1. No Juice Sports Betting
2. Calculating Juice Sports Betting

WHAT DOES JUICE MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF SPORTS BETTING? The initial objective of anyone who starts their adventure in sports betting is definitely making money. We can treat it as a hobby, or even as a leisure activity, or we can be purely professional, but at the end of the day, we all want to be profitable. Many betting terms you need to know, but knowing what is 'juice' in sports betting is a must if you want to be a successful sports investor. The Sports Bookie Software industry is big business and, its difficult to know which company to trust. It is amazing to us how predictably bad sports bettors are at money management. Case in point, the phenomena of reduced juice betting, laying -105 or -107 instead of -110. Reduced juice betting is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of any online sports bettor. Why then do most sports bettors refuse to. These sportsbooks are geared for highly active players with large bankrolls. Betting at reduced juice means an instant discount for the player; for example: At -110 odds, player A bets $110 to win. How Juice Works. When looking at a sports bet, you see many things in the sports betting site client. Of course the teams you would be betting on are listed, along with the line and the total. Another figure that is posted is the odds of that bet. That is where you can find the “juice”. Let’s take a look at a few examples of sports.

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• Sportsbooks take a cut of every bet placed on a sporting event, called the ‘juice’ or ‘vig’
• The vig influences odds, so you need to remove it for a clear picture of likely outcomes
• Learn how to remove the vig to place smarter bets with this guide

“Vig” (also known as vigorish or ‘juice’) refers to the fee a bookmaker or sportsbook charges a bettor for placing their wager. The vig allows the bookmaker or sportsbook to make money on every betting line, regardless of the actual outcome of the event. Bettors win and lose, but the right vig guarantees the bookies always win.

Sportsbooks collect the vig by adding it into the odds as overround, or setting probabilities such that the total implied probability of all potential outcomes exceeds 100%. Because it’s baked into the odds as overround, the vig will shift the numbers, so you need to remove it to gain an accurate picture of what bookmakers actually expect to happen in a game.

Check out our comprehensive guide if you want more detail on how and why your favorite sportsbooks take their cut.

How to Read and Calculate Sport Odds

Before you can remove the vig from the line, you need to be confident effectively reading sports odds.

You’ve probably have seen a spread similar to this:

• L.A. Rams: -3.5 -110
• Seattle Seahawks: +3.5 -110

The -110 indicates that for the bettor must wager $110 for every $100 they want to win.

The $10 withheld from the bettor is the vig, which the bookmaker or sportsbook keeps as their profit.

If you need a hand converting odds, check out our guide on how to read and calculate sports betting odds.

Why You Should Remove the Vig

Sportsbooks are in the business of dealing risk, but they like to play things safe themselves. Their goal with any betting line is to ensure the money comes in on each side in optimal proportions, such that they can cover their payout obligations while still pocketing some for themselves. This is one reason the odds will change in the lead up to an event: to attract more action on one side of the line, or to include a higher ‘vig’ percentage to guarantee profit.

Because the odds consider profitability rather than likely outcomes alone, you need to remove the vig from the betting line to gain an accurate picture of the actual probabilities oddsmakers assign to each potential outcome. We refer to this as ‘actual probability’ to differentiate it from ‘implied probability,’ which includes juice in the form of overround.

Finding this actual probability will help you handicap your wagers by getting a clearer view of the oddsmaker’s expectations. This exercise allows you to compare how much the sportsbook has inflated the price on a betting line, or to compare the handling fees baked into the odds at two different sportsbooks.

That said, it’s key to remember that you are ultimately wagering on the odds as they’re offered. When analyzing the potential value of any given bet, you should compare your estimated probability with the implied probability suggested by the odds with the vig included.

How to Remove the Vig

There are a number of calculations that need to be completed to remove the vig and look at the actual probabilities oddsmakers have assigned to each outcome of an event. Follow the following steps for a ‘clean line’ that isn’t influenced by the money coming in on each side:

1. Calculate implied probability (including the vig) of all outcomes.
2. Total implied probability includes overround, and we can use this value to find the vig as a percentage, or to remove it from the betting line.
3. Calculate actual probability by removing the overround (which also removes the vig) to bring total implied probabilities to 100%.
4. Compare actual probability with your own handicapping efforts to determine if a line has value.

