Juice (Vig) in Sports Betting: What It Is and How It Works

Sportsbooks get paid no matter the outcome of a sporting event, which is how they stay in business – and why there are so many.

The vig, short for vigorish, and also known as juice, is the amount sportsbooks charge for taking a bet. You can’t always see it, but it’s there. And the vig impacts a bettor’s payout potential.

What Is Juice or Vig?

Sportsbooks are in business to make money, not give it away. One way sportsbooks turn a profit is by charging bettors for placing a wager.

This is known as the vig and is clearly evident in point spread and total bets with a number, typically -110, next to the spread or total. The vig is baked into moneyline odds and not as easy to identify, but it’s there.

Every sportsbook charges vig, giving it an edge over the average bettor.

Not all sports betting sites are the same, so the vig varies. Some could charge -120 or even higher, meaning a smaller payout for a winning bet. And sometimes the vig goes the other direction, though that bet is less likely to win.

How Juice Affects Your Bets

To further understand how bets are affected by the vig, consider that a point spread and/or total bettor who wins exactly half of their bets will still lose money over time.

For bets with odds of -105, a win pays $95.24. Rarely do you see even-money or +100 bets. Because of the juice, sportsbooks have a built-in advantage requiring bettors to win more than 52% of their bets at -110 odds to cover the added expense.

The House Edge in Disguise

The term “the house always wins” is true and is based on the built-in edge gained through the vig and other odds.

We can clearly see the amount the house charges on point spreads and total bets. Less evident is what’s paid on a two-team moneyline bet.

As discussed in other articles, you need to calculate the odds into implied probability.

So, for a game that has odds of -310 (75.61%) and +245 (28.99%), the combined probability is 104.6, which is higher than it should be. Anything over 100 is the house edge in disguise; in this case, 4.6%.

Why -110 Isn’t True Even Money

Even money is just as it sounds. When you wager $10 and win the bet, the overall payout at even money (+100) odds is $20 (win + original stake). It’s a true 1:1 proposition.

When the vig on a point spread or total bet gets into negative numbers, the bet is no longer an even-money wager since the house has the advantage.

At -110 odds, a $10 bet pays just over $9, with a total payout of $19.09. If teams in a particular match have identical -110 odds and a $110 bet is placed on each side, the house’s cut is $10, or 4.76% of the total amount wagered.

Juice on Different Bet Types

Think of the vig, or juice, as a transaction fee. You pay the sportsbook so they can place your bet.

The amount of vig differs from sportsbook to sportsbook, so it pays to shop around for the lowest juice.

This fee is factored into all different bet types, though some are more readily identifiable. As mentioned, in a point spread or total bet, the juice is displayed along with the actual number, oftentimes in the form of -110.

Point Spreads

The vig is listed alongside the number in a point spread bet in the following format:

Kansas City Chiefs -4 (-110)

Miami Dolphins +4 (-110)

The -110 odds represent a 10% fee charged by the sportsbook, meaning a $100 wager would win a little over $90. A wager in any amount will always be accepted, but using the $100 base helps explain how the vig is factored in.

Higher vig means a lower payout, while lower vig has the potential for a bigger win.

Moneyline Bets

While it’s not as obvious, there is juice on moneyline bets.

The odds display a probability of an expected outcome, but this is implied probability rather than true probability since the numbers can change.

In a fictional game between the Chicago Cubs -135 and St. Louis Cardinals +125, the Cubs’ implied probability is 57.45%, while the Cards are at 44.44%. Added up, the probability is 101.89, meaning the sportsbook holds 1.89% of this bet.

Parlays and Props

The vig is included on props with a list of options and futures, with the juice being typically higher than in other betting markets.

Let's say you're betting a prop on an NBA player to score 20 or more points in a game that has a list of around 10 players, with each having an assigned probability. Adding up those 10 probabilities would be more than 100%.

It’s not uncommon to see a total win probability of 120%, meaning the sportsbook will take 20% of every dollar bet.

And much like props and futures, parlays will almost always have higher vig. That’s overlooked since the payout on a winning parlay is higher than a single-game wager.

How to Calculate the Vig

The amount of vig can vary, and it’s not always obvious what the exact amount is, based on the betting odds.

Yet, for point spread and total bets that have the same odds on both sides, the calculation is easy. When there are different odds for teams in the same game, the calculation becomes a little more involved.

It's even more challenging to calculate the vig for wagers with several options, such as a futures bet or a specific prop bet.

Most online sportsbooks offer a sports betting calculator to determine the juice, or you can use the following formula.

Using a Formula

After dipping your toes in the sports betting market, you’ll likely become more familiar with how the vig works and what it looks like in different betting markets.

You can also use a formula to calculate the vig for a specific event.

As an example, let’s use an NFL game between the Chiefs (-130) and the Raiders (+110).

Step 1: Translate the odds into implied probabilities. To get the implied probability for negative odds, divide the odds by (odds + 100) and multiply by 100. In this case, 130 / (130+100) x 100 = 56.5%. For positive odds, divide 100 by (odds + 100) and multiply by 100. Thus, we have 100 / (110 + 100) x 100 =47.6%.

Step 2: Add the implied probabilities of both teams (56.5 + 47.6 =104.1).

Step 3: Subtract 100 from the total to get the percentage of vig held by the sportsbook (104.1 – 100 = 4.1%).