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The Cost of Placing a Bet

Juice (also called vig or vigorish) is the commission that sportsbooks charge on every bet. It is how they guarantee a profit regardless of the outcome. Think of it as a transaction fee built directly into the odds. Every time you place a wager, a small percentage goes to the house.

How Juice Works in Practice

The most common example is a standard point spread bet priced at -110 on both sides. At -110 odds, you must risk $110 to win $100. If two bettors each put $110 on opposite sides, the book collects $220 total and pays out $210 to the winner. That $10 difference is the vig.

Multiply that across thousands of bets and you can see how sportsbooks generate their revenue. The vig ensures that even when money is split evenly between both sides, the house comes out ahead.

Calculating the Vig

To calculate the juice on any market, convert both sides of the bet to implied probabilities and add them together. The amount over 100% is the vig.

For a -110/-110 market: each side has an implied probability of about 52.4%. Added together: 104.8%. The 4.8% over 100% is the vig the sportsbook is charging.

For a -135/+115 market: the favorite implies 57.4% and the underdog implies 46.5%. Together: 103.9%. The vig here is 3.9%.

Why Juice Matters for Your Bottom Line

The vig is the primary reason most casual bettors lose money over time. At standard -110 odds, you need to win 52.4% of your bets just to break even. That might not sound like much, but consistently beating that threshold is what separates winning bettors from losing ones.

Finding Fair Odds

To determine the true probability of an event (with the vig removed), divide each side implied probability by the total. For the -110/-110 example: 52.4% / 104.8% = exactly 50% for each side. Those are the no-vig or fair odds.

Tips for Beating the Juice

Shop for reduced juice: Some sportsbooks offer -105 lines instead of -110. Over hundreds of bets, this adds up significantly.
Compare across books: Different sportsbooks price lines differently. The book with the best odds for your side is the one where you should place the bet.
Be aware of prop juice: Player prop markets tend to have much higher vig (often 6-7%) compared to main markets. Factor this in when evaluating prop bets.
Use parlays strategically: Parlaying a few heavy moneyline favorites together can sometimes reduce the effective juice compared to betting them individually.