American Totalisator
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The American Totalisator Company, formally known today as AmTote Internaitonal and often referred to simply as AmTote, is a company which specialized in totalisator equipment used to control parimutuel betting at horse racing and greyhound racing 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 a Maryland racetrack, when a horse listed at 12:1 odds won, but only paid off at 4:1. Straus' new company installed its first equipment at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, which displayed odds and payouts on illuminated boards, now none as tote boards. In 1933, American Totalisator installed its first electro-mechanical tote system at Arlington Park in Chicago, 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- and telephone-based wagering, and "hub" systems to facilitate simulcast wagering.
AmTote's numeric displays were often seen on [[television] game shows 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 by General Instrument, later sold to a division of Motorola. Today, AmTote International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Magna Entertainment Corporation, corporate parent of several race tracks, including Pimlico.
