What Does 110 Mean in Betting? Reading -110 and +110
The number 110 shows up on almost every bet slip. Here is what -110 and +110 actually mean and where the vig hides.
By
Eric Pauly
9 min read
The 110 You Keep Seeing on Every Bet Slip
Open FanDuel, DraftKings, or any sportsbook app and the number 110 is everywhere. Point spreads, game totals, and most straightforward markets carry it, almost always written as -110. So what does 110 mean in betting, and why does the same number show up as both -110 and +110? The short version: 110 is a price, and the sign in front of it tells you which way that price runs. At -110 you lay $110 to win $100. At +110 you risk $100 to win $110. Same 110, two very different deals.
This guide breaks down both forms, explains why -110 is the house default on spreads and totals, and shows exactly where the vig hides inside that number. If you want the raw payout math on any stake, our companion piece on how much a $100 bet pays runs every calculation. Here the focus is on reading the number itself.
article Summary
The number 110 in betting is a price. At -110 you risk $110 to win $100, the standard vig-loaded line on spreads and totals. At +110 you risk $100 to win $110, a slight underdog. A minus means you lay money, a plus means you collect more than you stake. When a book prices both sides of a market at -110, the implied probabilities add up past 100%, and that overlap is the hold it keeps.
What -110 Means: Laying $110 to Win $100
The minus sign is a price you lay
A minus number in American odds tells you how much you have to risk to win $100. At -110, you put up $110 to win $100. Win the bet and your account shows $210, your $110 stake back plus $100 profit. Lose it and the $110 is gone. The size of the number scales with how heavy the price is. A -200 favorite makes you lay $200 to win $100, while -110 is only slightly worse than an even bet.
Scaling to your actual stake
You are not locked into $110. The ratio is what matters. -110 pays 100 to 110, or about 0.909 to 1. A $22 bet wins $20. A $55 bet wins $50. An $11 bet wins $10. Whatever you stake, you get back roughly 91% of it in profit on a win. That is why -110 feels close to even money but is not quite there.
Where you see it most
-110 is the reflex price on point spreads and totals. When the Chiefs are -3 against the Bills, both the -3 and the +3 usually sit at -110. Same with a game total of 47.5, where the over and the under both open around -110. Moneylines behave differently, floating with the real chance that each team wins, but spreads and totals anchor to -110 because the point line already does the work of balancing the two sides.
What +110 Means: Bet $100 to Win $110
The plus sign pays you more than you risk
Flip the sign and the deal flips. A plus number tells you how much you win on a $100 stake. At +110 you risk $100 to win $110, so a winning bet returns $210 total. The plus marks the underdog side, the outcome the book rates as less likely than a coin flip. +110 is only a slight dog, a small step out from even money in the other direction.
+110 versus -110 on the same pick
The gap between +110 and -110 is bigger than it looks because they sit on opposite sides of even money. Take a team at +110 and a winning $100 bet returns $110. Take that same team after the line shifts to -110 and the same $100 win returns only about $91. My rule when tracking bets is to log the exact price, not just the side, because +110 and -110 are genuinely different bets even when the team is the same.
Reading plus and minus at a glance
Once the signs click, American odds read fast. Minus means favorite and a price you lay. Plus means underdog and a payout you collect. The number itself measures distance from even money, so -110 and +110 are both close to a coin flip, while -450 and +380 are far from it.
Why -110 Is the Default, and Where the Vig Hides
Both sides priced at -110
If a spread were a true coin flip, a fair book could price both sides at +100, even money, and expect to break even over time. No sportsbook does that. Instead it prices both the favorite side and the underdog side at -110. Bettors on each side lay $110 to win $100, and that extra $10 on every $100 is the vig, also called the juice.
How the hold works
Picture balanced action, $110 on each side of Chiefs versus Bills at -3. The book takes in $220. Whichever side wins, it pays that bettor $210 and keeps $10. On $220 handled, that $10 is roughly a 4.5% hold. The book does not need to predict the game correctly. It just needs -110 on both sides and reasonably even money coming in.
Not every -110 is equal
Because -110 is a default, not a law, books compete on it. Some post reduced juice at -108 or -105 on the same spread. When I run a slate of NFL totals through an odds screen, the same over often sits at -110 on one book and -105 on another. The pick is identical, the price is not, and over a season those cents decide whether a break-even bettor finishes ahead. Comparing prices with an odds comparison tool is the fastest way to stop overpaying the vig.
The Implied Probability Behind -110 and +110
Turning odds into a percentage
Every American price converts to an implied probability, the win rate baked into the number. For a minus price the formula is the number divided by the number plus 100. For -110 that is 110 divided by 210, which comes out to about 52.4%. For a plus price it is 100 divided by the number plus 100. For +110 that is 100 divided by 210, or about 47.6%.
What that means for breaking even
52.4% is your breakeven line at -110. Win more than 52.4% of your -110 bets over time and you profit. Win less and the vig grinds you down. At +110 the breakeven drops to 47.6%, which is why underdog prices give you room to be wrong more often and still come out ahead. It is also the clearest way to see the vig. A fair coin flip is 50%, but -110 asks you to clear 52.4%.
Here is a quick reference for common prices near even money:
-110 implies about 52.4%, the breakeven win rate on a standard spread
+110 implies about 47.6%
-105 implies about 51.2%
+100 even money implies exactly 50%
-120 implies about 54.5%
+120 implies about 45.5%
Why two -110s add up past 100%
Add the implied probabilities of both sides of a -110 market and you get 52.4% plus 52.4%, which is 104.8%. A fair market would total 100%. That extra 4.8% is the overround, and it is the mathematical fingerprint of the vig. The book hold, roughly 4.5%, is that overlap expressed against the total money wagered. To strip the vig out of any two-sided market yourself, our no-vig odds calculator converts both prices back to true probability in one step.
Putting the Number to Work
Read the price before you tap
Knowing what 110 means changes how you bet. A spread at -105 instead of -110 lowers your breakeven from 52.4% to 51.2%, free equity on a pick you were already making. A dog at +115 instead of +110 pays $5 more per $100 for the exact same outcome. None of that requires a better opinion on the game, only the discipline to check the number. If you want a fuller walkthrough of every format, our guide on reading betting odds covers decimal and fractional too.
Tools that surface the best 110
This is where an odds screen earns its keep. Pick The Odds and OddsJam both line up the same spread or total across dozens of books at once, so the book posting -105 while everyone else sits at -110 jumps out instantly. Our breakdown of OddsJam digs into how its screens and filters work. For the raw dollar figures on any stake and price, the math lives in our guide on how much you win on a $100 bet.
Most bettors need more than one book
You cannot shop a price with a single account. The whole point of decoding -110 is acting on it, and that means holding accounts at several books so you can take the -105 when it appears. Three or four books is usually enough to catch the reduced juice on most nights without drowning in apps. A hub of the best sports betting tools is a reasonable starting point for the line-shopping side of the setup.
Final Thoughts
The number 110 is the first piece of betting math worth memorizing. -110 means you lay $110 to win $100, the vig-loaded default on spreads and totals, and it asks you to win about 52.4% of the time just to break even. +110 flips that, paying $110 on a $100 risk on a slight underdog that only needs to hit 47.6%. Once you can read the sign and the size, the vig sitting inside the price stops being invisible.
The payoff is not memorizing a formula. It is refusing to leave value on the table. Take the -105 over the -110 and the +115 over the +110 every time the same bet is priced better somewhere else, and check the board before you tap. Those cents are the difference over a full season.
What Does 110 Mean in Betting FAQ
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