The Tote

The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board and called in rhyming slang the nanny, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on most of Britain's 60 racecourses, as well as internet and call centre divisions. The company is known for its pool bets such as the Scoop6, and is the only organisation in the UK which is allowed to run pool betting on horseracing. It has a seven-year exclusive licence from the date of the company's privatisation to continue offering pool bets. The company has also branched out into fixed odds betting on other sports in recent years, as well as casino and bingo operations online.

The Racehorse Betting Control Board was created by the Racecourse Betting Act 1928, as a statutory corporation. It was set up by Winston Churchill as a government-appointed board, with the intention of providing a safe, state-controlled alternative to illegal off course bookmakers and ensuring that some gambling revenues were put back into the sport of horse racing. The first major race meetings with tote betting were the flat race meetings at Newmarket (July Course) and Carlisle on 2 July 1929.

Under the Betting Levy Act 1961 the board was reconstituted as the Horserace Totalisator Board (the Tote), with responsibility for the redistribution of funds to racing transferred to the Horserace Betting Levy Board.