If you’re just getting into betting on sports you’ve probably seen the word “moneyline” pop up on your app. And if you’ve found yourself wondering what it actually means — good news: it’s one of the easiest types of bets to understand when sports betting in Iowa.
Let’s walk through what a moneyline bet is, how to read it in a sportsbook, and how to use it with teams you know — like the Iowa Hawkeyes or Iowa State Cyclones.
A moneyline bet is a wager on who will win the game. That’s it. No need to worry about how many points they win by — just pick the winner.
When you open up a sportsbook app like Fanatics Sportsbook, DraftKings, or bet365 in Iowa, and go to a game, you’ll see lines that look something like this:
| Iowa Hawkeyes | -160 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | +135 |
Here’s how to read it:
So if you bet on the Hawkeyes at -160, you’d need to bet $160 to win $100 in profit.
If you took the Cyclones at +135, a $100 bet would win you $135 in profit.
No spreads, no totals — just straight up “who wins?"
Most IA betting apps show the moneyline as the first option on a game listing. It’s usually in a row with the point spread and the over/under.
For example, here's something you'd see on FanDuel or DraftKings:
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
| Iowa | -1.5 | -135 | 0 39.5 |
| ISU | +1.5 | +125 | u 39.5 |
From there you can just tap the moneyline number next to the team you want, enter your bet amount, and place your bet.
Moneylines are a great starting point for new bettors for a few different reasons:
Yes, you can bet on moneylines when sports betting in Iowa.
Yes, you can mix moneylines with spreads, totals, or other moneylines across different games.
Yes — betting on Iowa or ISU is legal and allowed. One note is that Iowa law doesn’t allow prop bets on individual college athletes.
You'll notice the "-" sign, which means the favorite of a matchup, in front of sports betting odds on every Iowa sportsbook. If your favorite team has a minus sign in front of their moneyline odds to win, that means they're the favorite.
Author
Tyler Olson has lived most of his life in Iowa, working in sports media for over a decade, writing and editing primarily NFL, sports betting, and iGaming content. His primary focus is giving sports bettors the most up-to-date information on legal operators, sharing the latest promo code offerings and analyzing team and player odds bettors can place bets on.
