- American Totalisator
The American Totalisator Company, formally known today as AmTote International and often referred to simply as AmTote, is a company which specialized in
totalisator equipment used to controlparimutuel betting athorse racing ,greyhound racing and jai-alai facilities.The company was founded by
Harry L. Straus , whose interest in a fairer system of calculating and displaying odds and payouts on parimutuel betting came after an incident in 1927 at aMaryland racetrack, when a horse listed at 12:1 odds won, but only paid off at 4:1. Straus' new company installed its first equipment atPimlico Race Course inBaltimore, Maryland , which displayed odds and payouts on illuminated boards, now known astote board s. In 1933, American Totalisator installed its first electro-mechanical tote system atArlington Park inChicago, Illinois .Since then, AmTote has installed tote systems throughout the world in more than 800 locations. The original electro-mechanical devices have given way to fully-computerized systems where bettors place and collect bets at the same window, self-service betting terminals,
Internet - andtelephone -based wagering, and "hub" systems to facilitatesimulcast wagering.AmTote's numeric displays were often seen on
television game show s in the 1950s and 1960s, most notably the original version of "The Price is Right." The company was also an investor in the manufacturer of the original UNIVAC computer system.The company is based in
Hunt Valley, Maryland . It was once owned byGeneral Instrument , later sold to a division ofMotorola . Today, AmTote International is a wholly-ownedsubsidiary ofMagna Entertainment Corporation , corporate parent of several race tracks, including Pimlico.External links
* [http://www.amtote.com AmTote International web site]
* [http://www.magnaent.com Magna Entertainment, AmTote's parent company]
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