Squeeze the Juice and Win More Bets

If you have wondered what exactly your sports betting friends are talking about, Sports Hub is here to help you understand juice. It has nothing to do with that stuff you drink and no, we’re in no way referring to the O.J. Simpson either. 

Juice is a common betting term that refers to the cut that a sportsbook takes when it takes a bet. Remember, sportsbooks are in business to make money. They make money by taking a small portion of each and every bet. How much a sportsbook keeps on each bet is determined by the odds. Let’s look at a few examples so that you understand juice in sports betting.

Juice & Odds

Juice is also called “vigorish” or “vig” and is basically the commission charged by a sportsbook for taking a wager. When you go to your sportsbook and see numbers like -110 or +105, these odds tell you exactly how much juice there is on a wager.

The most common odds on a point spread bet are -110. The -110 indicates that a bettor must wager $1.10 to earn $1.00. Take this example, for instance.

• Dallas Mavericks -3.5 (-110)
• LA Clippers +3.5 (-110)

The point spread is 3.5 and, on both sides of the bet, the odds are -110. Bettors will wager $1.10 to win $1.00, whether they bet on the Mavs or the Clippers. Now, the sportsbooks “wins” all of the losing bets, but it must pay the winners.

Let’s say Dallas wins by 4. All Mavs bettors get their $1.10 stake back plus $1.00. The $1.00 came from all the losers, but remember all the losers also bet $1.10. That extra 10 cents is the juice. That’s the part that the sportsbook keeps.

Juice on Moneylines

So, is there juice on moneyline bets? Of course there is. Remember, sportsbooks are in business to make money. Period. 

The gap between two moneylines is the juice. Here’s how that works. Let’s use a baseball example, since it is more of a moneyline sport. The Dodgers are playing the Giants.

• LA Dodgers -140
• SF Giants +120

It is common for sportsbooks to use 20-cent lines, which is the case in this example. Take the 140 minus 120 and you get a difference of 20. This isn’t always the case, but sportsbooks try and stay close to a 20-cent difference. 

Bettors can use the odds to find the implied probability of each team winning. In this case, the Dodgers probability of winning the game is 58.33 percent. The Giants have an implied probability of 45.45 percent. 

If you add those two together, you will get a number that is greater than 100 percent. In this case, that number is 103.78 percent. The extra 3.78 percent is the juice charged by the sportsbook.

Clean Sweep for SportsHub Cappers

You know who understands juice? SportsHub handicappers, that’s who. Our guys were at it once again. The top five handicappers on yesterday’s leaderboard are all Sports Hub exclusive cappers.

Al Grant was the man yesterday, leading the way with a perfect 3-0 mark on three picks and profits of $335. Sas Insider had a mediocre day, which in that case means the Insider only won $210. Uncle Sal was back in the Top 5 too.

Let’s take a look.

• Big Al: Al Grant nailed all three of his picks yesterday to take home $335. Al is now up $806 over the last seven days. Al knows juice. He hit on the Mariners at +115 and the Red Sox at +120.
• Uncle Sal: Sal Lombardi is back again. He went 8-5 yesterday and added $230 to the bankroll. Sal could teach us all a thing or two about juice.
• Kyle knows juice: Kyle Buchman also hit on the Red Sox yesterday at +115. That was one of his two picks yesterday – both cashed – and he took home $215. Kyle has hit 7 of his last 8 MLB picks.
• The Insider is still crushing it: Sas Insider had what would be considered an off day, going 11-8 on 19 picks. Sas Insider won $210, which brings the 30-day total to $6526. Outstanding!

• Tie for fifth: Three Sports Hub experts went 2-0 and earned $200 yesterday to take the fifth spot on the leaderboard. Evan Lewis, Sports Hub Insider, and Patrick Doyle took the fifth spot yesterday. Evan is up $500 over the last three days.

Injuries, Options, and More

MLB will lose another star for a significant amount of time. An NFL quarterback will not have the fifth-year option picked up on his rookie contract. A Philadelphia 76er not named Joel Embiid saved the day against the Knicks in Game 5.

Here’s what is trending in sports.

• No option for Wilson: The Denver Broncos will not pick up the fifth-year option on QB Zach Wilson’s contract. Wilson was acquired before the draft to compete with Jarrett Stidham for the Broncos starting QB job. Former Oregon QB Bo Nix will also compete for the job after being selected in the first round.
• Trout out: Angels star Mike Trout will miss a significant amount of time after it was revealed that he needs knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The surgery could happen this week and the best-case scenario is that Trout misses four to six weeks.

• Maxey scores 46: Tyrese Maxey pulled out all the stops and scored 46 points to lead Philadelphia to a 112-106 victory over the New York Knicks last night. The win keeps the Sixers alive as the series returns to the City of Brotherly Love for Game 6 on Thursday.

More Possible Elimination Games on the Schedule

One NBA playoff series and one NHL postseason series could come to their ends tonight. Bettors have plenty to choose from among the NBA and NHL playoffs and a full slate of MLB games.

Here’s what we have on Wednesday’s schedule.

1. NBA postseason: The Celtics-Heat series heads back to Boston for Game 5. Boston has held Miami under 90 points in each of the last two games. A win at TD Garden ends the series and puts Boston in the East semifinals. 
2. Oilers can advance: With a win over the Kings tonight, the Edmonton Oilers can move on to the Western Conference semifinals. Vegas plays at Dallas in Game 5 of their series which is tied at 2-2.
3. Kawhi out of Game 5 tonight: Dallas plays the Clippers in Los Angeles in Game 5 of their series which is tied at 2-2. Kawhi Leonard will not play due to a knee injury. For those keeping score, the Clippers have won both of the games that Leonard has not played in this series.

4. Baseball: St. Louis-Detroit and Tampa Bay-Milwaukee kick today off at 1:10 p.m. There are 15 games on the schedule, which ends at 9:40 p.m. with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in Arizona.
5. Soccer: You won’t find much top-tier soccer today, but there is a UEFA Champions League match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.
6. Tennis: The men’s quarterfinals at the Madrid Open are today. No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz plays today. The women’s quarterfinals also continue today. The WTA Tour is also in France at the L’Open 35 de Saint Malo and in Spain at the Catalonia Open.

That’s it for Wednesday, the first day of May. Hopefully, you understand juice and how it works. If not, keep coming back to Sports Hub for more great content on all things sports betting.