With the college football season coming to an end with March Madness 2024, now’s the perfect time to dive into the next sport on the calendar: basketball.
Like with football, Iowa offers a wide range of basketball bets, and if you know what you’re doing, you can find good odds for Iowa basketball betting, including the Iowa vs. Iowa State basketball betting line on Dec. 8, other Iowa and Iowa State basketball betting lines during the season and NBA action.
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Whether you prefer college basketball or NBA action for your Iowa basketball betting, you’ll have plenty of options to find winners on both Iowa teams and teams who play outside Hawkeye State. Here are a few things that you need to know before you start placing your wagers!
How Can I Bet on Basketball in Iowa?
Iowa basketball betting has never been easier, as you can sign up for a sportsbook account from the privacy of your own home. Prior to 2021, you had to visit a brick-and-mortar casino in Iowa to sign up, but now, that’s no longer required.
If you’re looking for an easy way to get the most out of Iowa basketball betting, ClutchBuzz Sportsbook offers some of the best basketball betting in Hawkeye State.
Once you register for a username and password, you’ll have your account verified to prove that you live in Iowa, in accordance with state law. As soon as the sportsbook confirms your identity and residence, all you have to do is make your deposit and you’ll be ready to place your first bet.
At ClutchBuzz Sportsbook, you’ll find the best lines for Iowa State basketball betting, Hawkeyes action, Northern Iowa, Drake, the NBA and more.
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When the Hawkeyes or Cyclones are playing, you’ll sometimes get a bonus for a bet on the local team; ClutchBuzz Sportsbook knows how passionate Iowa and Iowa State fans are and is happy to give out the best odds on a victory for the local teams.
What Kind Of Wagers Are Available for Iowa Basketball Betting?
When you make a wager with ClutchBuzz Sportsbook, you’ll have plenty of ways to make plays on different games. Here are just a few of the most popular ways for you to make bets on basketball!
Point Spread
This is one of the most popular ways for bettors to wager on basketball because it offers reasonable action on every available matchup. Let’s say that Iowa is facing off against Eastern Illinois at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Obviously, the Hawkeyes are probably going to win that game without too much trouble, and the sportsbooks know it. To make the bet worthwhile for both sides, the sportsbook will offer a prediction on how much it thinks the favored team will win by and allow you to bet with that handicap.
Using the example of Iowa against Eastern Illinois, a sportsbook might favor Iowa by 33.5 points. If you were to bet on the Hawkeyes in that scenario, they’d need to win the game by at least 34 points for you to win your bet.
Or, if you think that’s too many points, you could bet on Eastern Illinois +33.5, where you would win as long as Iowa doesn’t win by more than 33 points. The point spread is designed to make it equally likely for a wager on either team to win, so it’s really a matter of trusting your own intuition and knowledge to decide if a point spread wager is right for you.
Moneyline
If you’re new to sports betting and just want to play to have fun, this is a good place to start. A moneyline bet is a simple win-or-lose bet on the outcome of the game. If you pick the winning team, you win your bet. In case you don’t, you lose.
Players who don’t want to risk a lot or aren’t very experienced like taking moneyline bets because they don’t have to worry about a spread or figuring out a number that their team has to win or lose by. It’s easy to understand; anyone can figure it out.
But with that simplicity comes a price: the money you win from betting on a favorite isn’t going to be very high. If the Minnesota Timberwolves are favored to beat the Detroit Pistons by seven points, you might only get odds of -300 for your bet on the Timberwolves to win. This means that for every $30 you bet on Minnesota, you would only win back $10 in profit if the Timberwolves were successful.
Obviously, that’s not a great way to make money, so more experienced bettors usually only play moneyline when they’re taking the underdog. When you take an underdog, you’ll see odds with a + next to the number, such as getting +250 to take Iowa State against Texas.
In that scenario, making a $10 bet on Iowa State would return $25 in profit if the Cyclones win the game. These bets aren’t easy to hit, but when you do cash one, the rewards are well worth it.
Totals
When a team plays as fast as Iowa does, there’s usually going to be a lot of points scored. Savvy Iowa basketball betting experts have made plenty of winning bets on Hawkeye games on the total, which is the combined score of both teams for the game.
You can bet on the final score to either be over or under the total, depending on how fast you think the game will be played, how well both teams will shoot and how much defense will be played.
Depending on whether you’re betting on college basketball or the NBA, the number for the total will be wildly different. Most college basketball will have a total of somewhere around 140 points, while NBA games have a total of around 220 points.
One thing to remember with total bets: overtime counts. If the game goes into overtime, any points scored in the extra session count toward the final total.
If you only trust one team to play a certain way, you can also bet a team total. This bet only applies to one team, so you don’t have to worry about the other team’s offense. This can be a good bet to make when you feel good about one team’s number but think the other is a wild card.
Parlays
Sometimes, you have a really good feeling about more than one game, and you’d like to try to win more for your money. Parlays are a great way to do that because you’re combining multiple games into one bet.
