Vig
Vig is short for vigorish, the commission the house takes from a game. In poker, the vig is the rake taken from each pot or the time fee, since the house does not play in the hand.
The simple explanation
The casino or site needs money to run the game, so it takes a small share. The player pays it indirectly out of the pots. Because of the vig, poker is not a zero-sum game for the players: the total of their results is slightly negative.
A closer look
Vigorish is a word from betting. In poker rooms, you see rake, time charges or tournament fees, which are all forms of the vig. The size matters for strategy: high rake in small games can take a large share of the profit, and the best games are those where the rake is limited. Tournament fees are the same: a $100 entry with a $10 fee has a fee of 10 percent of the buy-in.
A practical example
A tournament costs $100 + $10. The $10 fee is the vig, and the $100 goes into the prize pool.
Full explanation
Vig is short for vigorish, the commission the house takes from a game. In poker, the vig is the rake taken from each pot or the time fee, since the house does not play in the hand.
Vig is another name for the rake or fee that the house collects.
It comes from the word vigorish.
It makes poker a negative-sum game for the players as a group.
Rake caps limit the vig in big pots.