Totesport Review

Totesport started life in horse racing and their operations still reflect a heavy bias towards this but in recent years they have begun to branch out to other sports with a good deal of success. Their coverage is not quite as extensive as some more established all-round bookmakers but it’s definitely worth joining for the introductory offer and if you’re a racing fan this will be one of your mainstays.

In this review we look at their history, survey the odds and markets on offer and explain the introductory offer to you, as well as giving an overview of the other promotions and offers that run regularly.

Odds & Markets

Tote now offers a good range of sports and a decent enough range of markets within those sports. They are still much better for some sports, most notably horse racing, than others but have improved significantly since the Betfred takeover in terms of the diversification of markets of they offer.

First off, if you are looking to bet on horse racing Totesport is the place to do it; they join an elite list of bookmakers that offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK and Irish racing. This means if you back a horse early and the price drifts before the start you will get paid out at the better price. They also offer more racing prices than any other sportsbook so they should definitely be your first port of call for bets on racing.

In terms of other sports their coverage is fairly mixed; they cover all the main leagues in football for example with a solid (but not extensive) range of markets in each game. You won’t find all of the more obscure sports and leagues that some of their competitors offer but as their customer base is largely made up of UK customers this doesn’t matter for a majority of punters.

Features

The new-look desktop and mobile site represents a strong feature for Totesport and the general appearance is very aesthetically pleasing whilst also being highly functional. The website doesn’t have live-streaming but other than that it’s difficult to fault.

Bet In Play

The Bet In Play section is very sleek and provides a fair amount of information on matches which are available to bet on. The fact that not all games are available to bet on in play is a separate issue. For a football match in play you get four tabs giving you highlights from the game, team line ups, match stats and even player statistics. For other games you might just get an interactive scoreboard and list of markets.

Totepool – Bet Types & Live Information

The Totepool is one of the most iconic sections within the Totesport bookmaker. It’s basically where the company really started way back in the early 20^th century. It’s now expanded quite considerably and with it are a plethora of different pool based bets:

• Placepot – Pick a horse to place in races 1-6 of any given meeting
• Jackpot – Pick the winner of 6 nominated races to win the £1million jackpot
• Quadpot – Pick a horse to place in races 3-6 of a selected meeting
• Exacta – Pick the horses to finish 1^st and second in the correct order
• Trifecta – Pick the horses to finish in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in the correct order to win
• Win/Place – A win and place bet, essentially the same as each way betting
• Scoop6 – Pick all 6 winners from a meeting on a Saturday to scoop the jackpot

Mobile Betting

Having a dedicated mobile application is also a significant strength as not all sections of the website load properly on all mobile platforms. The mobile application however is very easy to use, branded with the same theme and colour scheme as the website and has all the required functionality.

Other Gaming

The website also has casino, games, lotto and bingo sections for punters who enjoy other forms of online gambling and gaming. All function can be played without the need to install additional software and can be accessed through the tabs at the header of the website.

On the High Street

The Tote is one of the most iconic names in British betting. It’s been around since 1928 and has been government run until the company was purchased by Betfred in 2011. Prior to that the company have always had a strong presence on the high street and at one point were in over 7,000 betting shops throughout the UK.

The company have always had a huge presence at racetracks throughout the UK as well, with dozens of permanent stalls set up as a result. In fact, even though the brand now operates through the Betfred name, the last place you can find them is via these exact racetracks.

At their peak, the Tote had over 500 high street betting shops and were permanent fixtures on over 60 racetracks. Betfred have since taken control of these shops, with very few on the high street still remaining under the traditional ‘Tote’ brand name. 

Who are Totesport?

Also known as simply “The Tote” and previously the Horserace Totalisator Board, Totesport started out as a government-run off-course horse racing bookmaker. It was set up by none other than Winston Churchill in 1928 in order to offer a secure and legal alternative to the many illegal off-course bookies that were in operation at the time.

Over the years there were several attempts to privatise the business, all of which failed until 2011 when Betfred successfully acquired Tote for a reported sum of £265 million. Tote is licensed in the UK by the UK Gambling Commission and has 514 betting shops and 60 on-course outlets as well as the totesport.com website.

Contact & License Info

• Live Chat: Via website (24/7)
• Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (24/7)
• Telephone: 0800 028 6468 (24/7)
• Address: Petfre (Gibraltar) Limited, 5/2 Waterport Place, Gibraltar
• Company Number: 99314
• License: UK Gambling Commission (39544)