Best tote is a way a bookmaker pays a winning racing bet: at the highest of the tote dividends its terms compare, rather than at the dividend from one tote. While the TAB pools were separate, one winner could carry three different dividends, such as an illustrative $4.60, $4.90 and $5.10, and this product paid $5.10. Mid tote paid the middle one, $4.90, and top tote is a label some operators use for the same top-of-the-set idea.
Tabcorp has moved its tote pools to a single national pool (reported from October 2026). A single pool declares one dividend for each result. What these products add now depends on how your bookmaker defines them, and that is in its terms, not in the product's name.
What best tote, mid tote and top tote paid
Each product reads the same set of declared dividends and picks a different one. With illustrative win dividends of $4.60, $4.90 and $5.10 for one winner:
| Product | A winning bet is paid | From $4.60, $4.90 and $5.10 |
|---|---|---|
| Best tote | The highest dividend in the set | $5.10 |
| Mid tote, or middle tote | The middle dividend of three | $4.90 |
| Top tote | The top of the set, read the same way | $5.10 |
| Top tote plus | The top of the set or the starting price (SP), whichever is higher | $5.10, or the SP if that is higher |
The "plus" is the label to read closely. On a runner that started at $5.40, a version that adds the SP pays $5.40, not $5.10. These are product names rather than standard rules, so each bookmaker's terms decide what its version compares.
One rule book spells out the classic pair. Western Australia's Rules of Wagering 2005 (the version in force from 7 October 2025) let WA bookmakers take a "tote bet". It is paid on either the highest or the middle dividend paid by an Australian totalisator, which the rules define as a totalisator licensed in New South Wales, Victoria or Queensland (rules 3(1) and 50(2)). The same choice exists for place bets on the place dividends, and the two sides must agree which applies when the bet is made (rule 50(6)). Other bookmakers set out their versions in their own terms.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Comparing more dividends, or adding the SP, can lift what a winning bet pays but does nothing for a loser, which costs the whole stake under every one of these products. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Why one race could pay three different dividends
Trade press and reference sources describe the TAB tote, before the national pool, as three main pools: NSW TAB, SuperTAB out of Victoria and UniTAB out of Queensland. Each pool shared out only the money bet into it, less its operator's commission, so each declared its own dividend. Because a win dividend equals the net pool over the money bet on the winner, the same horse paid more wherever it held a smaller share of the net pool.
With illustrative pools, after commission:
| Pool | Net win pool | Bet on the winner | Dividend = net pool / bet on the winner | Winner's share of the net pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $46,000 | $10,000 | $4.60 | 21.7% |
| VIC | $98,000 | $20,000 | $4.90 | 20.4% |
| QLD | $30,600 | $6,000 | $5.10 | 19.6% |
In this illustration the spread comes from where each pool's money went. Pools could disagree most on lightly backed runners, where one bet changes the money on the runner by a bigger share. How tote dividends are calculated covers rounding and the minimum dividend, and tote betting explains the pool itself.
Worked: $4.60, $4.90 and $5.10, before the national pool
Example: Illustrative dividends for one race as results showed them before the national pool, not a real race: $4.60, $4.90 and $5.10 for the winner, and $1.70, $1.80 and $1.90 for a placegetter.
| $10 bet | Dividend used | Return, stake included |
|---|---|---|
| Win, into the $4.60 pool | $4.60 | 10 x 4.60 = $46.00 |
| Win, highest of the three | $5.10 | 10 x 5.10 = $51.00 |
| Win, middle of the three | $4.90 | 10 x 4.90 = $49.00 |
| Place, highest of the three | $1.90 | 10 x 1.90 = $19.00 |
| Place, middle of the three | $1.80 | 10 x 1.80 = $18.00 |
A tote dividend is a return per $1 with the stake included, so the $51.00 return is a $41.00 profit on $10. Set against a bet into the $4.60 pool, taking the highest dividend was worth $5.00; set against the $5.10 pool, it was worth nothing. Mid tote sat between the two.
The edge cases in the same set:
- Two dividends instead of three. WA's definition makes the middle dividend the higher of the two (rule 3(1)), so with $4.60 and $5.10 both products pay $5.10.
- One dividend. The middle dividend is then that dividend, and so is the highest.
- A scratched runner. Tote bets on it are refunded (rule 9.1 of the tote rules in the 2010 WA gazette), and the pool is shared among the backers of the runners that start. No cents-in-the-dollar deduction applies to a dividend. Whether a bookmaker refunds a tote-based bet the same way is in its terms.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The highest of three dividends only ever lifts the return on a winner, and a runner that loses costs the whole stake whichever dividend the product would have used. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
What a single national pool changes
Tabcorp's national pool, reported under the name One Pool (as at October 2026), is one pool rather than three. One pool means one pot of money for each bet type on a race, and one pot can only produce one dividend for each result; the national tote pool entry covers it in general terms. Where every dividend a product compares comes from that one pool, the highest, the middle and the only dividend are the same number.
