Cheltenham Festival Placepot Guide

Cheltenham Festival Placepot

For those punters who love doing the Tote Placepot,  the Cheltenham Festival in March can provide bumper payouts. 

If you are unsure about all your multiple betting options please visit the helpful betting school types of bet article. 

There are 20+ runner fields every day of the Cheltenham meeting, these huge fields can knock out plenty of punters, resulting in huge dividends. 

You can see below all the Cheltenham Festival Placepot dividends for the last 10 years. 

The Placepot Explained

If you have never tried the placepot before then it's fairly easy enough to understand.

What you have to do is simply pick 1 horse to be placed in the first 6 races at a meeting.

• If there are 2, 3 or 4 runners then your selection must win.
• If there are 5 - 7 runners then your horse must finish 1st or 2nd.
• If the race is a non-handicap and there are 8 runners or more then your horse must finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
• If the race is a handicap with 16 or more runners then your selection must finish in the first 4.
• Although the Triumph Hurdle on day 4 of the meeting offers 4 places but is not a handicap.
• If you select a non-runner then your selection goes onto the favourite,
• If there are joint-favourites then your horse is the horse nearest to the top of the racecard (lowest racecard number).
• if your horse doesn't run and numbers 2 & 5 are joint-favourites then your horse is number 2.

Number Of Runners And Race Type	Qualifying Places
2 to 4 Runners	1st only.
5-7 Runners	1st and 2nd.
8-15 Runners Non-Handicap	1st, 2nd and 3rd.
16 Or More Runners Non-Handicap	1st, 2nd, and 3rd
16 Or More Runners-Handicap	1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Perming The Placepot

If you want to you can do a single line for your placepot, picking just 1 horse in each race, then, of course, you can.

1x1x1x1x1x1 = £2.00

If you want to increase your chances of winning then you can perm your selections, simply by picking more than 1 horse in any of the 6 races.

You can pick as many horses as you want in each race up to the maximum size of the field but perming a bet costs a lot more.

You can pick 5 races with 1 horse in and 1 race with 2 in if you want, 

Or you can pick all 6 races and have 3 runners in each, making your chances of winning better but costing more.

You simply multiply the number of runners in a race by the next race and so on until you get a figure after race 6, 

These are how many different lines of placepot you have, example being -

Say you pick 

• 2 Horses in Race 1.
• 2 Horses in Race 2.
• 1 Horse in Race 3.
• 1 Horse in Race 4.
• 3 Horses in Race 5 
• 2 Horses in Race 6.

You then multiply the number of horses  in each race which is as follows

2 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 3 x 2 = 24 bets. 

Now you know how many lines you have, you know need to decide your stake for each line.

• Cost 25 Pence Per Line = 0.25 x 24 =£6.00
• Cost 50 Pence Per Line = 0.50 x 24 =£12.00
• Cost £1.00 Per Line = £1.00 x 24 =£24.00
• Cost £2.00 Per Line = £1.00 x 24 =£48.00

Dividends

The Placepot is always declared to a £1 stake.

This means it's quite easy to work out how much you have won.

If your placepot is for less than a £1 stake then divide accordingly to find out how much you have won.

Using that example of a perm above and a stake per line of 25p, the bet above would cost you £6, 24 bets @ 25p = £6.00.

After all 6 races have been run you need to see how many winning lines you have up, as we know you picked the following horses in the 6 races - 2 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 3 x 2 = 24 bets

Let's say you had the following amount of placed horses:

• 1 Horse in Race 1
• 2 Horses in Race 2 
• 1 Horse in Race 3 
• 1 Horse in Race 4
• 2 Horses in Race 5 
• 2 Horses in race 6

Again we need to multiply to see how much you have on your winning lines - 1 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 2 x 2 = 8 bets, 

You have 8 winning placepot lines, each line was a 25p line, so 8 x 25p = £2.

Now we know we have the placepot for £2 we need to see how much the dividend was, 

Let's say it's declared at £48.60.

As I said earlier each declared placepot win is based on a £1 stake, and you have a £2 winning placepot, so you win £97.20 for your total outlay of £6.

The other way to work it out is to divide the winning amount by your staked line.

In this case, it's £48.60 divided by 25p, meaning each winning line pays £12.15 and as we know you have 8 winning lines.

That's £12.15 multiplied by 8 (winning lines) giving you a total of £97.20. 

Bookmakers That Take Tote Placepot Bets

If you wish to place a placepot bet just visit any of the bookmakers below and look for the tote tab. 

• bet365
• Ladbrokes
• William Hill
• Betfair

2020 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£32.00
Wednesday	£352.00
Thursday	£2556.80
Friday	£58.60

2019 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£91.283.90
Wednesday	£42.90
Thursday	£2439.20
Friday	£11.701.20

2018 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£22.90
Wednesday	£36.90
Thursday	£96.80
Friday	£32.088.70

2017 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£436.70
Wednesday	£3.225.40
Thursday	£58.10
Friday	£1.676.90

2016 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£38.90
Wednesday	£36.40
Thursday	£62.50
Friday	£1.680.90

2015 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£211.70
Wednesday	£1.280.40
Thursday	£239.70
Friday	£102.70

2014 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£153.00
Wednesday	£193.20
Thursday	£496.80
Friday	£44.616.30

2013 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£10.90
Wednesday	£343.00
Thursday	£371.10
Friday	£146.00

2012 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£76.20
Wednesday	£73.40
Thursday	£309.50
Friday	£627.40

2011 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£60.60
Wednesday	£933.20
Thursday	£219.20
Friday	£4,332.10

2010 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£98.40
Wednesday	£2,756.80
Thursday	£1,180.70
Friday	£41,288.40

2009 Cheltenham Placepot Results

Race Day	Placepot Payout
Tuesday	£122.50
Wednesday	£753.20
Thursday	£537.00
Friday	£656.50

Placepot Tips

Handicaps

The Handicap races are normally the hardest races to predict at the festival, there are often many big priced outsiders grabbing places in these races

There are 11 handicap races run during the Festival but only 9 of those are in the placepot races,

In the last 5 years there have been 45 handicap races run involved in the placepot,

44 of those had 4 places and 1 had only 3 places, that's 179 races in total.

