The Vig (Juice): How Sportsbooks Make Money
What the vig is, how to calculate a book's margin, what a dime line means, and why reducing the juice you pay is one of the fastest ways to bet more profitably.
The vig (short for vigorish, also called juice or the hold) is the commission a sportsbook charges on every bet. It's why the odds on both sides of a market add up to more than 100%, and it's the single biggest reason casual bettors lose over time.
A concrete example
On a coin-flip market, a fair price would be +100 on each side (50/50). Instead, books post −110 / −110. Each side implies 52.4%, which totals 104.8%. That 4.8% overage is the vig - the book collects it no matter which side wins.
Why it's so punishing
At −110, you need to win about 52.4% of your bets just to break even. Win exactly half and you lose money. Every point of vig raises the win rate you need, which is why finding lower-juice prices is so valuable.
How to calculate the hold
- Convert each side's odds to implied probability.
- Add them together.
- Subtract 100%. What's left is the hold.
Example: −110 / −110 → 52.4% + 52.4% = 104.8% → 4.8% hold. A reduced-juice −105 / −105 line holds only 2.38%; a multi-leg parlay might hold 20%+.
What is a Dime Line?
In moneyline sports like baseball, a dime line (or 10-cent line) means there is only a 10-cent gap between the favorite's price and the underdog's return—for instance, −130 on the favorite and +120 on the underdog, or −105 / −105 on an even game. Most commercial retail apps today deal "20-cent lines" (−135 / +115), effectively doubling the house commission on every ticket. Betting a true dime line cuts your moneyline juice in half.
How to pay less vig
- Anchor with a reduced-juice sportsbook. Look for books that hang true -110 Vegas lines, reduced-juice football promos, periodic no-juice specials, and baseball dime lines. For example, our desk uses YouWager.lv as its primary anchor book because they offer a 5% Juice Special on Fridays on all weekend football action (cutting weekend NFL & CFB juice in half), periodic No-Juice (0% Vig) games such as Monday Night Football specials, and a True 10-Cent Dime Line on all MLB games up to −190.
- Line shop across 1 or 2 secondary books. Even a half-point or 5-cent pricing discrepancy significantly lowers your effective vig.
- Prefer low-margin markets (main point spreads, moneylines, totals) over high-margin parlays and novelty props.
- Target positive expected value (+EV), where your calculated edge outweighs the vig entirely.
Put theory into practice with SharpWire quantitative tools
Verify situational angles, strip bookmaker vig to find true fair-value probabilities, and uncover mathematical edges on the live board.
