Gambling Guide

A tote board is a large, numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track (to display the odds or payoffs for each horse) or at a telethon (to display the total amount donated to the charitable organization sponsoring the event).

The first tote boards were manufactured for the horse racing industry by the American Totalizator Company, and "tote board" is probably a colloquialism for totalizator.