How to Calculate Implied Probability

The formula to find implied probability is risk/return = implied probability.

As an example, let’s find the implied probability of the following NHL moneyline:

In this scenario, you’ll need to bet $300 to win $100 (with a total return of $400).

Using the above formula of risk/return: 300(risk)/400(return)=0.75. The 0.75 number, or 75%, is the implied probability of the Capitals winning.

For the Vegas Golden Knights you would calculate: 100(risk)/325(return)= 0.30. 30% is the implied probability of the Golden Knights winning.

Now, you’ve got to determine the total implied probability, also known as the overround. To do so, you add each team’s implied probability, which would be .75 + .30 = 1.05, or 105%.

As you can see, the sum of total implied probabilities is more than 100. By effectively taking wagers on a range of outcomes that’s greater than the actual possible outcomes, overround is a simple way for bookmakers to guarantee they take in more money than they pay out. In the example above, the bookmaker would expect to pay out $100 after receiving $105 worth of wagers.

How to Calculate the Vig as a Percentage

The vig is technically defined as the associated percentage amount the sportsbook will profit on the line. Overround can be used to calculate this percentage using the following formula:

Vig = 1 – (1/Overround) x 100

Vig = 1 – (1/105) x 100

Vig = .0476

Vig = 4.76%

It’s worth noting that you don’t need to calculate the vig as a percentage to find actual probability, or the implied probability of each outcome before books add the vig.

How to Calculate Actual Probability (Odds without the Vig)

You must remove the overround to find actual probability by dividing each team’s implied probability by the total implied probability (or overround).

Actual probability = team implied probability/total implied probability

So 75.00/105.00 = .71 or 71%. The actual probability of the Capitals winning is 71%.

30.00/105.00= .29 or 29%. The actual probability of the Golden Knights winning is 29%.

To confirm you have done your calculations correctly add up both of your actual probabilities. The total should be 100 or 1, as a percentage or decimal, respectively:

.71 + .29 = 1.00. or 100%.

By removing the overround, we can see the actual probabilities of each outcome as estimated by the bookmakers before they account for the vig.

Actual Probability Provides an Inside View

Removing the vig provides a behind the scenes viewpoint for sports bettors. If you don’t remove the vig or juice, you won’t know what the sportsbook actually thinks is going to happen in the game.

Calculating the vig on a betting line also helps you identify those bets that are simply overpriced.

For more great articles on sport betting tactics and tips, check out our guide to the sharpest strategies in the business.

When referring to juice in a sportsbook we aren’t talking about the cranberry juice mixed with your vodka. Rather, juice is all about how much the sportsbook charges a bettor to make a bet. As a bettor, you want to minimize your losses and one way to accomplish that is by reducing the juice. This same term is also known as reduced “vig” or vigorish. Even though you may have an understanding of vigorish, the term reducing the juice can still be confusing. Let’s get an understanding, break it down, discuss the pros and cons, and help choose which sportsbook to use.

Picking a Sportsbook with Reduced Juice

Choosing between multiple sportsbooks can be done on the surface, but also requires research. On the surface, you’ll either see bonuses or not. The same goes for daily or weekly promotions.

Research is pivotal in finding reduced juice. Each day there are hundreds of sports with thousands of games being played. Every sportsbook wants to set their lines first to attract bettors.
Given the number of games you can find with different lines between the sportsbooks, reduced juice and line shopping go together. Remember, EVEN if it’s $5 that is a HUGE price to pay. Keep the money in your pocket!

The Best Reduced Juice Sportsbooks:

The best system would be to have accounts across several sportsbooks. This will allow you to take advantage of attractive special bonuses and reduced juice odds. Sports betting is no different than other industries in that scenarios, strategies, and circumstances change so allowing yourself to be flexible can aide in your survival.

What Is Reduced Juice?

