Virtual Sports Betting Apps – What Is Virtual Sports Betting & How Does It Work

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Virtual sports are pre-set virtual games that you can bet on and then watch the race or highlights of the game. Virtual sports start every few minutes and come back with stats and markets to bet on.

Virtual Sports Betting Apps

All the following betting apps offer virtual sports betting

  • Bet365
  • Bet Victor
  • William Hill
  • Betfair
  • BetFred
  • Coral
  • Ladbrokes
  • Betway
  • 888sport
  • Unibet
  • 10bet

You can usually find these events by going to the menu and looking for virtual. Once there you can tab between the different sports and see the events that are about to start. 


How To Bet On Virtual Sports

Virtual sports are pre-set virtual games that you can bet on and then watch the race or highlights of the game. Virtual sports start every few minutes and come back with stats and markets to bet on.

Example

This example is from the Betvictor sports app. Virtual sports betting can be found in the left-hand menu.

Across the top white bar, you can scroll through the upcoming events on offer. The main screen is always showing the latest race or match so you get a good idea of what you are watching. You can access any of the sports without being logged in or placing a bet.

Virtual sports home on the Bet Victor app

Once you select an event you can watch it full screen in landscape mode, as shown below –

Virtual horse racing example

On the standard portrait view, you can see the markets below the event and bet from here and you would do normally – tap the odds> betslip> enter stake> place bet. We have not seen any cash-out options on virtual sports betting.

All events are pre-set and recorded by the software provider and there are procedures in place to make the games fair. You get full commentary on each event as you watch along. If you don’t watch the event you can still go into your bet history to see the outcome of your bet and the final result in most cases.


How Does Virtual Sports Betting Work?

Virtual sports betting works by allowing you to bet on pre-generated virtual sporting events. There are strict rules in place to ensure fairness in these events. You can bet on a virtual event just like you bet on a live event. You will find limited markets on offer as there are no player bets or bet builders. 

What Virtual Sports Can You Bet On?

Other virtual sports you can bet on (varies by bookmaker)

  • Football
  • Horse racing
  • Basketball
  • Cycling – Single races
  • Greyhound racing – Jump racing and 6 dog flat racing
  • Motor Sports – Single races
  • American Football
  • Speedway
  • Trotting
  • Darts
  • Tennis 

These all follow the same format and more are available at the busier times of evenings and weekends.


Virtual football betting

Virtual football is one of the most popular virtual sports. It has a similarity to FIFA when watching it which makes it feel more familiar than, say horse racing. Almost every app has virtual football betting built-in and they are usually games at the international level.

Here is how the match looks

virtual football match

There are games that start every couple of minutes and you’ll get stats to look at before the games. The choice of markets is a lot more limited compared to standard football betting. You will usually find the standard home away and draw as well as the goals markets.

Here’s how the pre-game markets look –

virtual football betting markets

Once the match starts you will get highlights of the match. These are the goals and big changes as well as any potential red cards. They usually last 2-3 minutes and in-play betting and cash out is not an option with most.

We found the following markets on offer

  • Match odds (home, away, draw)
  • Under or over 1.5 goals and 2.5 goals
  • Total number of goals (some apps call this exact goals)
  • Correct score
  • Double chance (home and draw, away and draw or home and away)


Virtual horse racing betting

Horse race betting follows a similar flow to football betting. There are races going off on regular occasions and a range of pre-race betting markets. You do not get the movement of odds that you usually get on a “real” race.

You do still get to read the virtual form of each of the horses as you usually would. Once the race is in running you get to see the full race as you would usually. Here is how the races look –

virtual racing betting

Once the race is over you get the official results and all bets are settled. I’ve watched a good few races and I’m yet to see a photo finish but they may happen.

We found the following types of races on offer – 

  • Flat racing
  • Jumps racing
  • Sprint racing

Here are the markets we found on offer – 

  • Win
  • Forecast/ tricast
  • Each way betting (places vary depending on race size)


Virtual basketball betting

Basketball betting looks just like NBA on the PlayStation or Xbox. You can bet on the winner of the match, total points, and a handicap spread. Here is how it looks –

virtual basketball

Here, like in virtual football, you just get highlights of the match rather than the full event. 


Winning on virtual sports betting is the same as standard betting. You place your bets before the game and if they win you get your return. 

Virtual football betting works by allowing you to bet on a computer-generated football match. You can bet on selected markets and then watch the match highlights to see if you win. 

No, we have not found any betting apps that offer cash outs on virtual sports betting. Due to the pre-recorded highlights of the event, there would not be enough time to cash out. 

The outcomes in virtual sports betting are done by a random number-generating software.