By Tanya Stephenson of Channel 4 Racing

Betting on the Tote offers a slightly simpler way for punters to get to place a bet. They have outlets all over the racecourse which feature their bright red and green livery, making them very easy to find!

Tote windows tend to be popular with novice racegoers. Also, they tend to be nearer to the bars and restaurants and do not require a walk to the betting ring if you are somewhere else on the racecourse.

As with a ‘rails’ bookmakers, you tell the cashier which horse you want to back (using its number is normally better than the name) and hand over your money.

As well as betting on horses to win, the Tote accepts each-way bets as well as a range of what are called exotic bets. These are bets with a higher reward such as forecasts, trifectas for predicting either the first two or three in a race, to placepots and jackpots which require you to predict a horse to get placed in each of the first six races for a placepot and a horse to win each of the first six races for a Jackpot. You can have more than one selection in each race but the cost of the bet grows with each extra selection.

The major difference between betting with the Tote and in the Betting Ring is that when you place a bet with the bookmakers you know the price you are getting. That is not the case on the Tote because it is pool betting.

Pool Betting is the system whereby all the money gambled on a particular bet - for instance a single win - goes into a pool. The Tote takes out its percentage and the rest of the money is divided between the winning tickets. The odds are often similar to those offered by the bookmakers because punters will watch both and not allow one to be overly different to the other - especially on those near the top of the betting (the Tote have screens allowing punters to see what the odds are on each horse but no-one can tell the final odds until after the race).

The advantage of the Tote is that there is less mystery surrounding it than the betting ring - and possibly fear for the novice punter - but on the whole each has its advantages. One thing to note about the Tote is that because it attracts more inexperienced punters, those horses with popular sounding names or connections, especially on big days, are a lot shorter odds than they should be. For example a horse called 'Hat Wearer' ridden by Frankie Dettori on Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot is one you may want to avoid on the Tote!