As you are no doubt aware, along with In Play betting and esports betting, Virtual Sports betting is 
one of the fastest growing markets in the betting industry at present. It is also not just in the UK that Virtual Sports has pulling power, across Europe (particularly in Italy) and in North America, even in the notoriously difficult US betting market, Virtual Sports betting is thriving.
Over the last few months we have taken a look at the different Virtual Sports betting options available at top quality bookmaking sites such as Betway. What we have found is that although there are many different Virtual Sports, the bets you find on each tend to replicate the bets you have in the real world, although the data that they are based on is entirely created by the program itself, rather than real form or results.
So does this mean that we can use the same strategies we employ to bet on real world sporting events in the Virtual Sports world? Or do we need to devise a slightly different approach when betting on Virtuals?
Let’s begin by answering the first part of this question.
Do real world betting strategies work in Virtual Sports?
The answer to this is simple; it depends on what strategy you use to bet on real sporting events.
If you are someone that likes to study the form of a horse, or research how an individual or team has performed compared to their opponent, study the past history of the individuals or teams competing or the fixture itself, then this type of approach is useless in Virtual Sports. This is because Virtual Sports teams and individuals do not have a real history or form of any sort which can inform your decision. Any statistics shown regarding an individual (such as a horse’s form in a Virtual Horse race) is generated by the program itself.
However, if you are someone that takes a more laissez-faire attitude towards betting and you prefer to bet using chance, such as by backing horses with a name you like, or you like to use the odds as a good indicator of whether a selection has a chance of winning, then these strategies (if you want to call them that) are perfectly acceptable in Virtual Sports betting.
In Virtual Sports, there is a large random influence on events and although competitors are handicapped (negatively or positively) in some way to help produce a wider range of odds, there is still a more random nature to how the results will be decided that is not evident in real world sports, which is based on performance and ability in the main.
As such, strategies which take more account of these random factors are a wiser choice when betting on Virtual Sports, but that is not to say that you can bet randomly on Virtual Sports and have success that way. A more structured and well-thought out approach can be a more successful one than simply randomly selecting your choices to back.
So, what is a strong betting strategy to employ in Virtual Sports?
It may seem odd talking about strategy when we have acknowledged that randomness is a key element of virtual sports, but there is an influence on that randomness and that is easy to identify on all virtual sports. They are the odds for each of the selections.
So while a Virtual Horserace may have eight horses, within that, there will be some horses that are handicapped positively and that have a better chance of winning the race, and there will be others that are handicapped negatively and have a smaller chance of winning the race.
This is in place for two reasons, firstly, it replicates the real world race, where not every runner has the same ability and most races have a selection of horses of differing abilities. Secondly, by introducing this to the race, it allows the software to produce odds that are wider in scope, thus appealing to punters that like to back favourites in addition to those that prefer to place their bets on longer odds selections.
However, the odds also allow the punter to understand which horses have more chance of winning a race, and which do not. Therefore, over a number of races, you are more likely to see the horses that are a shorter price, win more races than those that are rated as longer shots. Again, this replicates what tends to happen in the real world of racing.
So, the best strategy to use when betting on Virtual Sports is to let the odds guide you as to the bets you want to make. If you want to win smaller amounts more often, then you are best targeting selections that are shorter-prices in races or events. If you prefer to wager smaller amounts, but land a bigger value win at longer odds, then the selections of longer odds are more likely to appeal.
However, that strategy as such does come with a very large caveat and that is Virtual Sport offers no guarantees. You won’t find a bet where one horse is a 1/40 massive favourite and then duly wins. All races are designed to be relatively level, which makes picking the winner, even using the odds as a guide, more difficult and as such, regular profitability on these forms of bets can be difficult to obtain.
Other strategies you can employ could be to back more than one selection in a race (which is perfectly allowed and can work if you regularly pick a winner to cover the additional expense of a bet) but which also offers the down side of you losing double your unit stake if neither of your selections win (or more if you decide to back more than two runners in a race).
Each way betting is also an option if you are finding picking a winner tough. Most Virtual Sports offer each way betting on races in particular and having the security of a payout if your selection finishes in the places can mean that you win smaller amounts more often. Howeverm, you do need to ensure that this form of betting is profitable, as if you keep backing shorter odds selections, your returns may not cover the cost of your bet.
In truth the best advice you can adopt for Virtual Sports is to adopt an approach similar to slot gaming, rather than sports betting, to enjoy what is on offer. If you can do that, then you will guarantee yourself some fun and excitement, regardless of whether you win or lose.
