The vig (short for vigorish) is the fee a sportsbook charges on every bet. It's built into the odds — you don't pay it as a separate fee, but it shifts the prices against you so the sportsbook profits regardless of the outcome.
How the Vig Works
Most spread bets are priced at -110. This means you bet $110 to win $100.
In a perfectly balanced market, the sportsbook collects $220 (two bettors at $110 each) and pays out $210 to the winner. The remaining $10 is the vig — the house's guaranteed profit.
On a $1,000 bet at -110, the vig is approximately $45.50.
Why the Vig Matters So Much
The vig creates a mathematical hurdle. At -110, you need to win 52.38% of your bets just to break even — not 50%. The 2.38% gap is the vig's cost over time.
A bettor winning 50% of games (which sounds like a coin flip) is actually losing money. The vig takes approximately $4.55 per $100 bet from a 50% win-rate bettor over a large sample.
Where the Vig Is Highest (and Lowest)
Not all sportsbooks charge the same vig:
- Soft books (FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM): standard -110 on spreads, sometimes worse on props (-115, -120 on some markets)
- Sharp books (Pinnacle, BetOnline): often -105 on spreads — a significantly lower vig that directly improves your break-even win rate
- Prop markets: typically wider vig than game lines (sometimes -115 to -125 on both sides), because books take more risk on lower-volume markets
Getting the lowest vig available — through line shopping across multiple books — is one of the most reliable ways to improve long-term results.
[Compare vig and lines across 15+ books — free with Oddible →]