Looking for the definition of VIG? Find out what is the full meaning of VIG on Abbreviations.com! 'Vaccinia Immune Globulin' is one option - get in to view more @ The Web's largest and most authoritative acronyms and abbreviations resource. As you can see, the vig is beneficial to the bookmaker, and gives them a reason to keep taking our bets. While it may seem on first look to be something that only happens in sportsbooks, vigorish is also common in other forms of gambling, with one major example being the rake taken in poker.

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Introduction

Binomdist() function

Class II Slots

Oklahoma, and various other Indian casinos, have what are called 'Class II' slots. The outcome is actually determined by the draw of bingo balls. Players at various different slot machines are linked together, each player has different cards but the draw of the balls is common to all players connected via the network. There is generally a 'game ending pattern' in which if some player competes it then balls quit drawing for all the other players. However with most manufacturers these game ending patterns are very hard to achieve so the element of competition is negligible. Unless the game ending pattern is achieved a certain number of balls are drawn, your cards are automatically daubed, and you are paid according the highest paying pattern you cover, and there are hundreds of patterns. A video representation of a slot machine is only to illustrate how much you have won. If done well, and they often are not, the games play almost just like a Vegas slot machine.

Class III Slots

A standard slot machine, like the kind played in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and major gambling markets. The outcome of modern Class III slots is determined by the draw of random numbers, which are then mapped to particular stops on the reels, at the moment the player spins the reels. This is unlike Class II slots, in which the result is determined by bingo balls and two or more players are required to play.

Combin() function

This is an Excel function that calculates the number of ways to choose x items out of y, without regard to order. For example if a pizza parlor has 10 toppings and you can choose any 3 of them there are combin(10,3) = 120 ways to create a pizza. The mathematical formula for combin(x,y) is x!/(y!*(x-y)!). The combin formula is frequently used in card probabilities, for example number of different 5-card stud hands is combin(52,5)=2,598,960.

Composition Dependent

Used to describe blackjack strategy where the player makes use of not just the total of his cards but the composition as well. The fewer the decks the more beneficial using composition dependent basic strategy is. For example in single-deck blackjack the player should normally stand with 12 against a 4. However if the 12 is composed of a 10 and a 2 the odds favor hitting. This is a composition dependent exception. Also see 'Total Dependent.'

Element of Risk

The ratio of the expected player loss to the total amount bet. This is a good measure of comparing the value of one bet against another. For games in which there is no raising the element of risk will be the same as the house edge. However for games in which the player may increase his bet the element of risk will be lower. For example in Caribbean Stud Poker the house edge is 5.22%. However the average amount bet per hand is 2.0445 times the initial bet, so the element of risk would be 0.0522/2.0445 = 2.55%.

EPROM

EPROM is an acronym standing for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. More importantly EPROMs are a microchip used in slot machines that determine the theoretical return of the game. A slot manager can change the return of a slot machine by simply replacing the EPROM chip, although regulations may require additional paperwork.

Expected Value

Expected value is how much you can expect to lose (negative) or win (positive) from a bet. For example the expected value in American double-zero roulette is -5.26%. That means you can expect to lose 5.26% of every dollar you bet.

Factorial

Factorial is a frequently used math function. For any integer x, factorial(x) is represented as x!, which equals 1*2*3*...*x. For example:

This would be the number of ways you could order x items. For example, if you had a baseball team of 9 players, the number of possible batting orders would be 9!=362,880.

Hold Percentage

The ratio of money a particular game takes in to total chip purchases. For example if player’s purchase $1000 in chips at a blackjack table and walk away with $800 in chips then the table profit (or hold) is $200 and the hold percentage is $200/$1000 = 20% for the sample period. The hold percentage will be much higher than the house edge because players tend to circulate through the same money. The longer the player plays the more the house edge will grind him down, causing the hold to increase. The player does not need to be concerned about the hold percentage but it is of interest to casino management.

