By Kane Wilson
With the rise of technology and the issues with Covid, virtual sports betting has taken off in the last year or two. So much so the Grand National was virtual in 2020 – that was mental. Controlled completely by the computer, virtual football betting seems to the normal punter much more of a fishy game than an actual real life game of football. But surely bookies are getting away with fixing these virtual spheres to make complete profit all the time? We are going to have a look at whether virtual sports betting, especially football, is fixed and uncover the truth behind this weird and wonderful style of sports betting.
Virtual sports explained
Differing from e-sports, virtual sport is a complete simulation of computerised games in almost any sport. It is similar to a video game in essence, except when it comes to virtual sports, punters have the chance to bet on them.
The best way to think of virtual sports is that they are akin to online casinos and slot machines. They run off a similar idea whereby playing roulette online is not the same as physically attending a casino and participating in roulette. This is the same for virtual football, horse racing or tennis.
Licenced companies can’t fix it
These random number generators used by bookies need to be at a high level and need to be certified by the betting industry to be used. Similar to casino and slot betting online the random number generator is based on pure luck.
Perhaps the best way to describe how the random number generator works is to use the following example:
You are going to pull a winning piece of paper out of the hat. The pieces of paper which have been added to the hat are labelled:
Number 1 – x5 pieces of paper
Number 2 – x4 pieces of paper
Number 3 – x3 pieces of paper
Number 4 – x2 pieces of paper
Number 5 – x1 piece of paper
Once you have mixed all these pieces of paper into a hat you are left with what a random number generator works like. Whilst there is still a possibility of you pulling out the number 5 solitary piece of paper (i.e. winning the virtual football bet you have placed), you are much more likely to pull out any of the other numbers which have more pieces of paper.
Why they are popular and why people like them
If the results of virtual sports betting and in particular, virtual football, are so bad, then why do people like it and do it?… Convenience. Like everything in the modern world, virtual football betting is convenient and can be bet on instantly at any time of the day. This means you don’t need to wait till Saturday for your weekend accumulators.
Decision
Whilst, it can seem seriously fishy at times, the reality is the algorithm used by virtual sports betting is the exact same one used for online casinos and slots. It is a random number generator which often offers low odds and limited returns. Whilst it does not give out as many wins as you are maybe likely to get with real life sport, it is highly convenient and for many just as likely to return winnings as real life sports betting.
