Definition of vigorish

[deepsouth]

Please help settle a little debate in antoher discussion group concerning the defintion of "vigorish" ...

I say vigorish is calculated based on the difference between the actual payouts and odds of 1:1 (on straight bets), 3:1 (2-team parlays), 7:1 (3-team parlays), and so on. So for straight bets at 10:11, it's either 1/10 = 10% or 1/21 = 4.76% or something like that.

Someone else is saying that "vigorish consists of the amount by which the stake exceeds the expected payout using "true" odds", and so "the vigorish will also vary with the player's ability to pick winners."

I had always assumed it was as I have described, but perhaps this is not the case. Is there a commonly accepted definition?

[rabbit]

Whew! I thought for a minute you were going to ask “Who pays the vig?”. That question, inspired by former Hee-Haw-Girl auditioner J.R. Miller, was the subject of a seemingly unending thread not long ago.

Regarding your definition of what vig is, I like it.