01 Definition
Vig (short for vigorish), also called juice or margin, is the commission bookmakers build into their odds. If you add up the implied probabilities of all outcomes in a market, the total will exceed 100% — the excess is the vig. Typical vig ranges from 2-10% depending on the bookmaker and market.
02 Example
A coin flip should be 2.00 / 2.00 (50% each, 100% total). But a bookmaker offers 1.91 / 1.91 (52.4% each, 104.7% total). That extra 4.7% is the vig — the bookmaker's guaranteed profit margin.
03 Why It Matters
The vig is what makes betting a negative-sum game by default. To profit, your edge must exceed the vig. A 5% vig means you need to be at least 5% more accurate than the implied probability just to break even.
04 How thetipster.xyz Uses This
Our minimum EV threshold accounts for vig. We don't flag a signal unless the expected value exceeds the estimated vig on that market, ensuring true positive EV for our users.
Related Terms
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