If you visit a Virtual Sports betting site like you get at Betway or bet365 
Sport, then you will be aware that as part of the presentation package for these sports, the runners, riders or competitors in an event will often be given a generic name. Now on many occasions, these names are simply made up and mean little, but on occasion, you can get a cracking name of a horse or a human competitor turn up.
These names can be quite amusing and so I thought that I’d bring you a quick look at some of the more interesting and amusing people and creatures that I have found competing in the rarified atmosphere of Virtual Sports.
So let’s take a look at these superstars of the Virtual world and hail them for their secret second life!
Eric Prydz – Virtual Motor Racing & Speedway (Betway)
Eric Prydz may be best known as one of the most famous DJ’s and music producers in the world today. His first smash hit global success was the song Call On Me, which remixed Steve Winwood’s song Valerie into a smash hit dance success several years ago, and which featured a famous video of a group of ladies gyrating in a gym class. He has since followed that up with a number of other chart successes including Pjanoo and a rare remix of the Pink Floyd classic Another Brick in the Wall called Proper Education.
However, in the virtual world, Eric is also seemingly a top-class motor driver as his name appeared in the list of drivers in Betway’s Virtual Motor Sports. Sadly, it wasn’t a great success for Eric as he finished dead last in the race, although to be fair he was one of the outsiders to win the race.
Thomas Magnum – Virtual Motor Racing & Speedway (Betway)
Ah good old Magnum P.I. The Hawaiian based detective is famous for Tom Selleck playing him originally in a raft of different Hawaiian shirts, driving Robin Masters Ferrari and being chased by Higgins two dogs Zeus and Apollo that protected Mr Masters estate. It seems being a private detective can’t pay that well though if Magnum is supplementing his income as a Virtual Sports driver and Speedway biker.
Casey Rieback – Virtual Motor Racing & Speedway (Betway)
If this is a name you have heard and can’t quite place then I can put you right, Casey Ryback was the character played by Steven Siegal in the Under Siege series of films. You remember the one, where he was the chef who just so happened (fortunately) to be the best ever soldier in history when Tommy Lee Jones group of terrorists attacked a US battleship. It seems Casey has put down his knives and chopping boards and instead now races cars and motorbikes in Virtual Sports.
Incidentally, we also had Mike Jordan (Michael Jordan, perhaps) racing in the same race, while Donald Fisher, a grumpy old character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, was also competing as a rank outsider.
Mike Mellon – Virtual Motor Racing & Speedway (Betway)
Admittedly, ex West Brom, Burnley and Tranmere Rovers player, and current Tranmere Rovers manager Michael Mellon may elect to go by his preferred name of “Micky” in footballing circles, but the man who has led Tranmere Rovers to two successive promotions into League One also seems to have a doppelganger who races Virtual Motor Sports.
He goes by the name of Mike Mellon but his chances of success are not reckoned to be that great at 22/1 to win the race.
Jackson 5 & Pantera – Virtual Horseracing & Greyhounds (Betway)
I always think it is tough for a horse to cart around a jockey when sprinting or jumping over fences, but I also think that it is a bit much to expect them to cart around an entire pop band. Well seemingly in Virtual Horseracing (and also Greyhounds which shares many of the same names) you will find the Jackson 5 and heavy metal band Pantera amongst the names.
Both of these selections tended to be longer odds options in the races I viewed, which given the number of people in the band, is probably not a surprise.
Many Virtual Stars in a single race
One little sidenote to finish, one race I saw in Virtual Motor Racing had a 
positive cornucopia of stars and their virtual doppelgangers taking place in one race. The 11.17 at Monsanto Park would have been rich hunting ground for autograph lovers as not only did we have former author Graham Green taking part, but John Coffey (the character from Stephen King’s book The Green Mile) was also participating, as was ex-football star John Jeffers.
We also had the wonderfully named Barrie Basher (what a name for a racing car driver) and Herman Fender also taking part.
However, my eye was drawn to Pat Moritas, who in singular form, was the famous Mr Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies of the 1980s. We know that Mr Miyagi had a good eye when it came to cars, so maybe this was his sideline career that nobody knew about.
Honorable mentions to funny names created for Virtual Sports also go to:
Clinton Blisters – Poor old Clinton seems to suffer with his hands or feet when he takes to the wheel of a Virtual Motor Car or a Speedway bike.
Elvis Tesley – Well bless-a-my-soul, what’s a wrong with me? The King may well still be alive and well and participating in Virtual racing when he gets the opportunity. One assumes he will have slimmed down a little from the 1970s and the fact that changing just a couple of letters in his surname has fooled the world for years is something of a surprise.
Ivan O Chance – Poor old Ivan must know that with a name like that, he is always destined to be the rank outsider in any event he competes in. Sure enough, he was the 25/1 shot in the race I witnessed, and unsurprisingly, he trotted in last.
