Although not available within every online bookmaker’s virtual offering, speedway remains incredibly popular as a sport and thus a CGI version of it can be bet on with some of the major online firms.
Rather regionalised over the years, much like rugby league the sport of speedway racing has had its heartland in the north of England, especially in the north west in fact where it remains hugely popular and well supported.
Essentially, speedway for those who don’t know is a form of motor sport using bikes going around an oval dirt track, often sharing facilities in fact with greyhound arenas.
Four riders take part in speedway races, which keeps things simple and incredibly watchable with the action being fast and furious, something that of course transfers very well to the virtual betting world.
How Does Virtual Speedway Racing Work?
Virtual speedway is a CGI version of the real thing, though without real bikes and real riders the outcome is decided by computer algorithms and a random number generator, meaning that no skill is involved in picking a winner but also all results are kept fair for all backers.
Everyone logged into each bookmaker sees the same races and same results, the odds and results of which cannot be changed by the bookmakers as these are all pre-decided.
Pace and Frequency of Virtual Speedway
The next 5-14 scheduled virtual speedway races are priced up by the bookmaker depending on who you bet with, so you can get a head start on choosing your bet if you wish. Races across all firms go off every 3 minutes and this is a 24/7 operation, meaning no lack of excitement and opportunity.
Each race lasts for two laps of the track, taking around 30 seconds at a time. The action itself is very, very fast and this really helps the aesthetics of the offering as with backgrounds understandably blurry as the realistic bikes slide around the corners at great speed, one doesn’t focus on the little details but only on the riders which is something that properly mirrors the real sport.
What You Can Bet on in Virtual Speedway
This is not quite the most established virtual sport on the betting market, so occasionally you may only find odds for the winner of the race offered. In most cases though, you’ll see the following markets priced up:
- Win Market – the four riders are priced up to win in an understandably tight market. An example of a win market in virtual speedway is listed below to give you an idea of how close the betting is.
- Forecast – you can bet on a straight or reverse forecast if you want to have a crack at predicting the first two riders home, though again with only four involved you won’t be getting rich doing this!
- Top 2 Finish – some bookmakers list it this way, but again backing a rider in a four-runner race to finish in the first two will not provide you with a huge payday.
Typical Odds for a Virtual Speedway Race
| 11.22 Sterling Stadium | |
| Lamont Cranston | 7/1 |
| Timothy Small | 7/5 |
| Wayne Marshall | 12/5 |
| Barry Allen | 7/2 |
So, while there aren’t many competitors and betting options are a little limited, this has its own plus points as it is an extremely simple game to understand and backing regular winners rather than finding 20/1 shots is the way to go.
What To Expect From Virtual Speedway
As is the case with horse racing, greyhounds and football for example, the producers of virtual speedway races for bookmakers cannot use the real names of competitors or stadiums. So, the track names and riders will be completely made up and their form or chances of winning will have no bearing on real life events.
Watching virtual speedway, let alone betting on it, is actually great fun as it is always fast and furious. A small build-up to the race showing the riders and their odds precedes a 30-second race over two laps, then after a quick recap with the SP’s any successful bets you place will be paid out immediately before the screen flips to the next race.
The graphics involved are excellent in most cases and, given the small field, it is easy despite the rapid pace to keep track of your chosen rider(s).
Long in advance of the event we’re actually betting on, information is fed into the computer and the result is decided by a random number generator, just as is the case with online slot games, so results are unpredictable but also completely fair for all.
Virtual Speedway Plusses and Negatives
Getting in on the action now before this virtual sport becomes too popular is not a plus in itself, but if you’ve grown tired of all the other bookmaker options or simply don’t want to view your favourite sport as an effective computer game, then getting into virtual speedway could be the way to go. Highlights and lowlights of this include:
Pros
- It’s Fast-Paced – races are only 30 seconds long, are all about speed and are available every three minutes of every day.
- It’s Easy to Follow – with only four riders per race and limited wagering options, this is a very easy betting medium to get to grips with and given that the aim of the game is super-obvious, you won’t be required to go away and learn anything about the sport before getting involved.
- It’s Fair For All – much like online slots, these races are decided by a random number generator and so whether you’ve been betting all day or are having your first bet, if you happen to have chosen right you will win and you will be paid out immediately.
- It Offers Unlimited Opportunities – there’s no waiting around for the next meet and no waiting for extended periods between races. Across all betting platforms, there are simply thousands of races every single day available to bet on.
Cons
- The Lack of Options – not every online bookmaker will feature speedway in its virtual offering and given the size of the fields there is not much to bet on, so this is not the game for dedicated sports betting fans who like to have dozens of options.
- The Lack of Skill Required – while this is a good thing for some, for sports betting people it is a negative as we tend to like to use our knowledge and skill to pick winners.
- The Temptation – virtual sports like this are great for when there is no live action, but sports bettors used to having a genuine chance of making profit based on skill and knowledge. Using RNG-powered games means simply taking your chance and with that you can end up clicking away all day and betting too much.
Are the Virtual Speedway Betting Markets Fair?
There are two ways to approach this question, with one answer broadly being ‘yes’ and the other broadly being ‘no’.
On the positive side of things, the results as we’ve touched on are decided by RNG’s which keeps things fair for all players. Everyone logged into one bookmaker sees the same speedway races and the same results, so regardless of whether everyone in the country is backing the 7/5 favourite the price won’t change and it will not affect the pre-programmed result.
The negative side is that, while a market may be only 105% on a live sport, given that these results are pre-decided and the bookmaker’s have to pay developers to produce virtual sports, the margins are a little different.
With this in mind, always treat virtual speedway as though it were a slot game, rather than a sport.