Racing & Pari-Mutuel

Pari mutuel

Pari mutuel is a betting system where all stakes on an event are pooled, deductions for tax and house take are removed, and the remaining pool is shared among winning bets in proportion to their stake.

Also called: Pool betting, tote (from totalisator), parimutuel betting¹
Applies to: Horse racing, greyhound racing, jai alai, and other short-duration ranked-order sports; also modified use in some lotteries¹
How it works: Bets of the same type are combined into one pool, the pool is closed, taxes and house deductions are removed, then payouts are calculated¹
Regulation example: UK Betting and Lotteries Act 1934 restricted pari-mutuel betting to approved horse and dog racecourses²

Key points

All stakes on a given event are pooled together, then taxes and the house-take are deducted before any payouts are made¹.
Winning bettors share the remaining pool proportionally to the amount they wagered¹.
Unlike fixed-odds betting, the final payout is not known until the pool closes and deductions are applied.
The system is most common in horse and greyhound racing but also appears in jai alai and some lottery games¹.

How pari mutuel betting works

Bettors place wagers on a specific outcome. All bets of the same type go into one pool.
Once betting closes, the total pool is calculated. Taxes and the house-take are deducted¹.
The remaining pool is divided among the winning bets in proportion to each stake.

Common questions

What is pari mutuel gambling?

Pari mutuel gambling is a system where all bets on an event are pooled, deductions are taken, and the remaining money is shared among winners. It is the standard method for horse racing and greyhound racing betting.

What is pari mutuel betting?

Pari mutuel betting is wagering where the payoff is determined by the total amount bet and the number of winners, not by fixed odds. The final payout depends on the pool size and deductions.

What is pari mutuel wagering?

Pari mutuel wagering is another term for pari mutuel betting, referring to the same pool-based system. It is commonly used in horse racing, greyhound racing, and jai alai.

Where this term is used

Racing

Not the same as

Pari-mutuel payouts — the outcome of the system, not the pooling mechanism itself
Pari-mutuel meaning lottery — only a modified use of the system, not the standard racing pool-betting context

Racing Pari-mutuel payouts Explains how payouts are calculated from the pool after deductions. Racing Pari mutuel machine Describes the totalisator machine that calculates and displays pari-mutuel odds. Racing Pari-mutuel horse racing Covers how the pari-mutuel system is applied specifically to horse racing. Racing Pari-mutuel betting example Provides a concrete example of how a pari-mutuel pool works in practice. Racing Pari-mutuel meaning lottery Explains the modified use of pari-mutuel in lottery games. Racing Pari-mutuel slot machine Discusses slot machines that use a pari-mutuel payout structure.

Sources

Parimutuel betting en.wikipedia.org Provides the core definition, alternative names, and how the system works.
Betting and Lotteries Act 1934 legislation.gov.uk Supports the regulation example of the UK Betting and Lotteries Act 1934.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.