If you have ever wondered why you have to bet $110 to win $100 on a point spread this page will clear that up for you.
We remember the first time we noticed it on our betting slip and thought the sportsbook had made a mistake. They had not. That extra $10 is the vig.
What it stands for
Vig is short for vigorish. Some people call it the juice. It is the commission that the sportsbook charges you on every bet.
They do not just set odds and hope for the best.
They build a small fee into every line they post and that fee is how they make money regardless of which side wins.
How it actually works
The easiest way to see it is on a standard point spread bet. Both sides are typically priced at -110.
That means you put up $110 to win $100.
If you win the sportsbook gives you back your $110 plus your $100 profit. If you lose they keep your $110.
Now imagine the book takes $110 from you on Team A and $110 from someone else on Team B.
One of you wins $100 and the other loses $110. The sportsbook just made $10 off that pair of bets no matter what happened in the game.
That $10 is the vig.
Why it matters for your bankroll
We did not think much about the vig when we first started betting and that was a mistake.
Because of the vig you cannot just win 50% of your bets and break even.
At standard -110 odds you actually need to win about 52.4% of the time to come out ahead.
That does not sound like a big difference but over hundreds of bets it is the reason a lot of bettors slowly lose money even when they feel like they are picking winners half the time.
Not all vig is the same
This is something we wish we had figured out earlier. Different sportsbooks charge different amounts of vig on the same game.
One book might have a spread at -110 on both sides while another has it at -105 on both sides.
That -105 line is cheaper for you.
Over a full NFL season the difference between betting at -110 and -105 on every game adds up to a significant amount of money.
That is why we always check a few different books before placing a bet.