From those 45 handicap races, we can see that the favourite won/placed in 18 of those races (40%)

Looking at all 179 handicap races we can see the following -

55 of the 179 win/placed horses were singled figure priced, including favourites (30.75%)

55 of the 179 win/placed horses were priced between 10/1 & 18/1 (30.75%)

69 of the 179 win/placed horses were priced at 20/1 or higher (38.5)

124 of 179 win/placed horses were priced in double-figure odds (69.3%)

Grade 1

The Grade 1 races are the best races at the meeting, they are known as the championship races and there are 12 of those run at the festival and all but 1 of them are included in the placepot.

Quite a lot of these races have short-priced favourites in them, but do all the short priced favourites grab win/places.

In the last 5 years, there has been 55 Grade 1 races, 10 of those have had 3 places and 1 other (Triumph Hurdle) has had 4 places, in total that's 170 places.

36 favourites have won/placed from the 55 Grade 1 races over the last 5 years (65.5%).

In the last 5 years, there have been 14 odds on favourites, 11 of those have won/placed (78.6%).

Of the 170 won/placed horses in these races, 112 have been sent of as single figure prices (65.9%) with only 58 being double-figure prices (34.1%.

Only 1 of the 55 races has seen all of the placed horses return at double-figure prices, that was the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle in 2010 when the winner returned at 33/1 and the 2 placed horses were 28/1 & 66/1, a very likely Placepot buster, which is why the placepot paid £41,288.40 on that day.

My Placepot Advice

If you do intend on playing in the placepot then why not try a perm, you will not a lot of luck to win with a straight line, although it has been done many a time.

A perm gives you better chances of winning, when I play the placepot at the Festival I will ONLY ever pick a favourite if I think it is certain to place if I am not certain it will place I leave them out.

When I do a perm at the Festival I will normally pick 2 races with 3 runners, 3 races with 2 runners and 1 race with 1 runner, known as my banker selection or possibly 3 races with 3 in, 2 with 2 in and a banker.

My banker selection will always come in a Grade 1 race as I find the form in grade 1 races holds up more than let's say Handicaps.

Every time i place a placepot bet I always have at least 2 selections in races 1 & 6 

I hate to go out in race 1, although even with 2 or 3 selections it's possible and I don't like relying on 1 horse in race 6 should the dividend be bigger than I thought

Without knowing the exact fields and the size of each I am probably looking at the following -

TuesdayRace 1 This race normally has about 20 runners, although there are often short-priced horses i prefer to have 3 runners in this race

Race 2 The Arkle can sometimes have a smallish field and some short priced horses, normally it would be this race or the Champion Hurdle i use as my banker selection

Race 3 Race 3 is a handicap chase, I would always pick 3 horses in this race, some big priced horses have been placed in recent years

Race 4 Like the Arkle, the Champion Hurdle can often have a smallish field, depends on the size of the field as to which race I have my banker selection in

Race 5 Cross Country Chase, no fav placed in last 4 years, most likely a 2 horse selection race

Race 6 The Mares Hurdle has had Quevega in the last few years and although odds on i would always put 2 in here, just in case

Possible bet of 3 x 2 x 3 x 1 x 2 x 2 = 72 Bets

WednesdayRace 1 Chase over 4 miles with about 20 runners and not a handicap, so only 3 places, i would probably pick 3 here

Race 2 Grade 1 novice hurdle with probably 2 selections here

Race 3 RSA Chase, no fav placed in last 4 years, probably 2 horses here

Race 4 Champions Chase, will probably have this as a banker race

Race 5 Handicap Hurdle with about 30 runners, definitely a 3 runner pick here

Race 6 Another Handicap Hurdle to finish, 2 or 3 race pick here

Possible bet of 3 x 2 x 2 x 1 x 3 x 3 = 108 Bets

ThursdayRace 1 Novices Chase to start the day, at least 2 in this race

Race 2 Very tough handicap hurdle, must be 3 picks here for me

Race 3 Ryanair Chase, some good middle distance chasers in this race, probably a 2 pick race unless something stands out strongly

Race 4 World Hurdle, between this race and the Ryanair for the banker selection

Race 5 Handicap Chase, would depend on the size of the field, 2 or 3 picks

Race 6 Again a handicap chase and again depending on size of field, 2 or 3 pick

Possible bet of 2 x 3 x 2 x 1 x 2 x 3 = 72 Bets

FridayRace 1 Triumph Hurdle, although not a handicap, 4 places on offer, 3 picks in this race

Race 2 Tough Handicap Hurdle, probably 3 picks here

Race 3 Albert Bartlett, Grade 1, good races for favs with 4/5 won/placed, possibly a banker race

Race 4 Gold Cup, no more than 2 picks here, possibly even 1 but probably 2

Race 5 Foxhunters Chase, 2 picks here

Race 6 Handicap Hurdle to finish with, 3 picks in this race

Possible bet of 3 x 3 x 1 x 2 x 2 x 3 = 108 Bets

Good luck with everybody having a punt over Cheltenham, oh and 1 last thing:  DO NOT be put off by big prices, if you fancy a horse then pick it, horses at prices up to 100/1 do win and place at Cheltenham.