What is the vig in sports betting?

As punters we all dread “the vig”, which is short for vigorish. In punter slang it is often mentioned as “the juice”. The bookmaker loves the flavor of this juice, and we don’t blame him. After all, who wouldn’t want to buy a dollar for eighty to ninety five cents on a regular basis? This is basically what happens as the bookmaker is taking out a theoretical margin on the bet offer. You could consider it a commission to take your bet and offer you the bookmaker services.

How does the Vig work?

The vig concept in sports betting is really intuitive and easy to understand. Imagine that you and your buddy were going to have a one flip coin tossing competition. You both put down €100 to win €100 since as the clever boys or girls you are decide that its likely the outcome is equally likely to be either heads or tails. This given the toss is done with a fair coin. For arguments sake assume the coin is fair. Now you flip the coin and the lucky winner is paid by the loser. Here, the entire pot of €200 is distributed.

Now, let’s assume you and your friend want to do the same contest over again, but for whatever reasons you involve a bookmaker. He deems you to be equally skilled in coin flipping, and assign a 50% likelihood to each of you. However, the bookmaker needs to feed his kids, save for a Ferrari and pay his staff so he calculates in vig.

You just need to understand that the bookmaker should offer odds of 2-1 on each of you if you were to bet €100 to win €100 as in the previous example. The bookmaker does not do that usually unless it is a special promotion. Instead he offers perhaps 1.90 1.90 on each of you to win. These odds represent 5% vig, or take if you like.

This time you won but you only pocketed €90 for your hard earned coin tossing win. Your mate lost €100, so there is this tenner somewhere in the system that is unaccounted for. Look no further; it is in the pocket of your bookie.

This was a two outcome betting situation, but the same principle applies to situations with one or more outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you are betting a single, looking at winner outright betting, placing a betting system like the trixie bet or placing a head to head football bet. You don’t escape the vig.

Juice examples:

Example 1: Standard Point Spread Bet

Game: Chiefs vs. Raiders
Line: Chiefs -3 (-110), Raiders +3 (-110)

  • You bet $110 on the Chiefs to win $100.
  • Your friend bets $110 on the Raiders to win $100.

Outcome for sportsbook:

  • One of you wins, one loses.
  • Sportsbook pays out $100 but keeps $110 from the loser → $10 profit for the house.

This $10 is the vig — the built-in edge the sportsbook keeps for facilitating the bet.

Example 2: Moneyline Odds with Built-In Vig

Game: Lakers vs. Warriors
Odds:

  • Lakers: -130
  • Warriors: +110

This implies:

  • Bet $130 on Lakers to win $100
  • Bet $100 on Warriors to win $110

Let’s say equal money is bet on both sides:

  • Lakers win → sportsbook pays out $100, keeps $100 from Warriors bettors.
  • Warriors win → pays out $110, keeps $130 from Lakers bettors.

In either case, the pricing favors the sportsbook — their “edge” is built into the difference between the two odds (called the overround or vig).

Can you beat the vig?

Can the vig be beaten? It sure can, but it is going to require a lot of hard work. You have to overcome the head start that your sports betting website has, and then add enough value to the bet to actually be willing to place it. Most professionals prefer to price in a safety margin as well for potential mistakes in the bet analysis. After all, there are many factors in play.