How to Bet on Virtual Sports at Bovada

Everything You Need to Know About Virtual Sports

It’s incredible how much today’s video game franchises like NBA 2K and FIFA look like the real thing. With each passing year, the gameplay gets closer and closer to watching an actual television broadcast, right down to the announcers and the people cheering in the stands. Good thing, because during those rare times when there aren’t many live sports to bet on, virtual sports odds are still available at Bovada Sportsbook. Here’s everything you need to know to get a piece of the action.

What Is Virtual Betting?

If you’re just learning how to bet on virtual sports, it’s actually very simple. When you visit the virtual sports odds page at Bovada, you’ll see a Flash animation of the latest game (or race) on tap, with a number of different sports to choose from on the menu to the left. For basketball and soccer, these animations are highlight packages, lasting anywhere up to three minutes. No real-life individuals are represented on the virtual court or pitch. As they say in Hollywood, any resemblance is strictly co-incidental.

To the right of the game display, you’ll see a Bet Slip with three different options:

Single: Bet on one outcome from a virtual game/race.
Combi: Parlay two or more outcomes.
System: Select three or more outcomes, and bet on how many will be correct.

There is also a “split column” betting option for virtual sports, where you select three or more outcomes, including at least two from the same game, and you have to make at least one correct pick from each game. To place your bets, just fill out your Bet Slip as desired. Once you’re satisfied, hit the Place Bet button, and you’re good to go. You can review your choices by tapping or clicking My Bets. The odds and statistics for each sport in progress can be seen below the video display.

How Do Virtual Sports Work?

Way back in 1961, an IBM engineer named John Burgeson created the first computerized baseball simulation game. It ran on the IBM 1620, using a deck of punch cards and a random number generator to produce simulated games, complete with play-by-play. This is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to virtual sports. Today’s games have sophisticated graphics and display capabilities, so it’s more like following along on TV rather than reading the recaps in the newspaper.

What Virtual Sports You Can Bet On

At press time, basketball and soccer are front and center on the virtual sports menu at Bovada. Racing games are also proving quite popular, whether it’s cars, motorcycles, horses, greyhounds, or even camels. We also have two games of chance: Spin & Win, which is like roulette, and Color-Color, a lottery-style game.

There’s been a lot of demand for Bovada’s “American Basketball League” games – we know, because everyone’s been asking how to bet on virtual basketball. Sixteen cities from across the United States have been chosen for this prestigious league; you can see which games are live by selecting Basketball League from the menu to the left of the display. For soccer, we have both an international competition (which you’ll find listed as “Soccer” on the menu), and our special English League (listed as “Soccer League”), which bears an uncanny resemblance to the top flight of English soccer.

The racing games, especially the Horses and Greyhounds, are not unlike the virtual games offered at live racinos. If you look at the menu, you’ll see Greyhounds listed twice: one with the letter V, and one with the letter R. The V stands for Virtual, as in computer-generated. The R stands for Real, with actual footage of previous races used instead of having the computers make something up. New races happen every couple of minutes, and yes, you have to check out the camels.

How to Bet on Virtual Sports with Bitcoin

As with all of the sports on tap at Bovada, virtual sports betting works best when you use Bitcoin (or Bitcoin Cash) to make your transactions. Deposits go through more smoothly, withdrawals take much less time to process, and you earn bigger bonuses when you use Bitcoin at Bovada Sportsbook.

All you need to get in the crypto game is a digital wallet (like BreadWallet) and an account at a regulated Bitcoin exchange (like one of these). Use the wallet to move funds from your bank account to the exchange, and then into your Bovada account. When it’s time to withdraw, just do the same thing in reverse. It’s that easy.

That’s the wild world of virtual sports. We have more information for you in our FAQ and Help guides at Bovada Sportsbook; in the meantime, enjoy the games, and may the best sim win.