To place a bet at the tote is very simple, just go to the window tell the cashier the race number, the name or number of the horse you want to bet on and the amount you want to bet. The cashier will then take your money and give you a ticket with the details of the bet written on it. If your horse wins just take the winning ticket to the window and the cashier will pay your winnings.

There are advantages and disadvantages of using the tote as opposed to a bookmaker. One advantage is that you are able to bet in small stakes whereas bookmakers usually have a lower limit. Also as you are effectively betting against everyone else you may get bad horses backed heavily. Therefore lengthening the odds of your horse allowing you to win more money. The main disadvantage of betting on the tote is that as the odds are changing all the time, you don't know what odds you will get at the beginning of the race, and it is at these odds you will be paid out at. So you may think you've got fantastic odds on a great horse only to find out when the race starts that it's only paying out at 2/1