What is the vig?
The commission baked into every line — what it is, how to see it, and why it is the hurdle every bettor has to clear before a single dollar of profit.
The vig (short for vigorish, also called juice) is the commission a sportsbook builds into its odds so it profits regardless of who wins. It is why a coin-flip bet is priced −110 instead of +100: you risk $110 to win $100, and that extra $10 is the house's cut. Over many bets the vig is the single biggest reason most bettors lose, because you must win well above 50% just to break even.
At standard −110 pricing you need to win about 52.4% of your bets just to break even — the extra 2.4 points over a coin flip is the vig working against you. Beating the vig, not merely winning more than half your bets, is the real bar. This is why win rate alone is a weak measure of skill.
Add the two sides' implied probabilities: on a −110 / −110 market they sum to 104.76%, and that 4.76% overround is the vig. Line-shopping for the lowest vig (or “reduced juice”) is one of the few free edges a bettor actually controls — the same logic our education stresses through closing line value. Getting a better number is mathematically identical to lowering the vig you pay.
What is the vig in betting?The vig (or juice) is the sportsbook's built-in commission on a bet. It is why a 50/50 bet pays −110 rather than even money — the book keeps the difference as its margin no matter who wins.
What win rate do I need to beat the vig?At standard −110 odds you need to win about 52.4% of your bets to break even. Anything below that loses money to the vig over time, even if you are winning more than half your bets.
How do I pay less vig?Shop lines across books for the best price or reduced-juice markets. Every half-point or cent of better price you get is mathematically the same as paying a smaller vig.