Gambling terms, explained straight

In craps, vig or vigorish refers to the 5% commission charged on buy bets, not the margin built into odds.

Sports Betting

Vig meaning

Vig (short for vigorish) is the commission a bookmaker builds into the odds of a bet, ensuring they profit regardless of the outcome. It is also called juice, margin, or the house edge.

Also called
Vigorish, juice, hold, house edge, margin, take, overround
Common example
A bookmaker charging $110 to win $100 implies a 10% margin2
Implied by odds
Odds of 1.95 on a 50% event imply a 5% margin3

Key points

  • Vig is the bookmaker’s expected profit margin, built into the odds so total implied probabilities exceed 100%1.
  • Bettors receive slightly worse payouts than the raw event probability would suggest because of the vig3.
  • In craps, vig is a 5% commission on buy bets, not the margin in odds.

How to calculate vig

  1. Convert each set of odds into its implied probability (e.g., decimal odds of 2.00 = 50%).
  2. Sum the implied probabilities for all outcomes of an event.
  3. Subtract 100% from that total — the remainder is the vig, or overround margin.

Common questions

What is a vig in gambling?

In gambling, vig is the fee or commission the house takes from every bet. It is built into the odds so the bookmaker profits regardless of the result. It is also called juice or margin.

What is vig in money?

Vig in money refers to the dollar amount the bookmaker keeps from a wager. For example, a $110 bet to win $100 means the $10 difference is the vig — the bookmaker’s commission on that bet.

What is vig in craps?

In craps, vig (or vigorish) is the 5% commission the casino charges on buy bets. It is a flat fee on the bet amount, not a margin built into odds like in sports betting.

Where this term is used

Not the same as

  • Vig betting — a term sometimes used for betting strategies that account for the vig, not the commission itself
  • No vig sportsbook — a sportsbook that claims to offer odds without the usual bookmaker margin, the opposite of a standard vig
Sports betting Overround meaning Explains how the overround is the mathematical expression of the vig in a market. Sports betting Parlay original meaning Covers the original definition of a parlay bet, which combines multiple selections. Sports betting Parlay meaning basketball Describes how parlays work specifically in basketball betting. Sports betting Handicap 0:2 meaning Explains a specific handicap line used in soccer betting. Sports betting Goal handicap 1 meaning Defines a one-goal handicap in soccer betting markets. Sports betting 3 leg parlay meaning Covers the structure and payout of a three-selection parlay.

Sources

  1. Mathematics of bookmaking en.wikipedia.org Explains how the vig is built into odds via the overround.
  2. How Do Markets Function? An Empirical Analysis of ... nber.org Supports the common example of $110 to win $100 implying a 10% margin.
  3. US Taxation of Gambling Winnings and Incentives to Bet - PMC pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Provides the example of 1.95 odds implying a 5% margin.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.