House Edge

The ratio of the expected player loss to the initial amount bet. For example if the house edge for blackjack is 0.5% then for every $100 you bet initially you can expect to lose 50 cents. The house edge is a good measure of expected player wins or losses over time but is not a perfect measure of comparing one game to another. The reason is the house edge does not include additional money bet (for example doubling in blackjack or raising in Three Card Poker) as money bet. Two common mistakes in calculating the house edge are not including ties (they should be counted towards money bet) and including additional money bet (like doubling and raising) towards money bet. An exception to the usual definition is in craps, in particular proposition bets that can take multiple rolls to resolve. For place, buy, lay, and hard way bets the house edge is defined as the expected player loss per bet resolved. Another exception is in Let it Ride, in which the house edge is the ratio of the expected loss to a single bet (or 1/3 of the total initial bet).

HypGeomDist() function

This is an Excel function (short for 'Hypergeometric Distribution') that calculates the probability of matching W of X numbers, given that Y numbers are selected from Z numbers. A popular application of this function is calculating Keno probabilities. If you selected 10 numbers, the probability of matching 6 of them would be hypgeomdist(6,10,20,80): The 6 is how many numbers you matched; the 10 is how many numbers you selected; the 20 is how many numbers the house selected; and the 80 is how many numbers the house can choose from. The formula for hypgeomdist(W,X,Y,Z) is combin(Y,W) * combin(Z-Y,X-W) / combin(Z,X).

Martingale

A betting system in which the player starts with a small wager on an even money game. If he wins he stops playing. If he loses he doubles his bet. If he wins the second bet he walks with a profit of his original wager. If he loses the second bet he doubles his wager again. The player will keep doubling his wager as long as he keeps losing. The ultimate result will either be a net win equal to his original wager or a loss of his entire bankroll.

The Martingale is one of the oldest and certainly the most famous betting system. I personally I have seen players using it at Internet casinos numerous times. It is deceptive in the short run because it usually does win. However in the long term it loses, as all betting systems do. The big losses eventually add up to more than all the small wins.

Match Play

Often found in fun books a match play is a chip or coupon the player may use in connection with a bet in most table games. The rules generally state that the player must bet an amount equal to the face value of the match play. Then if the player wins he is paid on both his bet and the match play. Win or lose the match play is taken after the bet is resolved. In the event of a push it is not removed.

Every match play I have ever seen is restricted to 'even money bets.' This generally includes qualifying bets in roulette, craps, big six, baccarat, and blackjack. For more about Match Plays please visit my page on promotional chips.

Non-cashable Bonus

Often seen at Internet casinos a Non-Cashable Bonus is a bonus which may never be cashed out. It always sticks to the player's account until lost gambling. A good strategy to get rid of a non-cashable bonus is to withdraw all cashable money in the account, leaving on the non-cashable bonus. Then gamble with the non-cashable bonus with the goal of either doubling your balance or go bust trying. If you double then cash out the winnings and play the sticky bonus again. Keep repeating until you lose. The value of a non-cashable bonus is almost 100% of face value, just deduct two times the house edge of the game you are playing. For example if the house edge in blackjack is 0.5% and you have a $100 sticky bonus then the value of it is $100*(1-2*0.005) = $99.

Par Sheet

What Does The Term Vig Mean In Gambling

A par sheet is a document that details how a particular slot machine is designed, including the pay table, reel strips, and any other pertinent information to rules of the game. I've hard various theories where the 'par' comes from the most plausible, in my opinion, are:

• An Acronym for Pay table And Reel Strips.
• An Acronym for Probability Accounting Report.
• It just means par, as in the expected outcome of the game.

Penalty Card

Sometimes in video poker the correct play in a borderline hand is determined by the value of the discards. Let’s look at an example in 9/6 Jacks or Better with K♣ 10♣ 9♠ 6♣ 3♦. The best options are to either keep the suited 10 and king or the king only. The suited 10 and king is usually the better option. However in this scenario two potentially useful cards would be discarded, the 9 of spades (lowering the odds of forming a straight), and the 6 of clubs (lowering the odds of forming a flush). These two cards are called penalty cards because they degrade the value of the best play, the suited 10 and king. In this case they degrade the value to below that of keeping the king only. Penalty cards are also applicable in Hold ’em Challenge.

Penetration

For blackjack purposes, 'penetration' refers to how deeply into the cards the dealer deals before shuffling. For example, if the dealer deals 5 decks before shuffling in a 6-deck game then the penetration would be 5/6 or 83%. Penetration is extremely important to card counters, the greater the penetration the greater the advantage.

