vigorish

English

Etymology

From Yiddish וויגריש (vigrish), from Russian вы́игрыш (výigryš, “winnings”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

vigorish (countable and uncountable, plural vigorishes)

1. (uncountable, slang) A charge taken on bets, as by a bookie or gambling establishment.
   • 1984, John Patrick, Craps, →ISBN, page 11:

     The house sets vigs on any game they allow you to bet on. It is your responsibility to play only those games where the vig is not prohibitive. Let's take one more look at how vigorish works for the house.

   • 2009, Wayne L. Winston, Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics, page 256:

     The bookmaker's mean profit per dollar bet is called vigorish or “the vig.” In our example, 11 + 11 = $22 is bet, and the bookmaker wins $1 so the vig is 1/22 = 4.5%.

2. (uncountable, slang) The interest on a loan of money, especially for loans made by a usurer or loan shark.
   • 1976, “The Loan-Shark Racket”, in Ianni, Francis A. J., Reuss-Ianni, Elizabeth, editors, The Crime Society, page 217:

     His clients included wealthy women who possessed jewelry of great value, a fact which did not escape the loan shark. When it became apparent that the hairdresser could not meet his substantial vigorish payments, he was pressed into service as a "fingerman" for a burglary ring.

   • 2013, Harry Brooks, Everybody Does Business, →ISBN, page 356:

     They lend you a thousand and call it a bone. It cost a hundred a week vigorish to borrow the bone.

3. (countable, slang) An amount owed on account of or payment of a bookie's charge or of interest.
4. (slang) A commission or similar extra charge.
   • 1999, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit, published 2005, →ISBN, page 216:

     I was asking a man who had never bent a rule in his entire life to do it once. This wasn't Italy or France, where such miracles are possible with a little political vigorish. This was Switzerland, where nothing like this ever happens.

Synonyms

• (charge on bets): cut, house take, house cut, house advantage, juice, overround, rake, rake-off, vig
• (loan interest): vig, rake off, cut