Virtual sports betting has emerged as one of the most popular trends in sports betting. In this article, we’ll help you understand betting on virtual football and look at the pros and cons of this new addition to the sports betting space.

What is Virtual Football Betting?

Virtual football betting is a way of betting on computer-simulated football games. But how does it differ from pre-match and live football betting? Even though these two relate to actual football games, virtual football betting is something entirely different. Instead of betting against matches that are happening in real life, in virtual football betting, you need to bet on virtual electronically-generated football games.

Advanced software generates electronic football matches with computer graphics and random number generators (RNG). Using RNG and predetermined computer algorithms, every virtual football game is fair and unbiased.

It's important to remember that virtual football matches have no semblance to actual events in real life. And they are created by random number generators, which means the outcomes are entirely random. Even though this seems fair, it also means that you can’t use real-life statistics to determine the game’s outcome.

In fact, if you have a closer look. You’ll also find out that the teams aren’t even called their usual names. You won’t find regular Premier League team names like Liverpool or Wolverhampton Wanderers. Instead, you’ll see alternative names or abbreviations like LVP or WOL. This is because these virtual teams legally don’t have any resemblance to real-world teams and matches. Their related bets are simply just for fun and are not real-world events. But at the same time, virtual football betting is entirely real and you can win real money by betting on it.

Another big difference between real-world football betting and virtual football bets is that you need to wait to see if you’ve produced any profit. Virtual football matches are much quicker compared to regular football matches. While real-life football matches last 90 minutes, with additional injury time, the extra time and penalties, virtual football is far shorter and can go as quick as only three minutes long.

Virtual football is not the same as simulated reality league (SRL). SRL is also computer-generated, but the difference is that it's based on actual statistics. Therefore, simulated football is for bettors following the real matches and knowing a lot about the teams, while virtual football betting is better for those who want to rely on luck.

Pros and Cons of Virtual Football Betting

Virtual football betting is not for everyone. But if you can’t get enough of the real-world competitions or want to keep betting out of season, virtual betting may be an alternative way to keep one foot on the football field.

If you’re unsure whether virtual betting is right for you, check out our comprehensive list of benefits and drawbacks outlining the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of betting.

Benefits of Virtual Football Betting

Let’s start with the advantages of virtual football betting.

Bet on Football Off-Season

Like every sport, football has a season when it's played. Even though football competitions seem to spread all year round these days, specific tournaments only happen at certain times of the year. Virtual football betting lets users place their bets on their favourite teams outside the specified times for the tournaments.

Place Football Bets Day and Night

Football games are usually played at certain times, depending on your time zone and the country where the match is played. For some bettors, these matches are outside of our regular waking hours, which makes them too inconvenient for them to watch. For virtual football betting, you can place bets on similar matches whenever you want.

Non-Stop Betting

Regular pre-match bets on real-world football let you place your bets before the game starts. However, you may need to wait a few days for the match to start. For virtual football betting, you can watch on-demand matches that start whenever you’re ready or place a bet on one of the plenty of non-stop matches. If you place a pre-match bet on a virtual football tournament match, you only need to wait a few minutes before it starts. If you miss it, the next bet you can place will come in just a few minutes - it's true non-stop betting!

Plenty of Choices for Matches

In real-world football betting, you need to wait for two teams to play against each other according to the schedule before you can bet on a match. For the big international tournaments, this may happen only once a year. However, it may even take years for some teams to play each other, as with the FA Cup. Virtual betting can fill this space by offering a wide selection of matches you can bet on. You can look for a wealth of games with your favourite teams, even if they don’t usually play against each other in real life.

Quick Wins with Virtual Football Betting

You need to bet on a final score in real-world football betting, along with full-time results, late goals and other similar bets. You need to sit tight and wait for the match to end, which takes a full 90 minutes, plus injury time and other additional time or penalties. And as we’ve mentioned earlier, a virtual match only takes three minutes. This means you can place a bet and find out if you’ve won within only five minutes. This fast-paced betting keeps things exciting while also bringing you decent profits if you win.

Virtual Betting doesn’t Include Real-World Factors

There is nothing worse than placing a bet on your favourite team only to find out the star striker was taken out due to an injury when the match started. It's also a downer when you see your team suffering from poor weather or an unfamiliar pitch. Virtual football uses computer-generated randomness to determine the game’s outcome so that these factors won’t feature in the games. There won’t be any player getting carried off on a stretcher or a match called off due to rain. Because of this, you don’t need to think about all the extra factors that usually affect real-world football games.

Virtual Football Betting Offers High Odds

Virtual football doesn’t take real factors into account, which makes them a little harder to predict. Because of this, it offers higher odds and you can make serious profits from virtual football if you place the right bets.

Drawbacks of Virtual Football Betting

Now that you’ve seen the benefits of virtual betting let's continue with the disadvantages of it and find out if you’re still willing to try it.

It Can be Impossible to Predict the Winner

As mentioned above, regular factors won’t affect the outcome of virtual football matches. Because of this, you don’t need to worry about players getting injured or rainy weather. However, this also makes it difficult to predict which team may have an advantage, as you can’t analyse the match the same way. Even though some statistics show the outcomes of the last few games, this isn’t as solid as knowing the team’s and players’ performance and history in real life.

Quick Play May Lead to Quick Losses

Like all betting activities, learning and being disciplined while betting is important. Virtual betting is fast-paced, so it can encourage you to bet more to recover losses. Always be aware of how much you’ve been betting and never bet with money you can afford to lose.

It's Not as Exciting as Real-Life Football Betting

Most people who bet on football matches have some kind of personal stake. With a little skin in the game, you may have an emotional pull on how you want the match to turn out. When betting on virtual football, there’s no resemblance to the outcome of real-world football leagues or tournaments, which means there are fewer emotional ties within the games. Therefore, virtual football can sometimes be less popular as it doesn’t offer the same adrenaline rush as real-life football games where the team you love may actually win or lose.

Conclusion to Virtual Football Betting

We hope you now have a good idea of virtual football betting and know if it's the right kind of betting for you. We’ve shown you the benefits and disadvantages of this kind of sports betting to help you decide. If you think you’re up for the challenge, head to the best online betting sites and start placing bets on virtual football games.