A totalisator or totalizator (tote board in common parlance) is the name for the computerised system which runs parimutuel betting, calculating payoff odds, displaying them, and producing tickets based on incoming bets.The first totalisator was an entirely mechanical system invented by the Australian George Julius of Julius Poole & Gibson Pty Ltd. It was installed at Ellerslie Racecourse in New Zealand in 1913. The first totalisator installed in the United States was at Arlington Park racecourse, Chicago, Illinois, in 1933. Julius, who was later knighted, founded Automatic Totalisators Ltd. in 1917 and added electrical components. The first entirely electronic totalisator was developed in 1966. By 1970 nearly every major racing centre used an ATL totalisator.

Totalisators have been superseded by general purpose computers running specialised wagering software such as Autotote.

Links

• Totalisator history

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 7:05 am and is filed under Parimutuel betting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.