Juice In Sports Betting: What Is Sports Betting Juice?

If you’re relatively new to sports betting, you’re probably wondering what all those positive and negative numbers are. When you see something along the lines of -110, that’s what’s referred to as “juice”. This sports betting term is also known as “vigorish” or “vig”.

This sports betting juice page focuses specifically on juice in sports betting, what sports betting juice is, how sports betting juice works, and how to use sports betting juice to your advantage. Slurp back on our gambling glossary with definitions, calculations and more.

What Is Juice In Sports Betting?

What does juice mean in sports betting? By definition, “juice” in sports betting is the commission that the sportsbook earns on all wagered bets. Also known as “vig” – another word for a bookmaker’s cut – the “juice” is the house’s greatest edge, and is what typically prevents many sports bettors from winning long term. A sportsbook’s primary objective is to try to get equal action on both sides of posted spreads and total options.

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How Does Juice Work In Sports Betting?

The vig or juice in sports betting is usually found next to a point spread.

How To Calculate Sports Betting Juice

In this NFL example, the American odds of -110 indicate a 10 percent commission on both sides of the bet. Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals are 4-point underdogs against Matthew Stafford’s Los Angeles Rams. In this case, you would have to wager $110 on either team in order to win $100.

If these odds or juice were different, let’s say Rams -120 and Bengals +100, a $120 wager on L.A. would net you $100, while a $100 bet on Cincy would see you win $100.

NFL Point Spread Juice

For the record, you don’t have to wager $100. You can bet any amount. In our initial example, the juice of -110 is also an indication that for every $10 you want to win on the Bungals (+4), you need to risk $11. The same goes for the favorites at -4. For every $10 you want to win, you have to risk $11.

In our second example, -120 indicates that for every $10 you want to win on Los Angeles (-4), you need to risk $12. And +100 indicates that for every $10 you want to win on Cincinnati (+4), you need to risk $10. Our odds calculator can help you with all that sports betting math in case calculations aren’t your strong suit.

Sports Betting Juice On Moneylines

There is juice on moneylines as well. An MLB moneyline bet might look something like this at MLB betting sites:

MLB Moneyline Juice

The implied probability of the Bronx Bombers winning this baseball game is 57.45 percent, while the implied probability of the Blue Crew winning this MLB game is 44.44 percent. Both implied probabilities add up to 101.89 percent, which means the bookie has a 1.89 percent hold on this particular bet.

Sports Betting Juice On Futures

Bet you didn’t know there was sports betting juice on futures too, did you? Futures bets actually have more juice than other betting markets. When we look at futures markets on which NFL team will win the Super Bowl, there are 32 teams in total, each with an assigned probability.

If we were to add up all of those Super Bowl probabilities, they would exceed 100 percent. Let’s say all of the Super Bowl betting odds add up to a total win probability of 120 percent. This means that the sports betting site will take 20 percent of every dollar bet, which is significantly greater than the 1.89 percent hold on our hypothetical Major League Baseball moneyline example above.

Reduced Juice In Sports Betting

Be sure to shop around at different online betting sites, as some sportsbooks online offer -105 juice on point spreads as opposed to juice of -110, which is a big advantage for you, believe it or not. At Odds Shark, we would recommend a sports betting website that offers -105 or -110 instead of sports gambling sites that adjust the juice to -115 or -120 for NFL spreads because the profit plummets.

The return drops on bets with -115 juice or -120 juice, and all of those lost returns add up in the long run. Sportsbook is one of the best reduced juice betting sites online, with a warm welcome bonus and plenty of prop bet markets.

Sportsbook is another great reduced juice betting site for NBA odds as they provide reduced juice on the spread.

And Sportsbook is one of the best reduced juice sportsbooks for a wide range of esports betting options, with promo codes and generous bonuses worth up to $1,000.

Shop Around For The Lowest Price Juice

Line shopping is imperative in proper money management. Just as you would sort through the flyers for groceries on sale, you should always check for better deals and bargains where you can get them prior to placing any sports bets online. You shouldn’t be married to only one grocery store. You should hit up all of the different markets (pun intended) and save every penny you possibly can.