As African countries battle COVID-19, social distancing is encouraged. Find out how virtual sports offer a great online option for betting fans at home.
New cases of COVID-19 are being reported around the globe every day, and this includes all across Africa. Countries are enforcing strict measures to try and manage the infections, encouraging people to practice social distancing and self-isolation as much as possible. One of the simplest ways to cope with that is to swap betting at land-based bookmakers for betting online. By staying in and betting on sports on your desktop computer, laptop or mobile phone you can still have fun and potentially land a big win, all while staying safe.
Instead of going out and putting yourself and others at risk, online betting gives you the opportunity to still get in on the action, without coming into contact with anyone else. All that is needed is a computer or mobile phone that is connected to the internet, and a world of wagering opportunities opens up in front of you.
Virtual Sports Taking Over
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic a huge number of sporting events have now been cancelled. The National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Premier League and other organisations have all put their games on hold. At one point there was talk of staging games in empty stadiums or on empty racetracks and then broadcasting them to spectators, but that would still put the athletes themselves at risk.
This of course means that regular sports betting opportunities are somewhat limited, even online. Fortunately, virtual sports offer a similar sort of thrill and provide almost as many betting opportunities. While virtual sports may not have been as popular previously, and in some cases may not even be that well known, they are set to grow rapidly as the world shuts down to halt the spread of COVID-19.
Leading online sports betting sites have quickly shifted their focus to virtual sports as the number of real-life sporting events dwindled and dried up almost all together. With talk of even the Olympics being cancelled too, online bookmakers have had to offer bettors something else, and virtual sports are the perfect alternative.
Virtual Sports Explained
While physical sports matches and racing events have been cancelled on a global scale, virtual sports are largely unaffected, and able to continue online on a 24/7 basis. Virtual sports make use of specially designed software that calculates the results of a simulated game. Two opposing teams are created by the software, with each playing position filled by a real athlete.
Players are randomly assigned to teams, and then actual data is used to determine the virtual match’s outcome. Recent performances, injury reports and other statistics – such as batting averages in the case of Baseball – are all factored into the final calculations.
Since no athletes are actually running out onto the field, the virtual games are much quicker than physical ones, and are usually complete within a matter of moments. This means that you don’t have to wait long to see if your bet was a winning one, and this adds to the entertainment and excitement factor.
Virtual Sports Markets and Coverage
Virtual sports don’t have to be linked to betting, but they almost always are. The action is simulated with high-quality graphics and animations as results are created for horse, greyhound, speedway and motor races, along with Football, Tennis and Baseball games. Sportsbooks have no influence on the calculated outcomes, which used Random Number Generation to determine results in the same way that online casinos do.
Generally, it’s possible to put money on outright winners, how race contestants will place, totals and point spreads. Specific prop bets, such as who will score the first goal, are also usually offered.
In other words, the usual land-based markets are also available for virtual sports events. Of course, novelty prop bets such as who will be given a penalty card are not possible. Virtual athletes are usually far better behaved than their physical counterparts are!
An Easy Online Betting Option
Predicting the results of a virtual sporting event is simpler than predicting the outcome of a physical game, because there are less variables to consider. Weather, track or field condition and stadium size have no bearing on what happens in the digital world; player statistics are the only important factors here. That makes virtual sports perfect for beginner bettors too.
In addition, virtual games are a good way to gain insight into how two players work together, or how they face off against each other from opposing sides. Overall enjoyment and appreciation of a sport is increased in this way.
While everyone works to maintain their health and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual events are an important way for sports fans to stay connected to the athletes and teams that they support. They are the ideal option for anyone who enjoys betting and can fill the gap left by the real sporting events that have had to be shutdown.