2024 Betting On Virtual Basketball
Virtual basketball has been around for a long time, and betting on virtual basketball has been around for just as long. In fact, bettors have been able to wager on simulated sports at many of the best VR gambling sites on the Internet for years.
However, with the global cessation of real sports and the general lockdowns associated with the 2019-2020 coronavirus crisis, virtual sports – especially virtual hoops – has pumped new air into the ball at every major offshore betting outlet.
Virtual basketball uses RNG software to pit two fictional teams against one another, with games lasting just a few minutes. The results are governed by random datasets, and these teams don’t represent any real-world counterparts when it comes to performance or expectations. Thus, this kind of betting is substantially different from wagering on the NBA or other real leagues, but it’s a lot of fun, and if you want to learn more about it, we’ll gladly take you to school, playa!
The Best Online Sportsbooks For Virtual Basketball Betting In 2024
| Sportsbook Name | Bonus Offer | Compatibility | Rating | U.S. | Visit/Review | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 50% up to $1000 | 4.8 | Play Now Read Review | ||
| 2 |  | 100% up to $1000 | 4.7 | Play Now Read Review | ||
| 3 |  | 50% up to $1000 | 4.5 | Play Now Read Review | ||
| 4 |  | 50% up to $1000 | 4.5 | Play Now Read Review |
What Is Virtual Basketball?
Virtual basketball is a betting market that offers simulated basketball matchups on which gamblers can wager. These are governed entirely by audited, certified iGaming RNG (random number generation) technology, where results are determined according to strict parameters within the software. There is no human input during the games themselves.
In VBall, the teams and players reflected on the odds boards are entirely fictional. While they may share some surface characteristics with their real-world NBA counterparts (there are teams from LA that have yellow and purple jerseys, for example), that’s the extent of it. Otherwise, virtual hoops draws zero statistical inspiration from existing teams or leagues.
Virtual basketball seasons at most legal offshore sportsbooks last just a day or so, with new games starting every 2-3 minutes. The market is available 24/7, whether the NBA or NCAA seasons are in full swing or sitting on the bench.
How Does Virtual Basketball Betting Work?
The wager types for virtual basketball are the same as those you’ll find for real-life contests, with the exception of prop bets. Due to the brief nature of the games and the fact that players are largely unnamed, basketball prop betting wouldn’t make sense for this market.
Plus, you only have about a minute to get all your bets in, which is barely enough time to sort through the standard lines on offer, which include the following:
Straight bets
This is where you simply pick a winner, and if you’re right, you get paid out per the associated moneyline. In virtual basketball betting, looking at the odds straight-up is one of the primary ways to actually get an indication of which team is better and which team is worse. Of course, just like in real life, the favorite won’t always win.
Spread bets
Basketball point spreads work in the computerized realm exactly like they do IRL. Here, the stronger team will have to win by a certain margin for your wager to pay out, while the weaker team can lose by that margin and still win you the bet.
Totals bets
Totals betting simply requires you to pick whether or not the combined points scored between both teams will be higher or lower than the number set by your virtual sportsbook. Most sites have both halftime and full-time totals to choose from.
Halftime lines
These are straight bets, but instead of picking the winner outright, you simply select which team will be leading at the half. Some sites also offer virtual basketball quarter lines, which work the same way: Just pick the team that’ll be leading after the first quarter of play.
Halftime winning margins
Here, you select from a range of points by which you think the halftime leader will be ahead of the competition. Each range has an associated moneyline, and that determines your payout.
Total winning margins
These are the same as the above, only adjusted for the margin of victory for the full game. Again, you’ll be able to pick from a range of points by which you think the victor will win.
Though virtual basketball games are over immediately thanks to their computerized outcomes, the best gambling sites – like Bovada – give bettors a full video “highlight reel” after each game’s bets are in, so they can see how the game played out. This is more immersive than just placing your bets and reading the results, and it’s a way to make the product more engaging.
