Is Virtual Racing Fixed? Updated November 2021

Virtual racing is the most recent betting craze which has generated a huge base in the United Kingdom.

A couple of new betting operators in the country lead the way in this particular betting branch, which currently accounts for one in five bets in total. For all of those who might have asked themselves about the fuss around virtual racing, horses and greyhounds alike, this particular betting market owes much of its popularity to the convenience behind it.

Knowing that more than 70 real-life racing and live football events in 2017 alone were forced to be cancelled due to bad weather, virtual racing comes as a brilliant way for bookmakers to reduce dependability on traditional racing.

Once ridiculed as a concept that would never rise to prominence and fight its way against the traditional betting methods, virtual racing has taken the betting world by storm, at the same time causing plenty of controversies.

How does Virtual Racing work?

Most bookmakers that offer virtual racing built their betting platforms around a sophisticated technology which creates races of eight up to sixteen runners, all of which are available at different odds.

Prices on every runner will reflect the actual chances of winning, but they are not to say that the favourite always wins or that the outsiders never emerge victoriously. Virtual racing is, in fact, nothing more than a visual representation of a computerised random number draw.

Simply put, a, 1/2 favourite runner will have more numbers assigned to it in a draw than a 3/1 underdog, hence the difference in odds.

Can the Bookmakers Decide What’s Going to Win?

The computerised draw behind the virtual racing is drawn only once, therefore, eliminating the possibility of predicting the final outcome, regardless of the quantity of numbers assigned to individual selections.

More importantly, the results are randomly generated which should eliminate the rigging possibility.

Still, virtual racing is very much talked about and speculated in regard to possible fixing, knowing that bookmakers know exactly the chance of each runner winning. Even though races are completely random, punters are arguing that bookies know exactly what’s going to win based on the winning chances which truly reflect the runners’ odds.

Virtual racing, however, comes with a high overround which was initially standing at 2% or less in races with more runners. With these bookmaker margins set at a high point, betting operators are guaranteed profit which eliminates any doubt over potential fixing.

People do not stop questioning, however, arguing that most of the virtual racing bookmakers would not want to lay a £500 bet on an 11/10 runner, for instance, suggesting further that virtual racing clubs are open to the ‘right result’ happening.

A randomised draw will hardly eliminate any sense of doubt and results are there to confirm it with several pieces of research and statistical analyses claiming that virtual racing favourites have a poor record and come second more than anywhere else.

With many bookies, however, encouraging bets to be laid and then avoiding to pay out on the horse that is the favourite, because the software system is in some way stopping it winning though its randomisation, people will continue to debate on the legality issue of virtual racing for a foreseeable future.

What Kind of Virtual Markets are Available?

The great news for punters who are looking to make the move from real-life racing to virtual racing is that the betting markets are exactly the same. They also have the added benefits for horse and dog racing fans that there will be no non-runners, withdrawn horses and changes to the place terms.

These can all be infuriating to punters, with big rule four deductions taking away some of your profit, the horse you backed not running or the place terms changing so you don’t get paid out when you thought you would. All of these are common occurrences in real-life racing, both with horses and dogs, but they don’t happen in the virtual world, which makes life much easier when betting.

You can bet to win, bet each way or try something a little more adventurous such as a forecast or even a tricast if you are feeling lucky, just like you can when betting on the real-life action.

Those looking at other sports such as virtual football will see that the same applies here, you can bet on many of the same markets you can when betting on a real football game. So, if it’s a single on who will win the game, a bet on the correct score or something more speculative at bigger odds, you can do it all without any problems thanks to the virtual sports service on offer from the bookmakers.

Virtual Betting Strategy

It is fair to say that there is no real strategy to virtual betting, and many people simple choose names they like, favourite numbers and colours and anything else they can think of to try and get one over the bookies.

However, it is worth pointing out for those who wish to take a slightly deeper in interest into this that there is a form guide on offer. If you are looking at a horse race you can look at horses that have won last time out, jockeys that have won previous races and much more, just like you would if you was betting on a real-life horse race.

How you approach virtual sports is entirely up to you, but there is the information available for those who wish to approach the races and events in the same way as they do their favourite real-life events, should they choose to go down this route.

It is worth pointing out here that the virtual results are randomly drawn, and things can happen that you don’t expect, just like it does every weekend when you are watching live football or racing on TV. Just because a football team has won its last two games doesn’t mean they will win again, the same can be said for a horse too. Real-life events go unexpectedly from time to time, and that should always be taken into consideration when you are betting on virtual sports, it won’t always go the way you think it should, or it looks as though it should.