This is also why you will often see betting odds change quickly, particularly in the lead-up to an event. This is the only way that they can make a profit. They need to ensure that both sides attract a roughly equal number of bets. Sportsbooks are forever attempting a balancing act with their betting odds. Things can get a little bit more confusing than this. For every $100 gambled, they received $5, and $95 is distributed among the winners. When you are looking at betting odds at a sportsbook, if you were able to work out their implied probability for each side of the bet and added them together, the figure would be higher than 100%.Īnything above 100% is the vig and goes right in the sportsbook's pockets.įor example, if the favorite had an implied 65% chance of winning and the underdog had a 40% implied chance, then this added up to 105%.įrom this, you would know that the sportsbook has a vig of 5%. Instead, a small chunk of cash is taken away. Put simply, the vig is the cash that a sportsbook makes on a transaction.Ĭontrary to popular belief, not every dollar that is placed on a betting market is distributed among the winners.
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