On March 11, the sports world came to a grinding halt. The NBA was forced to suspend their 2019-20 season because of the coronavirus pandemic, which was still in its early stages at the time. One day later, the NHL followed suit. March Madness was canceled. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were moved to 2021. All told, it was the biggest disruption the sports world had seen since World War Two.

But that didn’t stop people from betting at Bodog Sportsbook. Thanks to online virtual sports, bettors were able to get a taste of the action while the rest of the world was on pause. And virtual sports have proven popular enough to become a mainstay all their own, even as the NBA, NHL and other leagues have returned. In our latest easy-to-follow guide, we’ll show you how to play virtual sports now at Bodog; you’ll learn which sports are available, how the odds work, and how to get the most value from your wagers.

How Virtual Sports Works

Before we begin, we should point out that virtual sports betting isn’t the same thing as Esports betting. Esports is a video game competition between players and/or teams; virtual sports are simulated games, created ahead of time on computers (real-life footage is sometimes used), and people bet on the outcomes. Video game franchises like Madden NFL are often used to simulate these games, but they’re not being played live by people. 

When you bet on virtual sports at Bodog, depending on the sport in question, you’ll be able to watch the entire simulated event as it plays out, or you’ll be presented with a package of highlights. Either way, the event takes about 1-3 minutes to complete, and fresh events are shown on a regular rotation, usually with a one-minute pause in between games. To avoid intellectual property concerns, national teams and city names are used; for example, you can bet on Italy vs. Argentina in virtual soccer, or Los Angeles vs. New York in virtual basketball.

Types of Virtual Sports

Soccer and basketball are the bread and butter of virtual team sports, but there’s plenty more on the menu at Bodog Sportsbook. Here’s a rundown of everything you can bet on:

Basketball League

The virtual American Basketball League is open for betting. Sixteen teams representing cities in the NBA are included, although the faux Warriors are still in Oakland, not San Francisco; a full simulated season is played out, and you can bet on each game before the highlight package is shown.

Soccer

The Beautiful Game can be played two different ways when you bet on virtual sports at Bodog. In this version, you’ll be betting on national teams, with fresh matches shown every three minutes.

Soccer League

The second soccer game at Bodog features 20 teams from the English League, standing in for the 20 teams in the actual English Premiership. 

Horses

Switching from team sports to the track, the simulated thoroughbred races at Bodog are not unlike what you might bet on at the racino.  

Greyhounds

The same goes for the greyhounds, although in this case, you have the option of betting computer-generated virtual races (as designated by the “V” marked in green), or races that use real-life footage (as designated by the “R” marked in red).

Supercars

This is virtual stock car racing at its finest. Each race features either six or eight cars and drivers, with all the sights and sounds – and maybe crashes – that you’d expect at an actual NASCAR event.

Camels

Yes, camel racing is a thing in the real world, especially in West Asia and North Africa, and it’s one of the most popular virtual sports on the menu at Bodog.  

Color-Color

Finally, we have a game that isn’t actually based on a sport – it’s a virtual lottery, where you bet on which lottery balls will roll out of the hopper. The numbers 1-49 are represented, with 16 red balls, 16 yellow, 16 blue, and one grey (the 49-ball). Six balls are drawn for each betting round, just like your classic 6/49 lottery.

Virtual Sports Odds and How They Work

Generally speaking, the betting odds for virtual sports work in the exact same way as they do for their real-life counterparts. Each game or race you’re betting on has a line attached; make the right pick, and you’ll be paid out according to the odds.

Basketball

For Basketball League games, you have three basic ways to bet. The first, and most common, is the moneyline, where you pick one side or the other to win straight-up. Here are the odds for a recent virtual game between Detroit and Boston:

  • Detroit –294
  • Boston +237

These lines are expressed using the American odds format; in this case, a winning bet on Boston (the underdogs) would pay out $237 for every $100 wagered, while a winning bet on Detroit (the favorites) would pay out $100 for $294 wagered. Smaller and larger bets are allowed. The second option is 1X2 betting on the halftime score, which is similar to betting on soccer – the “1” and “2” represent the two teams in the matchup, while the “X” represents a tie.

The third betting option for virtual basketball is the total, also known as the over/under. That’s because you’re betting on whether the two teams will combine to score Over or Under the given number of points. Two different totals are offered for each game; you can also bet on the total for each individual team. In addition to these three basic wagers, you can bet on what the winning margin will be at halftime and full time.

Soccer

For both versions of virtual soccer, you have the same 1X2 bets and totals on tap as you do in the Basketball League. You also have a long list of proposition bets (“prop bets” for short), including Correct Score, Goal/No Goal, Total Goals, and more.

Racing

Whether it’s horses, greyhounds, supercars or camels, you have the same basic betting options with virtual races that you’ll find at the track. Win/Place/Show bets are the most common; Win bets ask you to pick the winner, Place bets cash in when your chosen entry finishes first or second, and Show bets cash in when they finish first, second or third. You can also bet on the Exacta (two entries finishing 1-2, in that order) and the Trifecta (three entries finishing 1-2-3).

For a little extra spice, the virtual racing games at Bodog also let you wager on whether the winning entry’s number will be Over or Under the posted total. For example, in a virtual camel race with eight entrants (numbered 1 through 8), the total is 4.5. And you can wager on whether the winning entry will wear an Even or Odd number.

Color-Color

As with real-life lotteries, you can bet on which six of the 49 lottery balls will be drawn – but with Color-Color, you can also bet on things like how many red balls will be drawn, which color will be drawn the most, and how many of the colored balls will match.

Virtual Sports Tips

The key thing to remember about betting on virtual sports at Bodog is that these are games of chance – even if the outcomes have been pre-determined. You can’t handicap these games the same way you can in real life, by keeping track of injured players, weather conditions, or which horses perform better as frontrunners or closers. At the same time, you don’t have to worry about your level of expertise, or your wagers being spoiled by late changes in conditions.

You do have control over your bet sizes, however. As with any other games of chance (like the ones you can play at Bodog Casino), the best way to ensure maximum value for your virtual sports betting dollar is to plan your sessions before you play. How much time would you like to spend at the virtual track? How many races would you like to bet on? Once you’ve made those decisions, size your bets accordingly, keeping in mind the size of your bankroll. End your sessions once you reach your goals, don’t chase losses (or wins) by making bigger bets, and most importantly, keep it fun. That’s what betting on virtual sports is all about.

Congratulations—now that you have the basic idea of how virtual sports work, you can bet with confidence at Bodog Sportsbook. We can’t say for certain how long the coronavirus pandemic will last, or whether the next few months will see continued shutdowns in the real world, but no matter what happens, virtual sports will always be there – even when things get back to normal.