What Is the Vig in Sports Betting? Guide to Understanding Juice in Betting
Sports betting vig is an abbreviation of vigorish and is the name given to a ‘fee’ charged by every retail and online sportsbook per bet. It works in a similar way to a commission payment and is a method for the bookmaker to make money, regardless of whether a bettor wins or loses. The vig, also referred to as juice, is integrated into the odds for each betting line available.
To give you an idea of how vig works in sports betting, we use the simplest scenario in a betting market where there is a true 50/50 probability outcome such as a coin toss. Instead of seeing odds of +/-100, you will see -110 for both heads and tails. This means if you bet $110 on heads and your buddy bets $110 on tails, the sportsbook is taking $220 in wagers, but only paying out $210 to the winner ($110 wager + $100 profit). Therefore the sportsbook is keeping $10 regardless of who wins, or around 4.75%.
Although you are unable to see directly what the sportsbook is taking as their cut, you can use the next segment below to learn how to calculate the vig for every betting line and see what percentage is being added by the sportsbook before you place your next wager.