In Australia punters have the option of betting with bookmakers or the tote. See for yourself tote odds compared with bookmaker odds in our weekly updated tables.

Punters can place bets on the tote from the comfort of their homes, through telephone accounts, at TAB shops and in the pleasant atmosphere of many Pub Tabs. The casinos also have TAB outlets for the convenience of punters.

If you are a small tote punter, for only $5 you can bet online and be given the best tote price in the country for your win bets.
If you are not doing this you are throwing money away.
See the special offer we have on this site.

For win and place betting, particularly on Saturday metropolitan meetings in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, bookmakers generally offer far better value.

This is just about always the case with the most popular horses in the market.

The reason is simple:
Horses can only be plunged with bookmakers.

If the plunge is successful, bookmakers will often lose on the race. For example if a horse is backed in on track from $6.00 to $3.00 and wins, punters will get the price they backed the horse at from the bookmakers.

That means some punters will be paid $6.00, others $5.50 and so on. Many successful punters have arrangements with bookmakers to get the top official fluctuation, which means they will be given the $6.00.

However if a similar movement occurred in the tote price and a horse was "backed in" on the tote from $6.00 to $3.00, not one punter will get the $6.00. All the punters will only receive $3.00.
The tote will still clean up on the race.

But what is even sadder for tote punters is that if a horse is plunged in the betting ring, tote punters will often get shorter odds than the plunged official betting ring starting price. It is like someone being at the track, watching a horse's price come in from $6.00 to $3.00 then going up to a bookie just before they jump and asking for $2.80.

It is just about impossible to make a profit backing horses which are favourites on the tote. Since the tote bets to a market of about 120% based upon the actual bets placed, the prices which are poorest value are the well supported horses. These are slashed because the tote must win on every race, every day.

By backing tote favourites punters are often getting so far under the odds available in the betting ring and so far under the horses' true winning chances that they must lose. It is not possible to back enough winners at very poor odds to cover the losing bets.

It is often said that when the favourites win, punters have had a good day. That may well be the case if the horses were backed with the bookmakers. But not on the tote.

Favourites can win every race on the tote and the tote will still have a good day.

Once again we suggest you see for yourself the tote odds compared with bookmaker odds in our weekly updated tables.

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