Glossary
No-vig odds
No-vig odds are prices with the sportsbook's margin mathematically removed, so the implied probabilities of all outcomes add up to exactly 100 percent. Stripping the vig reveals the market's honest estimate of each side's chances, which is the number you can compare against your own to judge value.
Every real price carries a hidden tax, the vig, which is why the implied probabilities of a market add up to more than 100 percent. No-vig odds are what you get after you scrub that overage out, leaving a clean estimate the market actually believes.
The idea is simple. Suppose both sides of a game are priced at -110. Each implies roughly 52.4 percent, and together they total about 104.8 percent. That extra 4.8 points is the margin. To find the no-vig number, you scale both probabilities down so they sum to exactly 100, which in this symmetric case lands each side at a fair 50 percent.
Why the fair number is useful
The point of stripping the vig is comparison. Your own read on a game is a probability, and you cannot fairly measure it against a price that still has the book's cut baked in. Once you remove the margin, you are comparing your estimate to the market's genuine estimate, apples to apples.
A tool, not a verdict
No-vig odds tell you what the market thinks, expressed cleanly. They do not tell you the market is right. The value of the exercise is that it gives you an honest baseline to disagree with.
For a lopsided game the math is the same, just uneven: you shrink each side proportionally until the two fair probabilities sum to 100 percent.