Tote Bet Types: How TAB Pools and Exotic Bets Pay Out

On 12 November 2021 the Gauteng Gambling Board transferred the totalisator, bookmaker and race meeting licences to 4Racing. The move followed Phumelela's 2020 business rescue, after which 4Racing took over Phumelela's horseracing, tote betting and media businesses, with TAB as its official totalisator betting partner.

On this page · 3 sections

1. Calculating the Net Pool and Per-Rand Dividends
2. Single-Race Pools from Win to Quartet
3. Multi-Race Pools: Place Accumulator, Jackpot and Pick 6

For punters betting on South African racing, the tote works on pool mathematics rather than bookmaker odds. With fixed-odds betting, the price is agreed when the bet is struck. With tote betting, the dividend is unknown until the pool closes. Every rand staked on a bet type goes into one shared pool, and the payout depends on how many winning tickets share it after the race.

Calculating the Net Pool and Per-Rand Dividends

A tote pool starts as the gross pool, the total staked on one bet type in one race or sequence. Under the TAB Operational Rules, deductions set by provincial or national legislation come off every gross pool before any dividend is calculated. What is left is the Net Pool. In 4Racing's own description, the operator takes its commission before the remainder is shared among the winning tickets.

For the Win pool, the dividend is the Net Pool divided by the number of unit bets on the winning horse. South African tote dividends are quoted per R1 unit, so a R10 bet on a horse paying a R45 dividend returns R450.

Under the TAB rules, the unit of betting for most horseracing pools is R1, and the Double is R2. Minimum bets are set by the operator and can differ between outlets and between online and retail betting, so check the minimum on the betting slip rather than assuming one figure.

Single-Race Pools from Win to Quartet

Single-race tote bet types range from a simple Win to four-horse exotic finishes:

• Win: the horse must finish first.
• Place: the horse must finish in a paying place. Races with eight to fifteen runners pay on the first three horses, and races with sixteen or more runners pay on the first four. Operators may also offer place pools on six- or seven-runner races that pay the first two.
• Each-way: a Win bet and a Place bet on the same horse with equal stakes.
• Swinger: two horses that must both finish in the first three, in any order. With fewer than four runners, the Swinger pool is abandoned and refunded.
• Exacta: the first and second horses in the correct order.
• Trifecta: the first three horses in the correct order, in races with three or more runners.
• Quartet: the first four horses in the correct order, in races with four or more runners.

A Swinger has three possible winning pairs in each race: first and second, first and third, or second and third. That makes it easier to hit than an Exacta, and the dividend usually reflects it. The Trifecta and Quartet go the other way: the outcome is far narrower, so the Net Pool is usually split among fewer winning tickets.

Multi-Race Pools: Place Accumulator, Jackpot and Pick 6

When a bet runs across several races on the card, the tote offers three main multi-leg pools.

The Place Accumulator asks for a horse to finish first, second or third in each designated leg. Unlike the single-race Place pool, it always pays on three places regardless of field size. Because a placed horse keeps the ticket alive, it is the most forgiving of the multi-race bets.

The Jackpot is the Pick 4 pool: the winners of four designated legs.

The Pick 6 asks for the winners of six designated legs. It is the hardest of the three to hit, which is why the pool can grow large. The legs for each of these pools are named on the official race card for the meeting.

Combinations, Units and Payout Realities

Building a tote ticket means multiplying the number of combinations by the unit stake. A punter who takes several horses in an Exacta, Trifecta, Quartet, Jackpot or Pick 6 is buying one unit bet for every combination on the ticket. Two horses in each of six Pick 6 legs is 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64 combinations, or R64 at a R1 unit.

The TAB rules also allow fractional betting on combination bets: a punter can stake less than a full unit per combination and receive a proportionally smaller share of any dividend. This is how large perms are kept to a sensible total.

Because the dividend comes from the Net Pool divided by the winning units, it keeps moving until the pool closes at the start of the race. A heavily backed favourite spreads the Net Pool across many tickets and pays a smaller dividend. An unfancied runner leaves the pool to be shared by only a few winning units and pays far more per rand. Reading the form guide helps with picking horses, but it does not change how the pool is shared. Tote betting is for adults aged 18 and over: set a budget for the meeting, and if betting stops being fun, call the free National Responsible Gambling Programme helpline on 0800 006 008.