The 18 Best Virtual Sports Betting Sites in the UK (2020)

Virtual Sports are the product of the latest technological and betting advancements which give you the opportunity to place wagers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Virtual Sports are shorter, more frequent, electronically generated simulations of the top sports we all know and love. When regular sports are not available, Virtual Sports – run by completely random algorithms – step in and provide a wide range of betting opportunities for you to enjoy.

Best Betting Sites for Virtual Sports

	Bookmaker	Benefits
1		• Wide range of virtual sports options • Bet Rush Go or On Demand • Up to £200 virtual sports free bets with Fred’s free bet club	VISIT
2		• Offers the most virtual sports of any bookie • New events every few minutes • Up to £100 in free bets sign up offer	VISIT
3		• Fantastic overall virtual platform • Chance to bet on several outright markets • Win up to £3000 with weekly virtual sports tournaments	VISIT
4		• 24/7 virtual sports betting • Dozens of betting markets to choose from • £30 virtual sports free bet for new customers	VISIT
5		• Exceptional virtual football experience • Bet on a wide range of competitions and markets • Very user-friendly interface	VISIT
6		• Lots of virtual sports options • Detailed virtual sports match/race stats • Fantastic streaming	VISIT
7		• Instant virtual sports betting on many sports • Chance to bet without having to wait • £10 free bet for new virtual sports players	VISIT
8		• Virtual darts available • Bet on matches up to 5 hours in advance • Countdown timer showing when each match begins	VISIT
9		• One of the few bookies to provide virtual basketball • Match commentary and crowd sound effects add to overall experience • Bet £5 Get £30 virtual sports welcome offer	VISIT
10		• 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year • Lots of virtual options to choose from • Offers instant virtual sports betting	VISIT
11		• Bet on flat or jumps for horse racing and greyhounds • New events take place every 4 minutes • Bet £10 Get £30 virtual sports sign up offer	VISIT
12		• Several virtual sports betting options • Match and race statistics provided • Dozens of markets to choose from	VISIT
13		• Numerous virtual horse racing options • Matches and races held every few minutes • Popular betting markets available	VISIT
14		• Decent selection of virtual sports • Not as many betting markets • Bet on events up to 6 hours in advance	VISIT
15		• Events take place every couple of minutes • Streamed in stunning high definition • Bet on matches up to 18 minutes in advance	VISIT
16		• Good variety of virtual sports options • Far less betting markets than other bookies • Can only bet on matches up to 20 minutes in advance	VISIT
17		• Many virtual sports offered • Wide range of betting markets • Option to see past match results	VISIT
18		• Good selection of virtual sports • Great stream • Not many betting markets	VISIT

Best Virtual Sports Betting Sites: Top 18

#1: Betfred

#2: Bet365

#3: Unibet

#4: Betway

#5: Bwin

#6: Sportingbet

#7: Mansionbet

#8: Coral

#9: BetVictor

#10: Bethard

#11: William Hill

#12: Betsson

#13: Boylesports

#14: Ladbrokes

#15: Paddy Power

#16: Betfair

#17: Betsafe

#18: 10bet

Best Virtual Sports Betting Sites Ranked & Reviewed

#1: Betfred

Betfred’s dedicated Virtual World platform is probably the most comprehensive one we’ve seen in this whole list. With virtual football, tennis, horse racing, greyhounds, motor racing, speedway, darts, cycling, and bingo as well as the option to bet Rush Go and On-Demand, there really is virtual sports for everyone 24/7 at Betfred. The bookie also offers specific virtual sports promotions including a Bet £10 Get £5 offer for customers accessing any On-Demand virtual sports, or the chance to get up to £200 in free bets with Fred’s Free Bet Club.

#2: Bet365

As one of the top bookies in the country, it should come as no surprise that Bet365 holds one of the largest virtual sports portfolios in the game. The betting site offers virtual horse racing, soccer, cricket, American football, motor racing, speedway, trotting, cycling, darts, and tennis. Bet365 virtual events typically take place every 2-3 minutes and new customers can claim Bet365’s sign-up offer of up to £100 in free bets when depositing £5 or more.