When you bet a parlay, you’re getting a higher payout for your bet because you only win money if all of your bets win. If even one of your selections loses, your entire bet loses.
Parlays can be a good way to make extra money on one bet, but be aware of the risk that you’re taking when you play one. They’re difficult to hit and shouldn’t be your main choice for action.
Teasers and Pleasers
Teasers and pleasers are similar to parlays, except you’re moving the line to change the odds. With a teaser, you’re moving the odds in your favor by getting more points. Let’s say that you see Iowa favored by 5.5 against Minnesota, Iowa State as a 6.5-point underdog to Kansas, and the Chicago Bulls as an 8.5-point underdog against the Milwaukee Bucks.
If you play this as a 5-point teaser, Iowa would only have to win by 1 point, Iowa State could lose by 11 or less and the Bulls could lose by 13 and you’d still win. However, because you’re moving the odds in your favor, your payout won’t be as high as a parlay.
Pleasers are the opposite of teasers: you’re moving the odds against you. This is done when you think the lines are significantly off and you want to be bolder. Using the three games above as a five-point pleaser, Iowa would have to win by 11, Iowa State could lose by no more than 1 and the Bulls would have to stay within three points. Because you’re making a bolder play, you’ll get a bigger payout if you’re correct.
Round Robins
Round robins are an important part of Iowa basketball betting strategy because they can keep parlays alive in the event that one of them loses. A round robin basically splits your parlay into smaller parlays, giving you an opportunity to win multiple bets in the event that you get a game wrong.
For example, if you play a round-robin of twos with Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and the Bulls, you’ll actually make six different parlay bets.
If your bet on Northern Iowa falls short, you can still win the other bets and come out with more wins than losses. Given how rough a parlay loss is when you lose the first game, this can help keep things interesting.
Which Bets are Best for Beginners?
If you’re new to Iowa basketball betting, you should stick to spreads, totals and moneyline bets until you get comfortable.
Picking a winning bet is not easy, and it’s best to try to figure out only one game at a time until you feel like you understand basketball well enough to make smart picks each time.
How Do You Read Iowa Basketball Betting Lines?
When you place a bet, you’ll see different values for your bet with either a minus or a plus attached to them. This tells you how risky your bet is and how much you’ll win if you’re successful.
A minus number means that this is the amount you need to bet to win $100, while a plus number tells you how much profit you’d make if you bet $100. The higher the minus number is, the less risky your bet is considered to be.
The most common number is -110, as this allows the sportsbook to take a small profit on your odds. This is one reason why sports betting is difficult to win in the long run: you’re not winning even money on every bet you make.
How Are Iowa Prop Bets Different Between College and NBA Basketball?
If you’re an avid player of fantasy basketball, you might be wondering if you can use that knowledge for your Iowa basketball betting strategy. If you’re wagering on NBA games, you can do exactly that, but you won’t have that option for college basketball betting.
That’s because Iowa law does not allow for individual prop betting on college athletics, as the state didn’t want to risk the possibility of athletes getting paid to fix bets on their stats.
So, for example, if you want to try to bet on how many rebounds Kris Murray might get when you consider Iowa vs. Iowa State basketball betting, don’t bother. You won’t be able to place that bet in Iowa.
You can, however, make bets on team prop plays on Iowa, Iowa State and other college teams. For example, if your Iowa basketball betting strategy includes betting on the Cyclones to score a high number of points, you’ll be able to make that wager.
In the NBA, there are no such restrictions. If you see Anthony Edwards having a big game and scoring 30 points in the Minnesota Timberwolves next game, you can place that bet.
In most NBA games, you can bet on how many assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, and more for any player who’s likely to play significant minutes.
Once you start betting at ClutchBuzz Sportsbook, you’ll find an abundance of prop bets available on NBA games, as well as the standard spreads, totals, and other options.
Who Are the Best NBA Players from Iowa?
Right now, there are seven NBA players who went to either Iowa, Iowa State, or Northern Iowa. Plus, you can check here the 10 best players from Iowa ever in the NBA. Ex-Hawkeyes in the league include Luka Garza of the Timberwolves and Keegan Murray of the Kings.
Iowa State currently boasts four ex-players in Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers, Talen Horton-Tucker of the Jazz, Monte Morris of the Wizards and Georges Niang of the 76ers. Northern Iowa’s lone representative is A.J. Green of the Bucks.
Beyond them, Harrison Barnes of the Kings and Doug McDermott of the Spurs played their high school basketball in Iowa and are products of the state, even though they went elsewhere for college.
What Else Should You Know About Iowa Basketball Betting?
Above all, you should know that sports betting is supposed to be fun. You should never bet more than you can afford to lose, and you should always make sure that you’re making bets that you want to make.
Whether you want to consider an Iowa vs. Iowa State basketball betting line or you’re more into betting on the NBA, there are plenty of great options for you to make the most of your Iowa basketball betting strategies.
Credits on Featured Image: Image by master1305 on Freepik
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