The fee charged by a bookmaker or casino for accepting a wager. It’s essentially the built-in advantage that guarantees the casino makes money over time, regardless of who wins or loses individual wagers. The term comes from Yiddish slang (“vigrish,” meaning “winnings”), borrowed from Russian, and it’s most commonly associated with sports betting but applies broadly to gambling.
Here’s how it works:
- Sports Betting: The vig is the juice baked into the odds. For a typical “even” bet (like -110 odds in American format), you bet £110 to win £100. That extra £10 is the vig. If two bettors take opposite sides of a game, the casino collects £220 total (£110 from each), pays the winner £210 (£100 profit + their £110 back), and keeps £10 as vig. Over millions of bets, this adds up.
- Table Games: In games like blackjack or roulette, the vig isn’t a direct fee but is embedded in the house edge—payouts are less than true odds (e.g., 35:1 on a single number in roulette when true odds are 37:1). The casino’s profit margin is the vig in disguise.
- Poker: Here, the vig is more explicit—it’s the “rake,” a small percentage (like 5%) taken from each pot or a flat fee per hand or tournament entry. The house doesn’t play, so the vig is its cut for hosting.
The vig varies by game or bet type—sportsbooks might charge 10% (-110 odds), while a craps odds bet has no vig at all (a rare exception). It’s the quiet engine of casino economics: not a tax you see upfront, but a slice they carve out to keep the lights on and the tables turning. Players can’t escape it, but understanding it helps you see why beating the house long-term is a steep climb.
