Virtual Sports Betting with Ignition Casino’s Virtual Basketball League

There are many reasons to love online virtual sports. If you’re a sports fan, they’re a great way to indulge in some sporting action, even during the off season. And, if you like a punt, you can get into some virtual sports betting any time of day or night. 

Here we look at how online virtual sports work and how you can get involved. We also provide an overview of our virtual basketball league, including how it works and how to bet on it.

The ins and outs of virtual basketball

We know that, for real basketball fans, nothing compares to the NBA. As such, when we set up our virtual basketball league, we didn’t want to try to replicate the real thing. But we still wanted it to feel reasonably familiar.

That’s why, in our league, you’ll see all the usual cities represented. However, instead of watching the Knicks face off against the Trailblazers, it’ll be New York playing Portland. Sounds simple enough, right?

This makes each game a simple city on city showdown. It also means that any similarity to the real thing is purely coincidental and shouldn’t be taken into account.

In total, our virtual basketball league is made up of 16 teams and a season is made up of 30 games. As each showdown only takes a couple of minutes, the whole season is over in less than a day. This means no waiting around for the next game, it’s just non-stop, fast-paced action.

Best of all, you can watch clips of each game as they take place. With our high-quality simulations, you’ll be able to see all the best action. And there’s even a real announcer commentating the whole thing.

How the games go down

It’s important to note here the difference between online virtual sports and sports video games. When you play a video game, you control the players and can influence the outcome of each game. With online virtual sports, how the games go down will be decided by the software.

This means that, for our virtual basketball league, all the outcomes are determined by an algorithm. No one is “playing” as individual players or teams and the results are worked out by the computer. 

But this doesn’t mean that there are no stats to analyse or that game outcomes are completely random. Quite the opposite, in fact! Much like in real life, results will generally be based on each team – and player’s – relative strengths, ratings, and form.

So, when you’re working out your virtual sports betting at Ignition Casino, you should take a look at the “Statistics” tab. This breaks down each team’s performance, showing who’s on a hot streak, who’s struggling, and who’s coasting in the middle. These stats also feed into the odds for each game, helping determine who starts favourite in the virtual sports betting.

Virtual sports betting on Ignition Casino’s virtual basketball league

As noted above, the outcome of virtual basketball league games will be calculated by the computer. Just like in a normal NBA season, some teams will be weaker, and some will be stronger. The software’s algorithm will take this into account, using different weighted criteria to calculate each game’s winner.

This means that, by watching the stats, you should be able to work out a game’s potential winner. From there, it’s just a matter of placing your bets and waiting for the results. 

The simplest way to do this is to put on a moneyline bet. In doing this, you’ll notice there’s a favourite (indicated by the negative number) and an underdog (the positive number). You can see this more clearly in the below picture. 

In this example, New York is starting the favourite at -156 and Portland is a slight underdog at +108. These numbers represent the payout rate you’ll get if your team gets up. So, if New York wins, you’ll need to have $156 on them to win $100. Alternatively, if Portland gets up, you’ll win $108 for every $100 you have on them. 

All this means that you have to have more on the line to win big when backing the favourite. And that a well-placed bet on the underdog could payout much more while putting you at much less risk.

In addition to the outright winner, our virtual sports betting also offers markets on the half-time winner and final win margin. We also offer over/unders, which is betting that the combined final score will be over or under a certain amount. For example, if you suspect the game will be a shootout, you might want to bet on it being overs.

Tips on winning when betting on our virtual basketball league

Just like with real sports betting, there are a few tricks to winning big when betting on online virtual sports. Some of these are standard gambling tips and others are more specific to virtual sports betting. For example, when betting on our virtual basketball league, you should:

• Resist the temptation to go all in: While the thought of a big win is always attractive, throwing your whole bankroll behind a team is too risky. Instead, you should only bet a fraction of your stack, so you can ride out the highs and lows. After all, we all want to survive to punt another day.

• Watch out for upsets: Just like they do in real life, in our virtual basketball league, favourites will sometimes lose. These games are a great opportunity to win big with a smaller outlay. So, do your research, and don’t be afraid to back an underdog if you think a team is due.

• Play the stats: Our virtual basketball league software will base its calculations on how the season has played out so far. As such, it can pay to watch the stats and check which teams are travelling the best. 
• Know when to sit a game out: The season moves quickly, so don’t be afraid to sit a game out. After all, it’ll generally only be a matter of minutes before the next game rolls around. 

Beyond that, just remember to have fun! Online virtual sports are all about celebrating the love of sport and the excitement it brings. Head over to Ignition Casino’s Virtual Sports section to check out the non-stop action for yourself.