#3: Unibet

With Unibet’s recently launched virtual sports platform, you can bet on virtual football, virtual world cup, virtual champions cup, virtual basketball, virtual tennis, virtual horse racing, and virtual greyhounds. Unibet is one of the few top bookies to actually display a football league table and gives punters the chance to bet on several outright markets including season winner, top 5 finisher, and bottom 3 finisher, as well as dozens of other matchday markets. Unibet also offer weekly virtual sports tournaments where players collect points every time they win bets. The more points you have the more cash you can win and whoever finishes on top will receive a mouth-watering £3000 reward.

#4: Betway

At Betway, you can enjoy virtual football, cycling, greyhounds, horse racing, motor racing, speedway, and trotting. Betway offers dozens of markets to bet on with matches and races taking place every couple of minutes. Virtual sports betting is available 24/7 at Betway and streamed in fantastic quality. New customers can enjoy a £30 free bet split however you like when creating an account with this highly respected bookmaker.

#5: Bwin

At Bwin, you can bet on virtual football, tennis, greyhounds, horse racing, trotting, speedway, and velodrome. Bwin virtual football platform really is a step above the rest though as punters have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of competitions to bet on including popular domestic leagues from around the world as well as the world cup, champions league, and Europa league. All virtual events take place every few minutes at Bwin with the bookie’s virtual interface being very user friendly.

#6: Sportingbet

Sportingbet has a very appealing virtual sports interface and offers its players virtual football, races, greyhounds, horses, tennis, speedway, velodrome, and trotting betting options as well as instant football. For virtual football, Sportingbet provides detailed match information including league tables, previous results, head to head information, and other team news which almost makes you feel like you’re betting on the real thing. The bookie also offers lots of betting markets and displays matches in fantastic quality.

#7: Mansionbet

Mansionbet’s virtual sports offering includes virtual football, racing, and tennis. The bookmaker also offers Instant versions of virtual greyhounds, trotting, horse racing, speedway, football, and velodrome so you can bet without having to wait for the events to start. Mansionbet also offers a virtual sports promotion in the form of a £10 free bet bonus when you try virtual sports for the first time and place a £20 single bet with minimum odds of 1/2.

#8: Coral

Another highly reputable betting site, Coral gives its players a variety of virtual sports options to bet on including virtual horse racing, virtual greyhounds, virtual football, virtual tennis, virtual motorsports, virtual speedway, virtual cycling, and virtual darts. At Coral you can bet on matches up to 5 hours in advance. With events in each sport taking place every few minutes, that’s more betting opportunities than we can count!

#9: BetVictor

BetVictor provides virtual horse racing, virtual football, virtual dog racing, and virtual basketball for its users. All sports are streamed with great quality and include other fun touches like match commentary and crowd sound effects which make for a top virtual sports betting experience. Each event also has a timer so that you can know when exactly different matches will take place. BetVictor’s Bet £5 Get £30 welcome offer can be used on virtual sports which makes this bookie a great place to try out virtual sports betting for the first time.

#10: Bethard

Virtual sports are available at BetHard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Although relatively new to the betting scene, BetHard are already turning heads thanks to their partnership with Zlatan Ibrahiovic – and their virtual sports platform is likely to turn some heads too. The bookie provides a wide array of virtual sports betting including virtual football, virtual tennis, virtual greyhounds, virtual horseracing, virtual speedway, virtual cycling, and virtual trotting. For those who don’t to wait a few minutes between each game, Bethard also offers instant versions of all its sports so that you can place your virtual bets straight away.

#11: William Hill

William Hill’s Virtual World lets you wager on virtual horse racing (flat and jumps), virtual greyhounds (flat and jumps), football, and ‘other’ sports (which at the time of writing included motor sports). All matches and races take place every 4 minutes at William Hill and are displayed in great quality, with the most popular betting markets available to play on. New virtual sports players can benefit from William Hill’s Bet £10 Get £30 sign up offer by entering the code P30 when registering an account.

New customers using Promo Code P30 only, min £10/€10 stake, min odds 1/2, free bets paid as 2 x £15/€15 (30 days expiry), free bet/payment method/player/country restrictions apply. By entering the Promo code in the box above you agree to the full terms and conditions of this promotion.

#12: Betsson

At Malta-based Betsson, users can enjoy virtual football (club football and world cup), virtual tennis, virtual basketball, virtual horse racing, and virtual dog racing. There is a good amount of match and race statistics available for each event which adds more realism to the overall virtual sports experience. The virtual streams are decent and there are loads of betting markets to play on which makes virtual betting at Betsson a great choice.

