The Gambling Commission (GC) has been urged to investigate the extent to which the Tote is a player in its own Placepot pools by a punter and racing fan who has analysed the liquidity involved over the past two years, and believes that the operator’s own money now accounts for up to 60% of the cash invested in them.
In an extensive analysis sent to the GC last week, a copy of which has been seen by the Guardian, the author suggests that the extent to which the Tote is now involved in its own pools marks “a fundamental change” to “100 years of precedent of pools being player against player”, and that the Tote enjoys a “significant information advantage” over its punters in terms of its overall view of the market, particularly in the two-to-three minute period immediately before the “off”.