Permut() function

This is an Excel function for the number of ways to pick x items out of y, with regard to order. For example if you form a new country and wish to create a 3-color flag from 10 colors available then there would be permut(10,3)=720 possible color arrangements. This assumes that color position does matter, for example the flag of the Netherlands is different from the flag of the Russian Federation. The mathematical formula for permut(x,y) is x!/max(y,x-y)!.

Phantom Bonus

What I used to call a Phantom Bonus I know refer to as a Sticky Bonus, to be consistent with the general terminology.

Probability

The probability of an event is the number of ways that event can occur, divided by the total number of possible events that could occur. For example, there are 4 ways to be dealt a Royal Flush in a 5-card hand (one for each suit), and there are combin(52,5)=2,598,960 possible 5-card hands that could be dealt, therefore the probability of being dealt a Royal Flush in 5 cards from a 52-card deck is 4/2598960 = 0.00000154.

Pull Tab

The original form of a pull tab was a piece of paper with a tab the player lifts to reveal a win. This piece of paper the player may take to the cashier for redemption. In addition there are electronic pull tab games, in which the player presses a button to reveal his win. As a visual aid the game may show how much the player won in the form of a slot machine of video poker game. However don’t be fooled, there is never any skill in a pull tab game. Even if the game looks like a five card draw video poker game your outcome is predestined. For example if you get a royal flush on the deal and throw all of it away you would get another royal flush on the draw. If you kept only one card to a royal you would get four wild cards on the draw. Pull tabs are most likely to be found in Indian casinos that do not allow normal slots or video poker games.

Soft 17

In blackjack a hand that can be counted as 7 or 17 poins, for example A♣ and 6♦, is called a soft 17. A frequent rule variation is whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17. It is to the player’s advantage if the dealer stands on a soft 17.

In Gambling What Does Vig Mean In English

Sticky Bonus

Often seen at Internet casinos a Sticky Bonus is a bonus which may never be cashed out and disappears from the player's balance when any withdrawal is made. It is called a sticky bonus because it just sticks to the player's bonus temporarily, until a withdrawal is made, and then falls off. A good strategy to get rid of a sticky bonus is to set a high winning goal. Then play aggressively until you either meet your goal or go bust trying. An aggressive strategy, and one casinos don't like, is to bet everything on a single number in single-zero roulette.

The greater your winning goal the greater the value of the Phantom Bonus, up to a point. For example if you have a $100 Phantom Bonus and $200 in cashable chips if you bet everything on a single number in single-zero roulette your available balance to withdraw is $300*36-$100 = $10700 if you win. In this case the expected value of the Phantom Bonus is $10700/37 - $200 = $89.19, or 89.19% of face value.

Sticky Chip

A gambling chip which may wagered but not be cashed out. Winnings from a sticky chip are paid in real chips. Sticky chips are often given to a player as part of a junket, or as compensation for an entrance fee. The value of a sticky chip is almost 100% of face value, just deduct two times the house edge of the game you are playing. For example if the house edge in blackjack is 0.5% and you have $100 in sticky chips then the value of the chips are $100*(1-2*0.005) = $99.

Total Dependent

Most blackjack basic strategy charts are said to be 'total dependent.' That means the total of the player’s cards are considered, but not the specific composition. Total dependent basic strategy also considers whether the hand is soft or hard, and whether doubling, splitting, or surrender is possible. Also see 'composition dependent.'

True Odds

The necessary payoff for a bet to have zero house advantage. For example the any seven bet (next roll will total seven) in craps has true odds of 5 to 1. If the true odds are t, then the probability of winning is 1/(1+t). If the probability of winning is p, then the true odds are (1-p)/p. For bets which can only win or lose, if the actuall payoff is w, and the true odds are t, then the house edge is (t-w)/(t+1). In the case of the any seven bet in craps the true odds are 5 to 1, and the payoff is 4 to 1, so the house edge is (5-4)/(5+1) = 1/6 = 16.67%.

