best apps I’ve used for betting - especially in-play.