Vigurish

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The percentage fee a bookmaker or gambling operator keeps from bets placed with them, built into the odds
2. The cut a bookie or casino takes from wagers, which gives the house its long-run profit over gamblers
3. A commission deducted from stakes by a betting firm as its guaranteed margin on every wager placed

Etymology: Vigorish is American gambling slang for the commission a bookmaker takes on bets, the margin built into the odds. The word is Yiddish in origin, from Russian "vyigrysh" meaning "winnings," itself from "vyigrat'," "to win." Yiddish speakers in America adopted it and gave it a more pointed sense: the bookie's cut, which is always taken from the losers, so the house wins by design. The surprise is that the word has no connection to a vigor or energy, despite its look. Its sound resembles "vigor," and folk etymologies sometimes link the two, but the path runs through Russian commerce and Yiddish, not Latin "vigor." Its meaning has shifted from the winnings themselves to the operator's fee, a reversal that makes sense once you see that the bookmaker's profit is a fixed deduction rather than a share of a lucky streak.

Synonyms: vig, juice