Jackpot pool swells to pounds 111,000 as Tote spreads its net wider

There were two fine advertisements for betting with the Tote yesterday, writes John Cobb. The Jackpot, which rumbles on to Folkestone today, produced a pool of pounds 111,085.46, compared with odds for a starting-price accumulator on the six winners of less than 33,000-1, and punters in betting shops with a Tote Direct link (only Coral of the big three firms) will be able to take advantage of the Tote's full range of bets from tomorrow.

Jackpot, Placepot, Trio and Dual Forecast bets are already available in shops with the Tote link, but from tomorrow, Quadpot, win, each-way and, most significantly, place-only betting will be available.

Mark Openshaw, of Tote Direct, said: "As a punter, I would see this as a tremendous advantage. With the win and place betting shows on screen punters will be able to compare Tote prices and SPs.

"There are around 2,200 betting shops with a Tote Direct link - made up of 800 Coral shops, 200 Tote ones and over 1,000 independent bookmakers.

"This will give an extra nudge to the others. If the other firms joined in, the jackpot would regularly build up and we could have the thinking- man's alternative to the National Lottery."