But at -110 odds, an $11 bet pays out $10 (total return of $21).Īnother way to look at it: Let’s say you place a $100 bet at -110 odds. If the odds were even (also represented as +100 in American sports betting), an $11 bet would have a payout of $11 (so a total return of $22). This means for every $10 you want to win on a spread bet, you have to bet $11. Instead, they offer odds of -110 for each side of a point-spread wager (we’ll dive into moneyline odds later). However, sportsbooks don’t operate this way. Because of the theoretical 50-50 outcome, you would expect to get even money in return for a coin-toss bet-in other words, if you bet $10 on heads and the coin lands on heads, you would expect to receive $20 ($10 original bet, $10 profit). Vig amounts vary from sport to sport and wager to wager, and it’s not always easy to determine the vig from reading the odds.Ī good example would be a coin toss that has an equal chance of landing either heads or tails. Think of it as the casino’s cut for the service it provides. Vigorish (also known as “vig” or “juice”) is the name given to the amount charged by the sportsbook for taking your bet. They also reflect how much money bettors must risk to win a specific amount-that is, the potential payout. Betting odds are a tool that reveals an oddsmaker’s opinion (or stance) on a particular game, event or proposition. The first thing to know about betting odds is what they represent. Here is a list of our partners who offer products that we have affiliate links for. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles these “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site.

First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. This compensation comes from two main sources.

To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective.

Sports betting vs gambling