In their heyday, pools betting was the one legal chance that a UK punter had to make a big score from a small stake. Unlike fixed odds betting, with pool betting, payouts are based upon how much money is in the pool and how many people backed that winner.
What is Pool Betting?
Pool betting, or pari-mutuel betting, involves all bets on a specific outcome being pooled together, with payouts determined by the total amount wagered and the number of winning bets. This type of betting is common in various sports and events, particularly in horse racing and football. Here’s how it works and some notable examples and brands in the UK:
How Pool Betting Works
- Collection and Pooling of Bets: Bettors place their wagers, which are collected into a common pool. No fixed odds are offered when the bets are placed.
- Calculation of Payouts: After the event, the total pool is divided among all the bettors who correctly predicted the outcome, after deducting a management fee by the betting operator.
- Fluctuating Odds: The odds are dynamic and depend on the volume of bets placed on each outcome. They continue to change as more bets are placed.
Examples of Pool Betting
- Horse Racing: Common bets include the Win, Place, and Each Way bets, as well as more complex wagers like the Exactor, Trifecta, and Quadpot.
- Football: Football pool betting typically involves predicting the outcomes of a series of matches, with points awarded for correct predictions.
Notable UK Online Brands and Their Offerings
Not all UK bookies offer pool betting options; here are the sites that do:
- The Tote: A well-known brand in horse racing betting, The Tote offers various pool bets such as the Scoop6, Jackpot, and Placepot. It was historically the only operator licensed to offer pool betting on horse racing in the UK.
- The Pools: Known for football pool betting, The Pools offers classic pool games like the football pools, where players predict draws or score lines in a series of matches.
- Betfred: Once partnered with The Tote, Betfred continues to offer Tote-style pool bets on horse racing, including popular bets like the Placepot.
- Coral: Offers a Football Jackpot where players try to predict the outcome of 15 football matches, with a potential for large payouts from a pooled fund.
Football Pools
Football pools were a popular method for people to chase their fortune. Long before the lottery became reality in Britain in 1994, people seeking to win riches were playing the weekly football pools.
In the classic football pools format, you make selections for 10 matches that you think will end in a draw. You can also have the computer make your selections for you by playing a lucky dip.
If you guess correctly on the match being a draw, you’re awarded two points. Get the final scoreline right and add a third point. Scoreless draws are worth two points. If either side wins the match, you earn one point. Your top eight matches count toward your final tally, so a perfect score would be 24 points. At the end, the person or persons with the highest score wins a share of the prize pool.
While you can still play the classic football pool style online, UK betting sites are also offering a variety of modern football pools betting. With Premier 6, you’re selecting the outcome of six matches – either home win, away win, or draw. Get all six right and you’ll be in for a piece of the prize pool. Premier 10 and Premier 12 are also versions of this pool play, only as the numbers indicate, they require you to select the outcome of more matches.
Goal rush is all about the ball hitting the back of the net. You select eight matches in which you think both sides will score. Even if you’re right on seven out of eight selections, you’ll still win a consolation prize.
Horse Racing Pools
In horse racing pool betting, when you bet on a horse, if that horse comes through for you, you’ll be sharing in the pot of winnings with all other punters who backed that pony. Naturally, the more people backing the horse, the smaller the payout on winning dividends will be. However, if it’s a smaller pool, the windfall can prove to be significant. There are win, place, each way, exactor, trifecta, swinger, placepot, quadpot, jackpot and scoop6 horse racing pool bets.
Pools Betting Sites UK 2024
Following is a look at the best sites in the UK for pool betting:
Coral
You can win as much as a £1m prize via the Coral Football Jackpot. It’s a weekly prediction competition that operates during football season. You’ll be tasked with correctly selecting the outcome (home win, draw, away win) on 15 pre-selected matches.
Get all 15 matches right and a £100,000 jackpot will be yours. However, if no one goes 15-for-15, the grand prize carries over each week until someone hits it.
Betway
At Betway, their 4 To Score wager closely resembles a football pools-style bet. With this play, you’ll be asked to select the first goalscorer in four different matches. Hit on all four selections and you could win as much as a £50,000 prize. Best of all, it’s free to play, so there’s no stake to risk for the chance to win a massive pot of cash. If there are multiple winners, the prize pot will be shared equally.
Betfred
On the one hand, Betfred has been a major player in the pools betting realm for many a year. Via their decades-long relationship with Tote – Tote and Betfred held exclusive rights to horse racing pools in the UK until 2018 – Betfred has maintained the Totepool betting service as an offering through their sportsbook.
You can bet directly into the Tote pools online through Betfred. They are a mainstay in horse racing pools betting, with both classic and new style pools wagering available for punters to access, including their legendary Placepot bet, which requires that you select a horse to place in each of the first six races of a card. However, what you won’t find at Betfred is any pools wagering on football.
The Pools
Originally launched in 1923 as Littlewoods Pools, they are the originators of football pools betting. That legacy continues online today. Click on their pools plus icon and you’ll be taken to their football and lottery pools games.
Available pools bets include Goal Rush, Classic Pools, Lucky Clover, Premier 12, Premier 10, Premier 6 and Colossus Pools. And you’ll receive a £5 bonus bet when you take at least a £30 stake on any pools wager.
The Pools Sign Up Offer UK
The best sign-up offer available at The Pools for UK users seems to be the bonus where new players receive a £5 bonus bet when they stake at least £30 on any pools wager. This offer is particularly appealing because it provides a way for new users to get extra value from their initial betting experience, allowing them to explore a variety of pools games with a reduced risk.
This bonus can be used across The Pools’ extensive range of betting options, which include football and lottery pool games like Goal Rush, Classic Pools, Premier 12, Premier 10, Premier 6, and Colossus Pools. View more here thepools.com/promotions or explore the best free bet bonuses here.
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