#13: Boylesports

Boylesports’ portfolio consists of virtual horse racing (flat, national hunt, grand national), football, greyhounds, motor racing, and speedway. Compared to other bookies, the stream and Boylesports feels a little bit inferior but overall there is a good choice of popular markets to bet on with matches taking place every few minutes.

#14: Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes’ virtual sports offering consists of virtual horse racing (flat, jumps, and grand national), virtual football (regular and football rush), and virtual motorsports. Ladbrokes offer a decent stream with events taking place every few minutes. For virtual football, you can bet on full time result, correct score, total number of goals, double chance, and over/under 2.5 goals. For all virtual events you can bet up to 6 hours in advance.

#16: Betfair

Betfair offers a wide range of virtual sports opportunities including horse racing (flat, jumps, and sprint), club football, world cup, greyhounds, and motor racing. All events take place every couple of minutes and are streamed in stunning high definition. At Betfair you can choose to wager on virtual sports up to 25 minutes in advance. The bookmaker offers popular markets and lest you see past match results.

#17: Paddy Power

Just like its partner in crime (Betfair), Paddy Power gives users the chance to bet on virtual horse racing (flat, jumps, and sprint), virtual world cup (football), virtual super league, virtual greyhounds, and virtual motor sports. You can only bet on matches up to 20 minutes in advance however and compared to other bookies, Paddy Power offer far less betting markets including only three for virtual football (full time result, total goals and correct score).

#17: Betsafe

Players at Betsafe can wager on virtual football, tennis, basketball, horse racing, and dog racing. Betsafe offers lots of virtual betting markets and provides detailed match and race statistics. Events take place every few minutes and you can bet on future matches and races as well as view past match results.

#18: 10bet

At 10bet you can bet on virtual football, basketball, greyhounds, and horse racing. The bookie provides a great stream as well as match information however the virtual football markets are relatively limited. Matches takes place every few minutes but you can only bet up to 10 minutes in advance.

Why Bet on Virtual Sports?

When compared to betting on real sports, virtual sports betting has a number of advantages for players to enjoy. Being a computer simulation means that bookies can decide how long virtual sports matches are and how often they take place. As a result of this, matches tend to be shorter (lasting less than a minute) and more frequent, with very short intervals separating each fixture, and you can bet on virtual sports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These endless betting opportunities are perfect for off-peak times of the day or season when there are very few sports taking place, or when a coronavirus pandemic occurs and virtually all sports on the planet come to a standstill.

Additionally, since the outcome of a virtual sports match is essentially random, you do not need any prior sporting knowledge to bet on virtual sports and there is no chance of any bias or corruption in a match which can effect the final score – something which unfortunately tends to occur in real sports. This means that if you are new to the world of sports, you don’t need to spend a long time analysing past results, head to head information, team news, current form, and all the other important factors that usually have an influence on real sports.

What is Virtual Sports Betting?

Virtual sports betting is a modern phenomenon where simulated sporting events are streamed 24/7. Today, almost all top betting companies in the UK offer virtual sports markets to some extent. In virtual football, for example, a list of fixtures will be displayed together with a fictional league table, with a number of popular betting markets available to bet on (as would be the case on a regular sportsbook). The match is then presented visually just like it would on a game of FIFA, with the results being shown very soon after. Results in virtual sports are mostly random (using an unbiased random number generator) with the bookie having no control over the result of a fixture.

Due to restrictions in licensing, some bookies are not allowed to use real team names and stadium names so don’t get alarmed if you see the London Guns taking on Manchester Reds. Compared to real sports, virtual sports tend to have fewer betting types available and lower maximum pay-outs.

Popular Types of Virtual Sports

We've listed some of the popular virtual sports that you can find on most betting sites.

Virtual Football

Virtual football is one of the most popular virtual sports and offered by all bookmakers that we assessed. The sport comes with a widest variety of betting markets to choose from which football fans will already be very familiar with. Betting on virtual football is further enhanced by match commentary and background sounds, and many bookies even offer the chance to bet on different domestic and international competitions.

Virtual Horse Racing

Virtual horse racing is another very popular type of sports to bet on. Bookies offer many different variations of this sport, including flat, jumps, sprint, national hunt, and grand national betting. Common bets include race winner, forecast and tricast betting.

