Juice (also called vig, short for vigorish) is the fee the sportsbook charges to accept your bet — it's how they guarantee a profit regardless of who wins.
When you see a standard bet priced at -110, the extra $10 you pay to win $100 is the juice. It's not a service fee you see on a receipt — it's baked into the price of every bet. Here's the math. If two bettors each put $110 on opposite sides of a -110 line, the book takes in $220. The winner gets paid $210. The book pockets $10, no matter which side won. That $10 on $220 of handle is roughly a 4.5% margin. Multiply that across millions of bets, and you understand why sportsbooks are profitable businesses. The juice is the engine.
Example
You and a friend bet opposite sides of a Lakers-Nuggets total. You bet the over at -110, your friend bets the under at -110. You each risk $110. Lakers-Nuggets goes over — you win $100, your friend loses $110. The sportsbook keeps the $10 difference. That $10 is the vig.
What it means for your decision
The juice is the constant tax on every bet you make. It doesn't go away, and it can't be beaten by being right 50% of the time — you need to be right closer to 52.4% just to break even at -110. That's why line shopping and avoiding high-juice markets matter more than most bettors realize. Your decision is always yours.
Frequently asked
Why is it called juice or vig?
Vig is short for vigorish, old slang for the cut taken by bookmakers. Juice is newer industry shorthand for the same thing.
Is the juice always -110?
That's the standard, but books often adjust. You'll see -105, -115, -120 depending on the market and how bets are flowing.
Can you avoid paying juice?
Not entirely, but you can minimize it — line shop across books, look for reduced-juice markets, and avoid parlays where juice compounds.
Does juice exist on moneylines?
Yes, just built in differently. Instead of a flat -110, the favorite and underdog prices add up to more than an even split, and that extra is the book's margin.
Related terms
In the glossary