It’s important to note that virtual Bball payouts are credited instantly. This allows you to use your winnings from one match to place wagers for the next contest, and you’ll never have to wait a game or two before you’re able to wager again. The best sites offer rapid bet confirmation, because for sports bettors, having to miss out on a line is just like getting into foul trouble.
Is Virtual Basketball Betting Legal?
For the vast majority of US gamblers, it is legal to wager on virtual basketball. In two states – Connecticut and Washington – there are laws against all forms of online gambling, but these have never been enforced. Still, even though the best offshore gambling services all accept members from both states, we recommend abiding by all local laws.
At the federal level, there are no restrictions for Americans who wish to gamble on virtual sports – or any other sports – over the Internet. Neither the Wire Act (1961) nor the UIGEA (2006) criminalize individual bettors, so you are free to sign up with any site listed here and wager with full peace of mind.
Current Virtual Basketball Odds For May 2024
We’d love to be able to post odds for these games, but it’s literally impossible. Across all the top gambling sites, bettors get hundreds of virtual basketball games to wager on every day, and the only way to keep up with the lines is to actually log in to your site of choice and check out the tickers.
For other markets like video game sims and eSports (more on these below), you can find updated lines on their requisite pages, but virtual basketball betting is like the shot-a-minute Golden State Warriors dynasty of the late 2010s: Blink and you’ll miss it!
Live Virtual Betting
Unfortunately, there is no live betting available on any virtual basketball game. Because the contests are over as soon as they start, there’s no ebb and flow to wager on.
Remember, though you’ll be able to watch brief highlights of each simulated game, this is after-the-fact stuff, and you must have your wagers in before the computer simulation plays out.
Still, because of the pace of wagering that this market encourages, for bettors who appreciate live betting thanks to its support of constant gambling, virtual betting provides that same thrill.
Mobile Basketball Betting
Mobile betting is the number-one way that sports bettors wager in this day and age, and the same holds true for putting money on basketball sims. However, you won’t find virtual basketball apps in the App Store or on Google Play, as offshore sportsbooks aren’t authorized to distribute their wares on these marketplaces.
Of course, that doesn’t actually matter, since all the best operators have built dedicated web apps that conform to fit any mobile device. So if you want an iPhone betting app or Android betting app, all you need to do is point your browser to one of the sportsbooks listed here, and you’ll get a fully interactive interface with all the tapping and swiping you can handle.
If you want, you can bookmark multiple books and bet on different virtual basketball contests at the same time – and you won’t even get called for a double dribble!
Virtual Reality Basketball Betting
Virtual reality is the future of basketball wagering and sports in general. While sportsbooks are waiting for the cost of entry to come down and VR headsets to become more accessible to their millions of members before deploying full VR sports betting options, it’s on the horizon and moving fast.
Some TV broadcast networks already support virtual reality basketball viewing where you can watch real games in a simulated 3D environment, and that’s tons of fun. But when betting is finally added to the mix, we’ll all be in 360-degree ball-hog heaven!
Other Types Of Simulated Basketball Betting
Virtual basketball is a fast-growing and compelling gambling market, but it isn’t the only kind of simulated hoops on offer from the best gambling operators. These sites also offer two more related markets: video game sims and eSports.
Video Game Sims
Video game sims are very much like virtual basketball products, but with a few (top of the) key differences. First, these matchups all use commercial video games as their RNG engines, most commonly Take-Two Interactive’s NBA 2K series.
Secondly, while there are no human players involved, the games are full-length and often allow for live betting, and gamblers can use real-world data to gain an edge because the games themselves use official NBA statistics. The same teams that are powerhouses in real life are powerhouses in video game sims, and you’re even be able to make informed player and team prop bets as a result.
eSports
eSports basketball uses the same platforms that video game sims use – namely the NBA 2K series of games. The difference here, of course, is that eSports are contested with real professional gamers, and bettors must take those gamers’ skills into account when placing their wagers.
After all, one gamer may use the best team in the league, but that won’t matter much if the other player is better at the game itself.
The NBA 2K League is the premier basketball eSports league, and bettors can wager on 2K League contests at the best online sportsbook sites.