If you’d like to learn more about virtual sports, you’re in the right place. And if you’ve never heard of it before, you’ll soon be glad that you did. As authorities in Africa and the rest of the world continue to encourage social distancing and self-isolation to combat COVID-19, with some countries declaring a lockdown, people are looking for new ways to stay entertained in their own homes. Virtual sports allow you to do just that and we at gamblers.africa will guide you through it.
What Are Virtual Sports?
Virtual sports are basically exactly what they sound like – sports games that are simulated on computer screens. They are almost 50 years old with the first virtual sports game held on an IBM 1620 in 1961. Software engineer John Burgeson created the original code, which created Baseball games on devices with just 20 KB of memory.
Since then, virtual sports have come a long way. Realistic animations and high-quality streaming make today’s online virtual sports entertaining enough to keep you returning for more. With a growing number of people having just discovered virtual sports and how they work, their popularity is on the rise. Leading betting industry operators continue to add virtual sports to their offerings, and it’s easy to understand why.
The ultimate results of the simulated games are based on the actual statistics of real players. The exact composition of each team is determined by certified Random Number Generation software, but once the virtual squads have been created, players’ actual performance histories and injury reports are used to calculate results. That allows a great chance to consider how sportsmen and women will work together, and how they will interact with each other.
Betting on Virtual Sports
Virtual sports don’t have to be attached to betting opportunities, but in practice they almost always are. On your online sportsbook or casino of choice, you need to choose the type of event you want to bet on – virtual sports events are based on speedway, motor, horse or greyhound racing, or on Football, Baseball or Tennis – then the licensed Random Number Generation software comes into play.
The teams or racers that you’ll be betting on are selected from the pool of possible candidates by chance, and once they’re assembled you are invited to make your predictions. You can bet on the same outcomes as you would with the corresponding physical sport.
The available markets are usually on outright winners, point spreads and totals. Predictions on who will score the first goal, how many goals each side will score and other specific proposition bets are also offered. Virtual race markets include straight winners, predictions of how everyone will place, accumulators and exotic bets such as trifectas.
The only markets that are really excluded in virtual sports betting are novel propositions, such as who will get a penalty card, whether there will be a confrontation between feuding players or which celebrity will be sitting in the audience. Personal behaviour can’t be predicted by sports simulation software, due to how volatile some athletes are.
Outcomes are determined much faster than with physical games since all the information just has to be computed and nobody actually has to finish a race or get through an entire match. You’ll know if you’ve won in just a few moments, and the quick pace of virtual sports betting can help to keep you excited, entertained and engaged. And since outside variables such as weather conditions, court surface, stadium size and track length have no bearing on the results of virtual sports, they’re a little simpler to bet on.
Unlimited Entertainment with Virtual Sports
With most sporting events cancelled in an attempt to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, fans are missing the great skills that their favourite athletes constantly display on the field. Virtual sports offers fans a great way to see some top-class, well-executed performances from the comfort of their own homes. The action is simulated on your screen, with crisp animations and graphics, and it looks very realistic. Even more, national anthems are often played to recreate the atmosphere of a land-based event.
Virtual sports can be used to complement physical sporting events or can fill the void left if most land-based events are cancelled. Coverage is smaller, with fewer events, and simulated gameplay is simplified due to excluded outside variables. Faster results calculations also mean you can see almost immediately how players and riders faired against specific opponents. That makes virtual races and matches a perfect starting point for anyone who is new to online betting.
All you need is a reliable internet connection, and you’ll be able to put money on virtual events via your tablet, smartphone or laptop. Top-rated betting sites offer highly competitive odds and use the latest information to calculate the results. Virtual sports were exciting when John Burgeson created the original code decades ago, and they are just as exciting now, if not more.