Vig
Vig (vigorish), also called juice or margin, is the commission a sportsbook charges on every bet. It is built into the odds and ensures the sportsbook profits regardless of the game outcome.
Quick Definition
Vig (short for vigorish), also called juice or margin, is the sportsbook’s built-in profit margin. It is embedded in the odds so that the total implied probability of all outcomes exceeds 100%. The excess percentage is the sportsbook’s guaranteed profit. Every bet you place at a sportsbook with vig is mathematically negative EV before any skill is applied.
How Vig Works
A fair coin flip has a 50% chance of heads and 50% chance of tails. Fair odds would be +100 (2.00 decimal) on both sides. A sportsbook offering this market would break even over time.
Instead, sportsbooks offer:
- Heads: -110 (1.909 decimal) - implied probability: 52.4%
- Tails: -110 (1.909 decimal) - implied probability: 52.4%
- Total implied probability: 104.8%
The extra 4.8% is the vig. If $1,000 is bet on each side ($2,000 total), the sportsbook pays out $1,909 to the winner and keeps $91 - a 4.55% margin on total handle.
Calculating Vig
Step 1: Convert all odds to implied probabilities.
- American odds: Implied probability = 100 / (odds + 100) for positive odds, or |odds| / (|odds| + 100) for negative odds
- Decimal odds: Implied probability = 1 / decimal odds
Step 2: Sum all implied probabilities.
Step 3: Vig = (Sum - 1) / Sum × 100
Example: NFL Spread
- Team A -3: -110 → 52.38%
- Team B +3: -110 → 52.38%
- Total: 104.76%
- Vig = (104.76 - 100) / 104.76 = 4.55%
Example: Three-Way Soccer Market
- Home win: +150 → 40%
- Draw: +220 → 31.25%
- Away win: +200 → 33.33%
- Total: 104.58%
- Vig = 4.37%
Vig Across Different Sportsbooks
Vig varies significantly between sportsbooks:
| Sportsbook Type | Typical Vig |
|---|---|
| Sharp books (Pinnacle, Circa) | 1-2% |
| Major US books (DraftKings, FanDuel) | 4-6% |
| Recreational EU books | 5-8% |
| Parlay markets | 15-30% |
| Prop markets | 8-15% |
This is why sharp bettors use Pinnacle as a benchmark. Its low vig means its lines are closer to true probability, making it the most accurate reference point.
The Long-Term Impact of Vig
At 4.55% vig on -110 markets, a bettor placing 1,000 bets at $100 each faces an expected loss of $4,550 from vig alone. To break even, they need to win 52.4% of their bets. To profit, they need to win more than 52.4%.
This is why most recreational bettors lose money. They are not bad at picking winners - they might win 50% of their bets. But 50% is not enough to overcome the vig.
How to Beat the Vig
Method 1: Find mispriced lines (+EV betting). When a sportsbook’s odds imply a lower probability than the true probability, the bet is +EV despite the vig. Value betting tools identify these opportunities by comparing recreational book lines against sharp benchmarks.
Method 2: Arbitrage. Bet both sides of a market across different sportsbooks. When the combined implied probability falls below 100%, you profit regardless of outcome. The vig at each individual book is irrelevant; what matters is the combined implied probability.
Method 3: Promo conversion. Use free bets and bonuses to bet both sides of a market. The bonus value offsets the vig, creating guaranteed profit.
Method 4: Shop for the best lines. Even if you cannot eliminate vig entirely, getting -105 instead of -110 on the same bet reduces your vig from 4.55% to 2.44%. Over thousands of bets, this difference is enormous.
No-Vig Odds
No-vig odds (also called fair odds or true odds) are the odds that would exist if the sportsbook charged zero margin. They represent the market’s best estimate of true probability.
To calculate no-vig odds:
- Convert all odds to implied probabilities
- Divide each implied probability by the total implied probability
- Convert back to odds
Example
- Team A: -110 (52.38%)
- Team B: -110 (52.38%)
- Total: 104.76%
No-vig probabilities:
- Team A: 52.38% / 104.76% = 50%
- Team B: 52.38% / 104.76% = 50%
No-vig odds: +100 on both sides (as expected for a fair coin flip).
No-vig odds are used to calculate CLV accurately and to identify the true edge in +EV opportunities.
Vig and Parlay Betting
Parlays compound the vig on each leg, making them significantly worse value than single bets. A two-team parlay at -110 on each leg:
- True probability of both winning: 50% × 50% = 25%
- Sportsbook parlay payout: typically +260 (implied probability: 27.8%)
- Vig on parlay: approximately 10.8%
This is why parlays are the most profitable product for sportsbooks. The vig compounds with each additional leg, reaching 30%+ on four-team parlays.
The exception: boosted parlays where the sportsbook offers better-than-fair parlay odds as a promotion. These can be +EV and are worth converting.
Risk-Free Way to Understand Vig
The easiest way to see vig in action is to use a no-vig calculator on any market. Take any game, enter the odds for both sides, and calculate the no-vig odds. The difference between the offered odds and the no-vig odds is the vig you are paying.
Do this for 10 different markets across different sportsbooks. You will quickly see that sharp books (Pinnacle) have dramatically lower vig than recreational books, and that prop markets have much higher vig than main markets.
Related Terms
- Expected Value - How vig creates negative EV
- No-Vig Odds - The fair odds without sportsbook margin
- Sharp Bookmaker - Books with the lowest vig
- Arbitrage Betting - How to profit despite vig