What Is Juice in Sports Betting?
Juice is the sportsbook's cut on every bet you place. Learning to recognize it and reduce it is one of the fastest ways to improve your bottom line.
By
Eric Pauly
Feb 8, 2026
7 min read
What Does Juice Mean in Sports Betting?
Juice is the commission a sportsbook charges on every wager. If you have ever placed a bet at -110 odds and wondered why you are risking $110 to win $100 instead of even money, that extra $10 is the juice. It is also called the vig (short for vigorish), and while the two terms are interchangeable, "juice" is the word you will hear most often in casual conversation among bettors. The sportsbook builds this fee into the odds so they profit regardless of which side wins.
Understanding juice matters because it directly affects how often you need to win to break even. At -110 odds, your break-even win rate is 52.38%, not 50%. That 2.38% gap is the juice working against you on every single bet. Over the course of a season, the amount of juice you pay adds up to a meaningful chunk of your bankroll. My first year tracking bets seriously, I calculated that I paid roughly $3,200 in juice across 600 bets, which was more than my total profit. That realization changed how I approach every wager. This guide covers what juice looks like across different markets, how to identify when you are paying too much, and straightforward ways to reduce it. For a deeper dive into the math behind vig and how sportsbooks set their margins, the vig explained guide covers that in detail.
article Summary
Juice is the fee sportsbooks charge on bets, built directly into the odds. Standard juice is -110 on each side of a spread or total, which means a 4.5% margin for the book. Some markets carry much higher juice than others, and the amount you pay varies across sportsbooks. Reducing the juice you pay through line shopping is one of the simplest ways to improve your long-term results.
How Juice Shows Up in Different Markets
Standard Juice on Spreads and Totals
The most common juice you will encounter is -110 on both sides of a point spread or total. This is considered the standard rate and represents roughly a 4.5% house edge. When both sides of a bet are -110, the sportsbook collects $10 from every $110 wagered by the losing side and pays $100 to the winning side. As long as money comes in roughly evenly on both sides, the book profits no matter what happens. Some sportsbooks offer reduced juice (-105 or even -102) on certain markets, which is a meaningful improvement for bettors who place hundreds of wagers per year.
Higher Juice on Props and Alternate Lines
Not all markets carry the same juice. Player props, team props, and alternate spreads or totals tend to have significantly higher juice than main market lines. It is common to see player prop markets priced at -120/-110 or -115/-115, which pushes the house edge above 5%. Some prop markets at recreational sportsbooks carry 8-10% juice or more. The reason is straightforward: props are less liquid markets with fewer sharp bettors keeping the lines honest. Sportsbooks pad the margins because they can. If you are betting props regularly, calculating the juice on each line before placing the bet helps you avoid the worst-priced offerings. Understanding how to read betting odds is the first step toward identifying when the juice is unusually high.
Moneyline Juice Is Less Obvious
Juice on moneyline bets is harder to spot because the two sides are not priced symmetrically. A moneyline market might show -150/+130. The juice is hidden in the gap between those numbers. In a no-juice world, -150 would pair with +150 (or close to it). The fact that the underdog only pays +130 instead of +150 is where the sportsbook takes its cut. Converting both sides to implied probabilities and checking whether they add up to more than 100% is the fastest way to see how much juice is baked into a moneyline. The calculating odds guide walks through that conversion step by step.
How to Spot and Avoid High-Juice Lines
Check the Combined Implied Probability
The quickest way to measure juice on any bet is to convert both sides to implied probabilities and add them up. Anything over 100% is the juice. At -110/-110, the total is 104.76%. At -105/-105, it is 102.44%. At -120/-110, it is 107.14%. Getting into the habit of checking this number before placing a bet takes seconds and tells you exactly how much the sportsbook is taking off the top. Over the past two seasons, I have passed on dozens of prop bets where the combined implied probability exceeded 108% because the math just does not work in your favor at that level of juice.
