What is Vigorish (Vig) or Bookmaker Margin?
Definition: Vigorish, or vig, is the commission a sportsbook builds into its odds. In Europe the same concept is called bookmaker margin or overround.
How to calculate it:
- Convert each outcome's odds into implied probability (1 / decimal odds).
- Add up all outcomes in the market.
- The amount above 100% is the margin.
Example: a two-way market priced at 1.91 / 1.91 (American -110 / -110) adds up to about 104.7%, so the margin is about 4.7%.
What affects the margin:
- Market type: margins differ between main markets and specials.
- Pre-match or live: live prices often include extra margin for latency risk.
- Accumulators: margins multiply across selections.
