Every sportsbook price has a fee built into it. You never see it as a line item, but it's there on every bet, and over hundreds of bets it decides more of your results than almost anything else. That fee is called the hold (or the vig, or the juice).
Where the hold comes from
Take a prop priced at -110 on both sides. A -110 bet needs to win 52.4% of the time to break even. Both sides can't be 52.4% likely; they have to add up to 100%. Instead they add up to 104.8%.
That extra 4.8% is the book's margin. If equal money came in on both sides, the book would pay out less than it took in, whichever side won.
How to calculate it
- Turn each price into an implied probability. For negative odds, it's odds ÷ (odds + 100), ignoring the minus sign: -110 → 110 ÷ 210 = 52.38%. For positive odds, it's 100 ÷ (odds + 100): +120 → 100 ÷ 220 = 45.45%.
- Add the two sides together. -110 / -110 → 104.76%.
- Hold = 1 − (1 ÷ that total). 1 − (1 ÷ 1.0476) = 4.55%.
That last step is the share of the total money bet that the book expects to keep on a balanced market. The hold calculator does all three steps for any two prices.
What normal looks like
| Prices | Total implied | Hold |
|---|---|---|
| -105 / -105 | 102.4% | 2.4% |
| -110 / -110 | 104.8% | 4.5% |
| -115 / -115 | 107.0% | 6.5% |
| -120 / -120 | 109.1% | 8.3% |
| -140 / +110 | 105.9% | 5.6% |
Main-market sides and totals at the big books usually sit around 4–5%. Player props run higher, often 6–9%, and alternate lines higher still. Props are harder for books to price and less heavily bet, so they charge more for taking the risk.
Why it matters more than it looks
A 4.5% hold means the average bettor loses about 4.5 cents of every dollar bet over time. On -120 / -120 it's 8.3 cents, nearly double. If you bet $50 a prop and place 400 bets a season, the difference between those two markets is around $760 in expected cost before you've made a single good decision.
That's also why a small edge is so hard to keep. If you think a side is 55% likely, you have a real edge at -110 (break-even 52.4%) and almost none at -120 (break-even 54.5%).
How to bet into less of it
Shop the line. Books rarely agree on props. One may have the over at -125 while another has it at -105. Taking the best price on each side you bet is the simplest way to cut what you pay. Line shopping covers how.
Strip the hold before judging a price. The two prices tell you the book's real estimate only after the margin is removed. The no-vig calculator splits it out so you can see the fair probability underneath, and the EV calculator tells you whether a price beats it.
Know what pick'em apps charge. Apps like PrizePicks don't show a price, but their payouts carry a margin too. A 2-pick Power Play pays 3×, which needs each pick to win about 57.7% of the time. That's the same as betting at about -136, a heavier charge than most sportsbook props. The DFS payout calculator shows the break-even for every entry.
The short version
Hold is the price of placing a bet. You can't avoid it, but you can choose to pay less of it: compare books, favor markets near -110, and check the break-even before you bet.