Totalisator

A tote board is a large numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track (to display the odds or payoffs for each horse) or at a telethon (to display the total amount donated to the charitable organization sponsoring the event).

The term "tote board" comes from the colloquialism for "totalizator" (or "totalisator"), the name for the automated system which runs parimutuel betting, calculating payoff odds, displaying them, and producing tickets based on incoming bets. Parimutuel systems had used totalisator boards since the 1860s and they were often housed in substantial buildings. However the manual systems often resulted in substantial delays in calculations of better payouts.

The first all-mechanical totalisator was invented by George Julius. Julius was a consulting engineer, based in Sydney. There is some irony that his father, the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch (New Zealand) had campaigned, in the early years of the twentieth century, against the iniquities of gambling using totalisators and its damage upon New Zealand society. That attitude had changed by late 1907 when he argued that the totalisator removed much of the evil of gambling with bookmakers. Bishop Julius was himself a noted amateur mechanic with a reputation for fixing clocks and organs in parishes he visited.

The first all-mechanical machine was installed at Ellerslie Racecourse in New Zealand in 1913 (first used on the Easter Saturday races on 22 March 1913), and the second was installed at Gloucester Park Racetrack in Western Australia in 1917. George Julius founded Automatic Totalisators Limited (ATL) in 1917, which supplied the "Premier Totalisator: now including electrical components". The first totalisators installed in the United States were at Hialeah Park, Florida, in 1932 (by ATL), and at Arlington Park racecourse, Chicago, in 1933. The first entirely electronic totalisator was developed in 1966.

Totalisators have been superseded by general purpose computers running specialised wagering software such as Autotote. In many cases beyond older systems, telethon tote boards have either been replaced by LCD displays showing totals, or scoreboards adapted to display dollar amounts.

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