What are the best Virtual Sports Games in Ranking Order?
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Research has shown that after betting on football and horse racing, Virtual Sports betting is the most important form of betting in terms of revenue generated for bookmakers. As such, it is not surprising to see that many bookmakers are now seeking to offer as many Virtual Sports games as they can to customers to attract even more customers to try their luck playing the games.
This has led to a surge in the number of different Virtual Sports games available on the market today. Gone are the days when sites used to offer just two or three Virtual Sports if you were lucky, now on some sites there are over ten different Virtual Sports games to choose from, and there are more being created as we speak to add to those numbers.
But one thing we have never done is rate the Virtual Sports games available across a number of different sites, in order of which we feel is the best, to which is the worst.
So that is precisely what we are going to do in this article, but before we do that, we first need to identify the criteria we will use to decide which game is the best and why.
What criteria will we used to decide the best Virtual Sports games?
In order to decide what is the best Virtual Sports game, we are going to use different criteria to judge each game on. These will include (but are not necessarily limited to) the following:
- The quality of the graphics and presentation of the slot
- The quality of the sound/commentary
- The balance of the Virtual Sport between betting period and highlights package
- The number of markets available in a Virtual Sport
- The range of bets available within those markets
- How realistic the Virtual Sport looks and feels compared to the sport it is based on
- How popular the Virtual Sport is likely to be with punters
We’ll begin the countdown in reverse order starting with the Virtual Sport we feel is the 10th best out of those most widely available.
10 – Virtual Tennis
Virtual Tennis is for me one of the Virtual’s that hasn’t quite really made the transition from sports betting to Virtual Sports betting just yet. Of course, the shorter game makes this more difficult to organise betting on. Graphically the game is neat enough but the games are all played on the same grass court with made up player names and over just one game. It isn’t enough to get your teeth into really, but still offers some decent fun especially if you are a tennis fan.
9 – Bullet Horse Racing
Surprisingly, I’ve ranked the later Virtual Horse Racing game, Bullet Horse Racing in this list in ninth. The graphics on this version are slightly improved on the older Virtual Horse Racing but I feel that the improvements are not quite big enough to justify bringing out a game which solely focuses on 2 furlong sprint races. One positive is the range of odds available and the fact that you get long odds winners often, but picking a winner in these races can be very tough.
8 – Virtual Motor Racing
Virtual Motor Racing has some nice graphics and sound effects but thecommentary is somewhat uninspired and the fact that it uses made up names for the drivers, and has no element of team driving that you get in real life motor sports, does impact on its realism. On the positive side, there are a good selection of bets available and with 12 drivers in every race, there are at least a wide choice of odds available on each race.
7 – Virtual Football
Perhaps the most ambitious of all the Virtuals released in the first wave of games. Virtual Football did a great job of offering Virtual Soccer betting to customers in a clever way. The commentary is good but the highlights of the game do let the realism slide a little. The number of bets available are a positive but it would have been nicer and more realistic if real teams had been used, as you get in the International version but not the club version.
6 – Virtual Horse Racing
The game that started it all is still one of the best Virtuals you can play today. I like the fact that some sites offer races over the flat and jumps and that you can have a varying number of runners in the race. I’d have liked to have seen the Form updated in real-time and some sort of historical context for the races and runners but maybe that will come in later versions of the game.
5 – Virtual Speedway
Virtual Speedway may not have the greatest betting range available with just four riders in each race but in terms of realism and the graphics and sound, this ranks up there with the very best Virtual Sports you can play today. Speedway though may not be the most popular of sports to follow nowadays, but as Virtual it has found new life and a new crowd of admirers.
4 – Bullet Greyhounds
Bulley Greyhounds is pretty much just a better and updated version of the original Virtual Greyhounds offering on the site. That game was one of the better and more realistic Virtuals available and this game builds on that and adds even better quality graphics. This is an upgrade which has worked and worked well and now of the two Virtual Greyhound games, this would be my go to game for a bit of betting fun on the dogs.
3 – Virtual Cycling
In terms of realism, especially when it comes to the first wave of Virtual Sports games, Virtual Cycling topped them all. The action in the velodrome looked almost life-like and the fact that people are not as familiar with cyclists names in real life means that it didn’t feel or look like a Virtual Sports betting game. The number of bets available was good and with just the right number of riders in the race, I always felt this was the best of all the first batch of Virtual Sports games.
2- Virtual Cricket
One of two games that have significantly raised the bar in terms of what you can expect from. Virtual Sports. Virtual Cricket, complete with a commentary from Phil Tufnell and stunning quality graphics, Virtual Cricket not only looks and sounds like a real life short-over cricket match, but it also has the wide range of betting available on it that you would expect. With all the top test playing sides featured, in their one day kits, it also looks and feels ultra-realistic too.
1- Virtual Darts
A new standard in Virtual Sports betting has been set with the release of Virtual Darts. Load up this game and you could be forgiven for thinking you are watching a real match. Stars of yesteryear feature in the game and video capture is used to display them as they are in real life. The way the sport is presented mirrors what you see on TV and the range of betting markets on each game is excellent too. The scorer is the same one that covers the major darts tournament and everything just looks and feels right. The future of Virtual Sports is here and it is Virtual Darts.
Although, with Virtual Basketball on the horizon, this top ten could well change in the very near future!