Vigorish (also known as juice, under-juice, the cut, the take, the margin, the house edge or simply the vig) is the fee charged by a bookmaker (or bookie) for accepting a gambler's wager. In American English it can also refer to the interest owed a loanshark in consideration for credit. The term came to English usage via Yiddish slang (Yiddish: וויגריש‎‎, romanized: vigrish),^[1] which was itself a loanword from the original Russian.^[2] (Russian: вы́игрыш, romanized: výigryš, lit.'gain, winnings')

In Gambling What Does Vig Mean Meaning

As a business practice it is an example of risk management; by doing so bookmakers can guarantee turning a profit regardless of the underlying event's outcome. As a rule, bookmakers do not want to have a financial interest creating a preference for one result over another in any given sporting event. This is accomplished by incentivizing their clientele to wager offsetting amounts on all potential outcomes of the event. The normal method by which this is achieved is by adjusting the payouts for each outcome (collectively called the line) as imbalances of total amounts wagered between them occur.

Within the mathematical disciplines of probability and statistics this is analogous to an overround^[3], though the two are not precisely synonymous but rather bijectivereciprocals of one another.^[4] Overround occurs when the sum of the implied probabilities for all possible event results is above 100%, whereas the vigorish is the bookmaker's percentage profit on the total stakes made on the event. For example, an overround of 20% results in 16.66%^[a] vigorish. The connecting formulæ are:

where

v represents vigorish

o represents overround

• 2Examples
• 4Other kinds of vigorish

Proportionality[edit]

It is simplest to assume that vigorish is factored in proportionally to the true odds, although this need not be the case. Under proportional vigorish, a 'fair odds' betting line of 2.00/2.00^[b] without vigorish would decrease the payouts of all outcomes equally, perhaps to 1.95/1.95, once it was added. More commonly though, disproportional vigorish will be applied as part of the efforts to keep the amounts wagered balanced, such as 1.90/2.00, making the outcome with fewer dollars wagered appear more attractive due to the larger payout.

Examples[edit]

The simplest wager[edit]

Two people want to bet on opposing sides of an event and agree to 'fair odds', also known as evens. They are going to make the wager between each other without using the services of a bookmaker. Each person agrees to risk $100 for the chance to win $100. The person who loses receives nothing and the winner receives both stakes. Rather than pay vigorish to someone who will guarantee that the winner will be paid, they both assume the opportunity cost in the event the backer of the losing side refuses to pay the winner at the event's conclusion.

By contrast, when using a sportsbook with the odds set at 1.90/2.00 (10 to 11) with vigorish factored in, each person would have to risk or lay $110 to win $100 (the sportsbook collects $220 'in the pot'). The extra $10 per person is, in effect, a bookmaker's commission for taking the action. This $10 is not in play and cannot be doubled by the winning bettor; it can only be lost. A losing bettor simply loses their $110. A winning bettor wins back their original $110, plus his $100 winnings, for a total of $210. From the $220 collected, the sportsbook keeps the remaining $10 after paying out the winner.

Theory vs. practice[edit]

Vigorish can be defined independent of the outcome of the event and of bettors' behaviors, by defining it as the percentage of total dollars wagered retained by the bookmaker in a risk-free wager. This definition is largely theoretical in practice as it makes the assumption that the bookmaker has balanced the wagers perfectly, such that they makes equal profit regardless of the contest result.

For a two outcome event, the vigorish percentage, v is

${\displaystyle v=100\ast \left(1-\frac{p\ast q}{p+q}\right)}$

where the p and q are the decimal payouts for each outcome.This should not be confused with the percentage a bettor pays due to vigorish. No consistent definition of the percentage a bettor pays due to vigorish can be made without first defining the bettor's behavior under juiced odds and assuming a win-percentage for the bettor. These factors are discussed under the debate section.

For example, 1.90/2.00 pricing of an even match is 4.55% vigorish, and 1.95/1.95 pricing is 2.38% vigorish.

Vigorish percentage for three-way events may be calculated using the following formula:^[5]

${\displaystyle v=100\ast \frac{(1/p+1/q+1/t)-1}{1/p+1/q+1/t}}$

where p, q and t are the decimal payouts for each outcome. For comparison, for overround calculation only the upper part of the equation is used, leading to slightly higher percentage results than the vigorish calculation.

Other kinds of vigorish[edit]

Casino games[edit]

More generically, vigorish can refer to the bookmaker/casino's theoretical advantage from all possible wagers on any game they offer. The term may also refer, and be applied in specific ways, to particular casino games.