Virtual Dog Racing (Greyhounds)

In virtual greyounds, players can bet on which dog (out of 6 or 8) will come first in a race around an oval track. Betting on greyhounds is very straightforward and common bets includes win, place, forecast and tricast markets. Even though outcomes are mostly random, some bookies will also show you past race results so you can see who the favourites are.

Virtual Tennis

Virtual tennis consists of either singles or doubles matches and can be played on different types of courts just like real tennis. Common betting options include game, set, and match winner markets as well as player to win, correct score, and total points.

Virtual Motorsports

Virtual motorsports is a similar concept to virtual horse and dog racing in that you are wagering onn which car you or bike you think will finish in first place. Odds are usually similar to other racing sports and common markets include winner, forecast, and tricast. Virtual speedway is another common sport offered by bookies which involves only motorbikes.

What are Virtual Sports Betting Tips?

Whilst it is difficult to create a formiddable virtual sports betting strategy because of the unpredictable nature of these markets, we have compiled a list of virtual sports tips that could help increase your chances of winning your bets.

Select Your Virtual Sport Wisely

Eventhough the outcome of a virtual sports match is decided by a random algorithm and could go either way, you can still make some choices to increase your chances of getting the correct result. One such option is to wager on a virtual sport which has a smaller amount of competitors as statistically you are more likely to predict the winner in a 6-dog greyhound race, for example, compared to a 10-runner horse race. Naturally, the less competitors there are, the lower the odds will be however this will increase your chances of winning greatly.

Bet Small Amounts And Don’t Chase Losses

Virtual sports markets are volatile and with such a high level of randomness, players are always going to face some losses. We suggest betting with small amounts as whilst this will result in lower profits if you win, it is a good way of avoiding heavy losses if you start to lose in these unpredictable sports. Another important betting mistake to avoid is to not to chase your losses by wagering larger amounts if you do start to lose. If you are finding it difficult to win in virtual sports, the best thing to do is stop or try a different sport. Betting small amounts and not chasing your losses is a great way of keeping you in control of your bets.

Back Favourites Often But Not Always

Although Virtual sports are random, there is still some weight added to the favourites in a match. Betting on the favourite therefore, whilst not a surefire way to win a bet, could over time give you a payout. It could also be useful to bet on favourites each way as even if they do not come out on top, you can still get a return from your stake.

Look For Virtual Sports Promotions

Many bookies will at one point or another offer virtual sports promotions and bonuses to entice more players to try them out. As is the case with all other forms of betting, we definitely encourage you to look around for such promotions as they can greatly enhance your bet and increase your overall potential pay-outs.

Remember That Virtual Sports Are Not Real.

One thing that we cannot stress enough is that virtual sports are not real, and the outcomes of virtual sports matches do not reflect real life in any way. If in a real football match, one team would likely destroy another team, in a virtual sports match the results could very easily be reversed and it is not uncommon to see top ‘real-life’ teams getting relegated in a virtual sports league. When betting on virtual sports, do not let your real sports knowledge influence your decisions.

Popular Virtual Sports Markets

Many of the markets available for virtual sports betting are the same as those of real sports. Some of the most popular virtual sports betting markets include:

Final result

Total goals

Correct score

Half time/full time

Over/Under 2.5 goals

FAQ

How Are Virtual Sports Results Determined?

Virtual sports software calculates all potential outcomes of a match or race and then a random number generator (RNG) is used to randomly select a result.

Who Plays Virtual Sports?

Virtual sports are enjoyed by both beginner and expert punters of all ages due to their short duration and simplicity.

Can I Cash Out Virtual Sports Bets?

Given the short duration of each event, cash out is not available on virtual sports

Can I Combine Real And Virtual Sports Selections In My Bet Slip?

No, you are not able to combine virtual sports bets with other sportsbook markets.

ThePuntersPage Final Say

Virtual sports are the product of technological advancements in the betting industry and provide players with endless fast and simple betting opportunities. With so many different sports to choose from and lots of popular betting markets, it’s no surprise that virtual sports are growing in popularity. Whilst these sports will never be as exciting as the real thing – for times when real sports are unavailable, virtual sports are definitely a substitute we would recommend to anyone.