There are a lot of ways to bet on horse racing. Most punters new to the sport will stick with race winners and each way odds, and use a site like Paddy Power to house all their racing bets.
However, as punters become more experienced they begin to look for intricate ways to spread their stakes.
While the Paddy Power app and website offers a large variety of ways to bet on horse racing, if you want to start pool betting then you’ll have to look further afield.
One of the biggest pool bets is the placepot. In this guide, we’ll explain what a placepot is and why it’s such a popular choice for intermediate and experienced punters.
We’ll also show you the maths behind calculating placepot payouts.
What is a placepot?
A placepot is a pool bet, where punters bet on horses to place across the first six races of a meeting.
If your selections all win or place then you receive a dividend relative to how many other winners there are in the total pot.
Placepots can be hugely lucrative if you’re one of just a handful of people to correctly predict the outcome of races. However, if you and 90% of the field all back the same favourites then you won’t return a high dividend.
What are placepot dividends?
Placepot dividends can prove very lucrative
Placepot dividends are the payouts punters earn from a successful bet. It’s a term used in sports betting when bets are pooled into one place, because the winnings are equally divided between the victors.
Pool betting is hugely popular in the UK and Ireland, and for many US punters it’s the only way to bet on horse racing, compared to fixed odds betting. Americans often refer to it as pari-mutuel betting.
If you’re new to the sport then it’s probably worth sticking with fixed odds to begin with, so you can learn the ropes. Only after gaining a fair bit of knowledge about horse racing is it worth moving on to placepots and other tote pots.
How to calculate placepot dividends
Now we get to the tricky party. A placepot pays out dividends for all those who accurately predict the results of six races. But how do you calculate your payout?
Well, to be honest it’s very difficult unless you know how many people are also contesting the pool, and the size of the pot.
You also have to factor in that the Tote will take a 27% cut, which is distributed to the sport of horse racing. So, you and everyone else are competing for 73% of the rest.
Let’s say 1,000 bettors all stake £1 on the placepot. That means there’s £730 to compete for. Say you and nine others win, while the rest lose. The £730 total pot is split into 10, meaning you earn £73 in total.
Now, that doesn’t feel particularly lucrative, does it? You predicted six horses correctly and only earned £73. However, you can choose whatever stake you like and your payout will be relative to it.
So, if you staked £10 in this placepot then you’ll earn a larger percentage share of the overall dividend.
Are placepots worth it?
This is the big question. Generally placepots are worth playing on when you sniff an upset in a race and know thousands of other punters will be betting on the meet too. This way you can bet on the placepot knowing there’ll be a huge pool of money available, and keep your fingers crossed that your upset pick comes good.
Where can I bet on a placepot?
You can’t bet on a placepot at Paddy Power online but you can via the Tote in Paddy Power shops. Just look for the placepot option when you enter a shop to get started.