• Baccarat, in the house-banked version of baccarat (also mini-baccarat) commonly played in North American casinos, vigorish refers to the 5% commission (called the cagnotte) charged to players who win a bet on the banker hand. The rules of the game are structured so that the banker hand wins slightly more often than the player hand; the 5% vigorish restores the house advantage to the casino for both bets. In most casinos, a winning banker bet is paid at even money, with a running count of the commission owed kept by special markers in a commission box in front of the dealer. This commission must be paid when all the cards are dealt from the shoe or when the player leaves the game. Some casinos do not keep a running commission amount, and instead withdraw the commission directly from the winnings; a few require the commission to be posted along with the bet, in a separate space on the table.
• Backgammon, the recube vig is the value of having possession of the doubling cube to the player being offered a double.
• Craps, vigorish refers to the 5% commission charged on a buy bet, where a player wishes to bet that one of the numbers — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 — will be rolled before a 7 is rolled. The commission is charged at the rate of $1 for every $20 bet. The bet is paid off at the true mathematical odds, but the 5% commission is paid as well, restoring the house advantage. For many years, this commission was paid whether the bet won or not. In recent years, many casinos have changed to charging the commission only when the bet wins, which greatly reduces the house advantage; for instance, the house advantage on a buy bet on the 4 or 10 is reduced from 5% to 1.67%, since the bet wins one-third of the time (2:1 odds against). In this case, the vig may be deducted from the winnings (for instance, a $20 bet on the 4 would be paid $39 – $40 at 2:1 odds, less the $1 commission), or the player may simply hand the commission in and receive the full payout. This rule is commonplace in Mississippi casinos, and becoming more widely available in Nevada.
• Roulette: odds are calculated out of 36 numbers, but the wheel has one or two extra pockets (zero and double zero).
• Slot machines - the payouts and winning combinations available on most slot machines and other electronic gambling systems are often designed such that an average of between 0.1% to 10% (varying by machine and facility) of funds taken in are not used to pay out winnings, and thus becomes the house's share. Machines or facilities with a particularly low percentage are often said to be loose.
• Poker
  • In pai gow poker, a 5% commission charged on all winning bets is referred to as vigorish. Unlike baccarat, the commission is paid after each winning bet, either by the player handing in the amount from his stack of chips, or by having the vig deducted from the winnings.
  • In table poker, the vigorish, more commonly called the rake, is a fraction of each bet placed into the pot. The dealer removes the rake from the pot after each bet (or betting round), making change if necessary. The winner of the hand gets the money that remains in the pot after the rake has been removed. Most casinos take 5-10% of the pot, typically capping the total rake at $3 or $4.

Other uses[edit]

• In investment banking, 'vig' is sometimes used to describe profits from advisory and other activities.
• In sports, Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Bob Prince coined the term 'hidden vigorish' to describe an underdog's ability to beat the odds in a given situation.
• The term is also used in reference to an auction house's buyers and sellers fees.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Much of the computation inherent to bookmaking is fractional, but frequently in print the decimal representations are used instead. This makes them easier to input into calculators and more agreeably format within any surrounding text. It is to be understood though that these fractions frequently result in a decimal repetend or infinitely repeating set of numbers somewhere to the right of the decimal point. For the sake of balancing clarity and accuracy, wherever possible this article will use a vinculum when there is a repetend, displaying the digits which infinitely repeat with an overline above them.
2. ^Betting lines offered as examples below represent the ratio of total payout (stake + winnings) to the original amount risked. In the case of a $1 wager, a fixed-odds betting line of 1.83/2.20 would result in actual winnings of $0.83 and $1.20 for the backers of the respective outcomes, once the original $1 spent to place the wager is subtracted. The amounts and currency used are irrelevant; the calculation is always: a wager of size n offers a total payout of n × the betting line.

References[edit]

1. ^'Vigorish dictionary definition | The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition'. www.yourdictionary.com. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
2. ^'Definition of VIGORISH'. www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
3. ^Moya, Fabián Enrique (2012-07-24). 'Statistical Methodology for Profitable Sports Gambling'(pdf). www.stat.sfu.ca. p. 15. in /web/20130612071000/https://www.stat.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/stat/alumnitheses/2012/FabianMoyaFinalVersion.pdf Archived Check |archiveurl= value (help)(PDF) from the original on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
4. ^'A Refresher on Overround and Vig'. Matter of Stats. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
5. ^'Profit margin calculator | Pinnacle'. www.pinnacle.com. Retrieved 2019-06-03.