Betting Terminology: Vigorish
Whether you call it “The Vig”, “Juice”, “The Take” or “The Vigorish”, it’s all same. It’s a service charge on a gambling bet. It’s mainly used by bookmakers (or bookies) to ensure they make money. Although there are other types of vigorishes (mainly used by casinos) we’re discussing the vigorish used by your friendly neighborhood bookie. Here’s how the vigorish works (it works the same in both legal and illegal gambling).
Everyone in the neighborhood knows who to go to when you want to bet. Sid the Shark is his name and he’s always willing to give odds on a bet. Sid doesn’t particularly care about who wins (although he has his favorites). He just cares about making money and making sure a win or loss won’t take his profit. To “hedge his bets”, he includes a service change.
The New York Jets and the Denver Broncos are playing. Regardless of point spread, if you could find someone willing to match your bet, it would be even money. A winning $100 bet makes $100 in profit.
Since it’s an effort to find someone willing to bet, most people just go to Sid. Sid’s got five kids so he needs to make a profit. He doesn’t want a team’s loss to take his profit so he’ll charge a vigorish on all bets. Instead of betting $100 to win $100, Sid insists on a $110 bet to win $100. (this isn’t a moneyline here – this is an even money example).
For this example, let’s assume there’s one bet on each side. You give $110 to Sid for a Jets win and someone else bets $110 on Denver. Sid’s got $220 until the game’s over. The Jets win and Sid gives you $210. He keeps the entire $110 from the other guy (but he paid $100 to you). In this case Sid got an extra $10. Most people take the winnings and don’t even think about the extra $10. A sharp gambler knows it’s there but most people don’t think about it. That’s how Sid gets his vigorish. In games where one team has an advantage, Sid may alter the odds slightly to include the vigorish on both sides. Ideally he’ll still profit no matter who wins.
So yes, a vigorish cuts into your winnings. You can bet $110 against a friend and win $110 or bet $110 with Sid and win $100. But remember, he’s doing you a service by taking that bet. So pay him the $10, he’s got five kids to feed.