Example: Illustrative: a single national pool declares $4.90 for the winner. A $10 bet paid on the highest dividend, on the middle one or straight into the pool returns 10 x 4.90 = $49.00. The $2.00 gap between best and mid tote in the worked example needed two different dividends to exist.
A name on a bet slip can outlast the rule behind it, so check three things in your bookmaker's current terms:
- Which dividends the product compares now, and from which operators' pools.
- Whether anything is added to the comparison, such as the SP in a "plus" product.
- Whether it is still offered on the meetings, codes and bet types you use.
Older results can still list separate NSW, VIC and QLD dividends for one race. They came from the separate pools and say nothing about how a race pays today.
Limits and exclusions to look for
Operators set their own limits, so read the terms for these kinds of clause rather than expecting one rule:
| Clause | What it can do | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Stake or payout cap | Pays only part of a bet at the top dividend | The cap, and what the rest is paid at |
| Meetings and codes | Offers the product on some races only | Whether your race qualifies |
| Bet types | Covers win, or win and place, only | Whether each way, exotics or multis count |
| Cut-off | Stops taking the product before the start | The time it closes |
| Bonus bets | Leaves bonus bets out | Whether a bonus bet can be placed on it |
Example: Illustrative terms that pay the first $100 of a stake at the top dividend and the rest at a single pool's dividend: $300 on the earlier winner returns 100 x 5.10 + 200 x 4.60 = $510 + $920 = $1,430, not 300 x 5.10 = $1,530.
Racing NSW's minimum bet limits for NSW thoroughbred races do not reach the product. Racing NSW's FAQ on those limit conditions, on its website as at October 2026, says they do not apply to "derivative bets such as best tote". So an operator is not required to accept one up to those limits, and minimum bet limits sets out what they do cover.
Best tote vs taking the fixed price
| Fixed price | Best tote | |
|---|---|---|
| Known when you bet | Yes, the price on your ticket | No, it comes from dividends declared after the result |
| Your own bet | Leaves your price where it is, although the bookmaker may refuse or trim the stake | Struck with the bookmaker rather than placed into a pool, so your stake is not added to the money on your runner |
| Another runner scratched late | Can be cut by a deduction in cents in the dollar | Read from dividends, which carry no deduction; the terms decide the rest |
| What it adds over one tote | Nothing | The spread between pools, while they were separate |
Before the national pool, the product's edge over a single tote was that spread. Where the comparison now holds one dividend, choosing between it and a fixed price is the same choice as tote against fixed. The fixed price is the better side whenever it beats the dividend you expect after the last of the money arrives.
With illustrative figures, say a tote approximate shows $5.40, and your records show approximates like it falling about 6% by the close. You can expect about 5.40 x (1 - 0.06) = $5.08, so a fixed $5.20 is the better side and a fixed $4.90 is not. Fixed odds vs tote works that comparison through on three winners.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A tote-based product changes what a winner pays, not how often your runners win, and every loser costs its full stake. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Where best tote bets cost you money
Each cost below uses illustrative figures.
- Treating an approximate as the figure. Taking the tote-based product over a fixed $5.00 because an approximate showed $5.30, then collecting a $4.90 dividend, returns $49.00 on $10 instead of $50.00.
- Expecting the old three-way spread. Where the comparison now reads one dividend, the product pays what a plain tote bet pays. Giving up a fixed price for a spread that no longer exists costs whatever that price was above the dividend.
- Betting past a cap. Under the illustrative terms above, $300 returned $1,430 rather than the $1,530 the top dividend suggested, $100 less.
- Counting on a minimum bet limit. Racing NSW's conditions for NSW thoroughbred races leave out derivative bets of this kind, so a large bet can be declined or cut.
- Confusing it with best of the best, which compares the best tote with the top fluc and pays the higher.
Weighing the fixed side on the Terminal
Only the fixed half of this choice exists before the jump. B337's Terminal lines up prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports, with Betfair back and lay beside them, price history (flucs) and closing lines. A tote dividend can't be compared ahead of time: it does not exist until the tote declares it.
The board reads prices on a repeating cycle, not tick by tick, so confirm the current price at your bookmaker before betting. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. For the other ways a race can pay, see horse racing betting. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A longer fixed price lifts the return on a winner and does nothing to the chance of one. See responsible gambling for limits and support.