Compare Prices Across Sportsbooks
The same bet can carry different juice at different sportsbooks. One book might price a total at -110/-110 while another has -108/-112 and a third offers -105/-105. The book at -105/-105 is charging roughly half the juice of the standard rate. Finding these differences does not require any special skill or insider access. OddsJam scans odds across 40+ sportsbooks and shows you where the juice is lowest for any given bet. Outlier provides a similar comparison with a focus on finding +EV opportunities where the odds have already moved past the fair line. Both tools cut down the time spent searching and make it simple to avoid the highest-juice offerings.
Recognize Which Books Consistently Offer Lower Juice
Some sportsbooks are known for tighter lines and lower juice across the board. Sharp-friendly books like Pinnacle and Circa typically offer less juice on main markets than recreational-facing books. This does not mean recreational books are always bad, but it does mean you should be strategic about where you place different types of bets. For main market spreads and totals, prioritizing low-juice books can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars over a full season. For a broader look at what tools help you find the right books and best prices, the best betting tools guide covers the full landscape.
Reducing Juice Over Time
Line Shopping Is the Single Biggest Lever
Line shopping is the most effective way to pay less juice on every bet. By maintaining accounts at multiple sportsbooks and comparing prices before placing any wager, you consistently take the lowest-juice option available. This does not change your win rate or your handicapping ability. It simply reduces the cost of doing business. Think of it like buying the same product from the store that charges the least. The bet is the same, but the price you pay for it differs by sportsbook. Over 500 bets in a year, getting an average of 3 cents better odds per bet saves you more than most bettors realize.
Focus Your Props on Lower-Juice Books
Since props carry the highest juice, being selective about where you place prop bets has an outsized impact. Some sportsbooks consistently offer tighter prop lines than others. If you are betting player props on a book where the juice is routinely 7-8%, switching that same bet to a book with 5% juice on the same market immediately improves your expected value. This is especially relevant for bettors who specialize in props, where the volume of bets means the juice compounds quickly. Tracking which books offer the best prop prices is a small habit that pays dividends over a full season.
Track What You Pay in Juice
Most bettors have no idea how much they pay in juice over the course of a month or year. Using a bet tracker that logs your odds on every wager lets you calculate your total juice expense. When I first ran this calculation on my own betting history, the number was sobering. Knowing the actual dollar amount you lose to juice each month creates a tangible incentive to shop lines more diligently. It converts an abstract concept into a real number on a spreadsheet.
Final Thoughts
Juice is one of those concepts that every bettor encounters on their first wager but few take the time to understand deeply. It is the silent cost of every bet you place, and it compounds relentlessly over time. You cannot eliminate juice entirely, but you can minimize it by shopping lines, avoiding the highest-juice markets when the price is not right, and tracking what you actually pay.
The difference between a bettor who pays 4.5% average juice and one who pays 3% average juice is enormous over hundreds of bets. That 1.5% gap translates directly into dollars that either stay in your bankroll or go to the sportsbook. Start by checking the combined implied probability on your next five bets. If any of them are above 107%, ask yourself whether the edge you see is large enough to overcome that level of juice. For the full breakdown on how vig is calculated, how it affects your break-even rate, and advanced strategies for reducing it, read the vig betting explained guide.
Juice in Sports Betting FAQ
Additional Resources
Explore our curated selection of guides and tools to help promote responsible gambling.
Best Prop Finder Tools for 2026
Discover how prop finder tools streamline your research and help you identify value in player prop markets.
AI Sports Betting Picks Guide
Understand how AI generates sports betting picks, the promises and limitations of AI models, and how to evaluate AI-driven betting services.
Asian Handicap Betting Explained: How It Works
Asian handicap betting removes the draw option and uses quarter lines to create more precise soccer betting markets.
Draw No Bet Explained: Strategy Guide for Smart Bettors
Draw no bet removes the draw outcome from soccer markets, giving you a refund if the match ends level.
