Handle and Hold: How a Sportsbook's Takings Are Measured

Handle is the total amount of money wagered with a sportsbook over a period. Hold is the portion of that money the sportsbook keeps after paying out winning bets, and the hold percentage is that amount divided by the handle. If customers stake 1,000,000 in a month and the book pays back 930,000, the hold is 70,000, or 7% of handle. These two numbers appear in industry reports and regulator releases, and they say a lot about how much betting costs the people doing it.

Handle: the money that goes in

Handle counts every stake placed, whether the bet wins or loses. It is a measure of activity, not of what bettors have lost. One person who stakes 50 on ten games in a weekend adds 500 to the handle, even if they finish the weekend only slightly down.

Recycling is the key point. When winnings are re-staked, the same money passes through the handle again and again. A modest bankroll can generate a handle many times its size over a season.

Hold: the money that stays

Hold is the sportsbook's gross win before costs such as staff, technology, marketing and taxes. It changes from week to week depending on results. A string of favourites winning, or a popular parlay landing, can push hold down for a period. A run of upsets can push it up.

Working out hold percentage

1. Add up all stakes over the period: that is the handle.
2. Add up everything paid back to winning bettors, including returned stakes.
3. Subtract the payouts from the handle to get the hold.
4. Divide the hold by the handle and multiply by 100.

Hold and the vig: related, not identical

The vig is the margin built into a single price before the event, explained in our guide to the vig in sports betting. Hold is what actually happened across thousands of bets after the results came in.

Over long periods, hold tends to reflect the margins on the markets customers prefer. If many bettors favour markets with wide margins, hold rises.

Why hold varies between bet types

• Straight bets on main markets usually carry the thinnest margins.
• Parlays and same-game combinations stack the margin of every leg, so they generally return a higher hold. The teaser bet is one multi-leg format worth understanding in this light.
• Props and novelty markets are harder to price and often carry wider cushions.
• Live betting involves fast price changes and frequent re-betting, which raises handle and can affect hold.

What handle and hold mean for a bettor

Seen from the customer's side, hold percentage is roughly the average share of each stake that ends up with the operator. A few things follow:

1. Your own "personal hold" is your net loss divided by your total stakes. Tracking both numbers for a month gives a clear picture of what the hobby costs.
2. Turnover matters more than any single bet. Many small bets add up to a large handle, and the house share is charged on all of it.
3. Short-term swings are normal. A winning month does not mean the share has changed; the law of large numbers, covered in our article on gambler's ruin, pulls results back over time.

Hold in casinos

Casinos use similar terms. For table games, hold is often measured against the chips bought at the table, called the drop, rather than the total wagered, which is why casino hold figures can look very different from house edge figures. For slots, the comparable measure is the share of coin-in that is not returned, which over time tracks the games' return-to-player settings.

Frequently asked questions

Is a high hold bad for bettors?

It means bettors as a group lost a larger share of what they staked. A market or product with a consistently high hold is an expensive place to bet.

Where are handle and hold figures published?

In many regulated markets, gaming regulators publish monthly figures by operator or by region. The level of detail varies by jurisdiction.

Knowing the handle and hold of your own betting is one of the simplest ways to see its real price. Wagering is for adults only and the rules differ from place to place, so look up what applies to you and keep track of every stake, not just the winners.