Juice

Juice, also referred to as vigorish, vig, the take or the cut, is the amount charged by a live bookmaker or a sports betting site for its services. The sports books are pretty much forced to depend on the juice in order to earn money on each wager regardless of the outcome of the actual match, which makes it very similar to rake in poker games.

Please note that this concept is slightly different from the over-round, which is the percentage the specific event book is above 100%. The Juice on the other hand is the sports book’s percentage profit on the stakes made on the sporting event. Another thing you should keep in mind is that the Juice isn’t always proportional to the true odds.

With proportional juice, fair odds listed at -100/-100 may become -110/-110 after the juice is factored in. However, disproportional juice could put them at -120/+100.

Usage Example

Let’s consider the following example. Two people want to bet on a coin toss with even odds, without going to the bookmaker. Each of them is willing to risk $100 to win $100. Consequently, the pot equals $200. The person that loses the bet receives nothing, while the winner takes the full amount.

If both wanted to use the services of a sports book with the odds set at -110/-110, each person would basically be required to risk $110 for a chance to win $100. Consequently, the bookmaker initially collects $220, but the winning player can only get his $110 back and receive the $100 of the loser. $220 – $210 = $10, which is the sports book’s commission for taking the action.

Trivia

Reduced juice promotions are among the most lucrative bonuses online sports betting enthusiasts can receive. Unfortunately, this means that they are also fairly rare.