Virtual sports at Ignition are an invention of the computer age, and they combine the best of old school horse and greyhound racing with advanced technology to bring you online virtual sports betting action around the clock.

Unlike offline horse races, virtual horses betting doesn’t involve any live horses. Instead, the whole race is computer generated and computer simulated. It’s important to note that there are no video games involved and no one is “playing” the race. Instead, our horse racing algorithm takes a number of horses with certain probabilities of winning and simulates a race that you can watch.

There’s a real announcer hyping up the action and you can hear all the ambient noise of the racetrack. It’s a surprisingly fun and lively experience if you’re missing the real thing and need a substitute you can enjoy anytime, anywhere.

How Virtual Horses Work

Virtual horses betting at Ignition looks like this:At the online virtual sports section of the Ignition sportsbook, you’ve got a bunch of racing options on the left hand menu. By clicking Horses, you’ll be taken to the horse racing screen. As you can see, a race is live in this picture.

Races are simulated by the computer every few minutes, and you can watch them play out. Underneath the race video, you can see the starting times of each race. This gives you a way to view upcoming race times and odds, as well as the results of the previous race.

How Virtual Greyhounds Work

Virtual greyhounds betting at the Ignition sportsbook works similarly. Here’s a capture of a race where the hare has just been released:

Races are starting every few minutes with six dogs each. Just like with virtual horses betting, the computer will simulate a race based on the probabilities of each dog winning. A real announcer will cover the action all along the way, putting you right into the feel of a real dog track.

Now, let’s get into how the odds work.

Virtual Horses and Greyhounds Odds 

For virtual horses betting, scrolling down on an upcoming race will give you the main odds for each horse:

Here you can see the names and numbers of each horse that will race. You can also see their last 5 race results. Ninjo did not show 5 or 4 races ago, but placed in the last three races run. Odds to win are offered at +1720, which is a longshot underdog bet. Your bet of $100 would win you $1,740 if Ninjo were to cross the finish line first in this race.

Skittles appears to be the favorite here. Odds to show are at -714, which means that your bet of $714 wins you $100 if Skittles shows in the top 3.

For those who don’t know, a plus sign means that you can bet $100 to win that amount. A minus sign means you can bet that amount to win $100. You don’t have to bet these amounts exactly, but they show you how to calculate the odds.

You can learn more about online virtual sports betting at Ignition in general at this link.

For virtual greyhounds betting, it works the same way.

There are a number of bets you can place aside from picking horses to win, place, or show. You can also bet on exactas and trifectas, as well as over/under and even/odd bets.

For exactas, you can select available odds or click on the result you like for each greyhound to create your desired bet. Here’s what it looks like:

You can pick from the odds in the bottom section, or you can click the 1st and 2nd buttons beneath each greyhound to make your preferred exacta bet. If you put $100 on 1 to win and 3 to come second, and you were right, you’d be rolling in real money with a win of $23,900!

For the over/under, you are typically betting on what the distance will be between the winner and second place greyhound. 

Here the over/under line on the distance is set at 4.5. If the final distance between the first and second place greyhounds at the finish line is more than 4.5, the over bet wins. If it’s less, the under bet wins. Betting $147 on the under at -147 wins you $100 if the final distance is 4.

The even/odd in virtual greyhounds betting is another simple bet. Here you’re betting on whether the winning trap will be an even or odd number. Here’s an example from the Ignition online virtual sportsbook:

Greyhounds in the even numbered traps appear to be more favored in this race. A bet of $204 wins you $100 if correct. The odd bet is almost even money here: bet $103 to win $100.

Virtual Horses and Greyhounds Tips

Betting online virtual sports at Ignition, especially virtual horses and greyhounds, should follow a similar system as you might use in real life.

The first and most important tip is to only bet with discretionary funds, and only to get a portion of that on each race to keep your bankroll healthy. It’s really about entertainment at the end of the day, so crank up the announcer and have some fun just like you were at an offline sportsbook.

The next best tip is to keep betting the way that is best for you. If you like picking winners and landing big real money paydays, go for that. If you’re more of a forecaster, stick with that. There’s no reason to wade into uncomfortable waters if you’re just getting going with virtual horses betting or virtual greyhounds betting.

Lastly, keep an eye on those odds. Longshots pay big but favored bets will lead to a win more often. Find a system that works for you and have a good time!

Head to the Ignition virtual sports section and click into your favorite race type today!