Modern sports attract not just fans of specific clubs but even enthusiasts who enjoy making bets on the outcome of games.
This is achieved through sportsbooks, wherein either bets are traditionally placed or via an automated system with a totalizator. The majority of players who are best sweepstakes casinos enthusiasts explore these options for a more interactive and potentially beneficial experience.
In this article, we will have a closer look at the totalizator to discover its most significant features. But first, let's have a brief overview of what a sportsbook actually is.
What Is a Sportsbook?
A sportsbook is an offline or online establishment where you can wager on the outcome of sporting competitions. These competitions can vary across nearly any sport or competition. For example, you can even wager on whether a free kick or throw-in will come first. Sportsbooks typically offer a wide range of betting markets, with odds being given to every possible outcome.
The bets can be placed as system bets, parlays, or singles. If your forecast materializes, you receive your stake boosted to the odds offered. If not, your funds remain with the bookmaker.
What Is a Totalizator?
A totalizator, or "TOTO," is a pool where players bet on each other, not the bookmaker. You can wager on more than a single outcome at one time and even across sports. Totalizators differ slightly by sportsbook but generally involve predicting outcomes or exact scores on a number of a given range of matches presented by the operator.
Unlike traditional bets, your win is not calculated from settled odds. Rather, it depends on the number of successfully predicted events, the number of winners, and the total sum of all the bets, which forms the pool. The organizer always receives a share of the pool (in the majority of instances 5–20%), irrespective of the outcome.
The remaining funds are distributed to players who have accurately forecasted at least the minimum number of events, according to how much they have wagered. The more events you accurately forecast, the more you will receive. A jackpot for players who accurately forecast all events in a given round is maintained by some sports totalizators.
Naturally, the more who correctly predict, the smaller each individual's share. If only one person predicts all the outcomes correctly, they get the entire pool. If no one wins, the pool rolls over to the next round or goes into the jackpot. Totalizators work a lot like parlay bets at a sportsbook, but in a parlay, the player can choose from a wider range of events, and the totalizator only has limited options.
TOTO "1X2"
Most commonly employed type of totalizator. To win a TOTO "1X2," one must predict match outcomes correctly. There are typically 15 matches, and you have to predict at least 9 correctly in order to win. TOTO pools may be for one sport or for multiple sports at once.
TOTO "Exact Score"
Here, you will have to forecast the final result of the matches. Since this is harder, the minimum number of correct predictions needed to win is typically lower, e.g., 2–3 correct outcomes out of 8–10 matches.
Key Differences Between Totalizators and Regular Sports Bets
Let's examine the key differences in detail:
- Odds: In traditional sportsbook bets, the bookmaker determines the odds. Pay-out odds in a totalizator are determined by the prize pool divided by the number of winning bets. That means you do not know your potential winnings in advance.
- Potential Winnings: At sportsbooks, your winnings are calculated based on your stake and odds. In totalizators, you get paid based on the number of people participating, the size of the prize pool, and how many events you correctly called.
- Betting Choices: Totalizators limit you to some of the outcomes of a sequence of a small number of matches. Conventional sportsbook bets allow you to pick from a much broader range of events and types of bets, such as moneyline, spread, totals, corners, and so on.
- Jackpot: Some totalizators provide a jackpot for calling all events correctly, which is highly rewarding. Conventional sportsbook bets do not have this option.
- Promotions and Bonuses: Sportsbooks tend to offer bonuses, such as better odds for major tournaments or prize competitions for wagering on affairs like the U.S. Open or Super Bowl. Totalizators do not typically offer such promotions.
- Bet Limits: Sportsbooks give minimum and maximum bets for each wager. Totalizators will typically have only a fixed minimum wager with no maximum.
- Live Betting: Totalizator wagers must be placed before the beginning of the first match in the round. Sportsbook players can wager while playing live games.
- Use of Strategy: Successful betting strategy relies on being able to determine potential winnings in advance. While this is feasible with sportsbook wagers, it is not feasible for totalizators, so systemic profit techniques are not viable.
- Opponent: When you place a straight bet, you bet against the book. With a totalizator, you bet against fellow gamblers, and your winnings are determined by the overall number of winners.
The bookmaker also retains a small fraction of the grand pool in totalizators (around 5–20%), but in normal sports betting, the bookmaker gains from the built-in margin in the odds.
Conclusion
The uncertainty of predicting many outcomes to be won reduces the attractiveness of totalizators for skilled players, especially with the risk of not receiving payment. However, for recreational players who enjoy a lottery-like experience and require a chance of a big payout with a relatively low stake, totalizators are still an option.
