Is there still a place today for Totalisator Pools?

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PopisDad
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2018 6:39 pm

This is probably not the place to discuss Tote betting given the nature of bet Angel and betting exchanges, but as I am a member of this forum, I thought it worth posting this thread just to get reactions and comments from other members.
The history of totalisator betting goes back to the days of Winston Churchill who was a great horse racing and betting fan, but felt none of the generated betting revenues were benefiting the actual sport of horseracing - so started The Tote or Horserace Betting Levy Board to put back some of the profits generated through horserace betting back into the sport.
This continued until around seven years ago when the whole Tote system was sold to Betfred to become ToteSport.
This Thursday that seven-year monopoly ends and horserace totalisator betting will be back in the hands of the horse racing industry through Britbet. The 'Tote Monopoly' is no more - seemingly anyone with the right Gaming Commission licence can operate and promote a tote pool!
But should tote betting just be within the exclusive domain of horse and greyhound racing? Why cannot a tote be set up for events like Crufts, X-Factor or The General Election for example? A lot of these events are now covered by Betfair with most benefitting from live media coverage too, and so I wonder if there is also a place for a 'white labelled' Tote? Particularly if the profits from these events can be used to fund worthy causes, much like the National Lottery and Scratchcards etc.
Should investment into these possible pools be classed as betting, a term I don't think gets mentioned by Bet Angel users? If not betting what is it? Investing? Donating? Subscribing? or something else?
Any thoughts and comments on the above would be most welcomed by this Bet Angel forum member who is interested to explore further the fundraising opportunities of totalisator pool betting.
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megarain
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Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 1:26 pm
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Its a thoughtful question.

Betfred, IMHO, did nothing for tote betting.

They double dipped carryover pools. e.g. A scoop 6 fund was not won .. the pool which had already been raped of 20%, was further raped, the following week. Absolutely no incentive to bet into these pools .. and the turnover has fallen dramatically. It was then raped again, if the pool wasnt won. I have nothing but contempt for Betfred.

Now the monopoly has expired, all racecourse will create their own pools .. and I think most see it as a way to further abuse their punters. You can fool some of the punters, all of the time .. but even drunks, realise a 20% deduction is worse than betting with bookies betting to 15%. I heard some comment, that these pools will pay out at SP, less 20%. The police should be called. Its absolute theft, in all but name.

Its amazing Hong Kong pools do so well. They also rape the pools .. but, suppose its the only legal form of betting.

You have to offer some incentive for semi-pro punters. Non mainline sports, will still have to pay for infrastructure, to run the pool. Maybe an App would reduce expenses, but, if the pool has to deduct more than 8%, its a non-runner, IMHO.
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