The juice is a term that describes the commission charged by the sportsbook on a bet. So naturally, we would want to drive that commission cost down, hence reduced juice. A bettor wants to profit a minimum of $100 for every $100 bet placed. A goal of the sportsbook is to have the bettor risk more than $100 to win $100. This is the juice. Bookmakers want to set the odds as high as possible while still enticing the bettor to place action. Therefore, anytime you can place a bet as close to +100 as possible you have reduced the juice.

How to Identify Reduced Juice

Using a typical NFL Sunday point spread, let’s look at how you find reduced juice.

In this illustration, at Sportsbook A, placing a bet on the Bills for a $100 profit will cost you $110. Whereas, at Sportsbook B, the same profit comes at only a $105 risk to you. By placing your bet at book B you have just saved yourself $5! Congratulations, now you’re betting like a seasoned veteran. In placing the bet at the -105 odds you have reduced the juice since the bookmaker is charging you $5 less. The same logic applies if you were to bet on the Patriots in the example above.

The Pros of Reduced Juice

There are a few reasons why reducing the juice is a required tactic if you want to be a successful long-term bettor. In an industry where the events are essentially a coin flip due to the bookie’s astute point spreads and odds, you need to give yourself any and all advantages possible. Here’s how reducing the juice can benefit your bankroll:

• Minimizing your losses. ALL bettors lose, so if you can save yourself $5 or $10 on each bet this will help your bankroll out tremendously over the long haul.
• Sportsbooks will allow bigger bet sizes. Everyone has those moments when they are really confident in a bet and want to put a little extra behind it.
• Easier to profit. Since your losses are less, betting with reduced juice means you don’t have to be as successful to turn a profit. You can win less often and still be just as successful if not more than someone not betting with reduced juice. Now is a good time for me to remind you that at -110 odds you would need to win 52.3% of your bets to become profitable. Anytime you can get under -110 will go a long way in lowering this percentage.

The Cons of Reduced Juice

Everything in life comes with a downside and reduced juice is no different. Here are a couple of unpleasant experiences when betting with reduced juice:

• Sportsbooks offer fewer free offers & bonuses. Take, for example, a 50% deposit bonus up to $250. That means if you deposit $250, the sportsbook matches that by 50%, meaning you would have a starting bankroll of $375. This might sound enticing but if you’re betting at -115 per say the extra cost of the bet consumes this “free” money pretty fast.
• Sharper lines. The sportsbook offering -105 may actually have the point spread at +2.5 rather than +3 and they’re covering the difference.
• Poor customer service. Because the sportsbooks are making less of a profit, oftentimes they cut costs in other areas of their business. That being said, if the sportsbook is well managed then you will rarely need to interact with customer service so this isn’t a big concern to me. If you contact them just be aware of things like slow response time.

What are Reduced Juice Limits?

The sportsbooks offering reduced juice will increase the wager maximum amount. Since they are charging you less, they attempt to reclaim some winnings by allowing you to bet more. Hoping you place a large bet on a 50/50 event is a happy scenario for the bookie.

Difference Between Reduced Juice and Bonuses

Think of the difference between reduced juice and bonuses in terms of how you want to acquire and spend your bankroll. A bettor using a sportsbook with a bonus system will initially have a larger bankroll. While having such a big bankroll can increase gives you confidence, watching the amount go down faster and faster with each bet will do anything but.

No Juice Sports Betting

Remembering that the point spread essentially makes the event 50/50 will remind you that there are no guarantees in sports betting. I’d much rather have a smaller starting bankroll and act smarter, saving money on each bet. You’ll find the bonuses are a gimmick and keep you coming back.

Remember Less Juice the Better!

Calculating Juice Sports Betting

The next time you hear about reducing the juice you won’t be questioning the strength of your cocktail. Choosing which sportsbook to use might require time initially, but in the long run, your bankroll is saved. There is data that shows a successful bettor wins 55% of their bets, so there are a lot of opportunities to limit your losses. Regardless of how frequent you bet reduced juice is always the smart bet.