Bettor up, Iowa.

Legal sports wagering is officially on its way to the Hawkeye State.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed legislation passed in late April to allow betting on select college, professional and fantasy sports games through Iowa's 19 casinos and other licensed national services starting before the fall football seasons. An exact start date has yet to be announced. The state will collect 6.75% in taxes on whatever is left over once bets have been settled.

Here's a breakdown of what you need to know as we figuratively get ready to play ball.

Where can I physically place bets?
Of-age gamblers (21 and older) from any state can place wagers in person at any of Iowa's 19 casinos that offer a sportsbook.

Casinos must pay a $45,000 licensing fee to offer sports wagering and then a $10,000 annual renewal fee. They must also submit plans for expansions or renovations to their property specific to sports wagering.

Some casinos are already laying the groundwork.

Prairie Meadows in Altoona has already completed the process, having unveiled its transformation of a fourth-floor horse racing simulcast area into a sportsbook and bar.

In Burlington, Catfish Bend Casino inked a partnership with Australian sports betting company PointsBet and is creating a 5,000-square-foot sportsbook as part of a renovation project.

Other establishments are in various stages of establishing third-party gaming relationships and obtaining licenses and will continue to do so over the next several months, according to Iowa Gaming Association president and CEO Wes Ehrecke.

"We were all unified on getting this passed, and their interest was unifying in offering (sports wagering) once it was passed," Ehrecke said. "I'm pretty confident in saying all our casinos have an interest in wanting to offer this to their patrons."

When can I start betting?
Everyone's still waiting on the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. 

The commission is tasked with governing this new arm of gambling in the state, and a draft of rules for the licensing process, the posting of odds and payouts, how money will flow through players' accounts and how information about problem gambling can be provided. Once the rules are drafted, they'll go through a public hearing before being officially approved, a process which commission members believe will be completed by mid-August.

"If everything goes smoothly, then I think it is reasonable to expect that bets will be taken before football season," commission administrator Brian Ohorilko told the Register.

Can I place bets with casinos online/with my phone?
In many cases, yes. For any casino that offers mobile wagering, gamblers can establish accounts online if they first visit an establishment in person to prove their age and identity. 

Through its partnership with William Hill, the nation's largest sportsbook operator, Prairie Meadows aims to have a working mobile app for wagering on the first day of legal betting, said Brad Rhines, the casino's senior vice president and chief strategic officer. 

In order to use a casino's mobile app, customers must first make a physical visit to the casino and establish their identity to be given a valid account.

To that end, the casino also plans to promote advanced sign-up periods for gamblers who will want to have the app pre-downloaded on their devices and ready for use on the first day of allowable wagering.

"We will be in a good position to be going right out of the gate," Rhines said, emphasizing that he doesn't anticipate issues, regardless of what the final rules set the state commission authorizes. "We're aiming to make things as streamlined as possible."

Among those streamlining steps involves the casino's hope to use an advanced-deposit wagering process, which the state has previously legalized for Prairie Meadows' thoroughbred races. Such a service would allow users to feed their accounts for remote betting without having to continually visit the casino. But again, those funding options will need to be approved as part of the commission's rules.

"I don't anticipate a plethora of restrictions, but I can't speak to them, either," Rhines said.

Once in use, the app will work anywhere in the state. It will not function outside of state borders, however, even in other states that may also have legalized sports wagering. Any transactions across state lines violates the Federal Wire Act.

What about daily fantasy sites, such as DraftKings and FanDuel?
These games would be legal under the current legislation. Online and mobile fantasy sports games will have the same 6.75% tax that regular casinos will take on as well.

Previously, Iowa was one of five states (along with Arizona, Louisiana, Montana and Washington) that had specific legislation banning games that involve any manner of chance.

What events can I bet on?
Generally speaking, many American professional and college sporting events should be available for wagering. Categories of events that have a blanket ban are high school, minor league and amateur sports.

From that starting point, it is up to individual oddsmakers which events they will offer for betting. Put simply, most any NFL game would be available for wagering, but a Grecian soccer match or even a college basketball game between Pepperdine and Portland might not be.

"(Sports books only) have so many resources, so they can only offer so many bets. So sometimes the books, they have to pick and choose what they offer," Ohorilko said. "Sometimes, unless it’s a major college game, sometimes the college games get left off. Or, they’re not left off, but there are betting limits to not expose too much risk."

Rhimes said at Prairie Meadows, William Hill's slate of available wagers will be as complete as is possible.

"You will see their full plate and offering" of wagers and legal prop bets, he said. "If somebody wants action on something that doesn't exist ... they'll look into it and could well place the bet."

What limits exist on in-game wagers?
Among the specific provisions in the bill passed by the Iowa Legislature and signed by Reynolds is that in-game proposition bets involving college players either on Iowa teams or teams competing against Iowa schools are prohibited.

But professional prop bets — such has how many points LeBron James might score in a game or how many catches Odell Beckham Jr. might make in a half — will all be fair game. And certain select college prop bets might be available, too, for non-Iowa athletes who might really move the needle.

At that point, interest is what will drive available wagers in a location that isn't Las Vegas.

"Just from a practical standpoint, the books still need to offer those wagers," Ohorilko said. "So it’s much more common for prop bets for individual performances to be offered for NFL teams, for NBA teams."

Why won't many of my bets offer 100% profit if I win? 
If you haven't bet (legally) before, know that in most cases you'll be putting up your own money from the start. Big-box outfits may offer you an introductory credit to make some initial bets, but you'll be bankrolling yourself over time.

Remember, too, that just because you place a bet on a team to win doesn't mean you'll collect the same amount of money if your bet is successful.

For example, if you bet $20 on Iowa to cover its line as a 5.5-point underdog in its football game against Wisconsin this year and were victorious, you won't suddenly find $20 of profit in your pocket. The standard practice is that a casino or bookmaker takes at least 10% of the bet as the vigorish, otherwise known as the "vig" or the "juice." That's the bookmaker's cut of allowing you to make the bet.

So that $20 bet would net you $38 on a 10% vigorish rate. Such arrangements are why a oddsmaker's general goal is to create a betting line that will theoretically split the betting room. That way, the sportsbook will be turning a profit, no matter the result.

Thus, because of the juice, bettors must cash at least 52.4% of their wagers (and not 50%) over time to break even.

Does legal sports betting change anything with my March Madness pools? 
Iowa maintains a somewhat archaic but useful provision in its code on "social gambling." The particulars dig deep into the weeds, but know that workplace pools for the NCAA men's basketball tournament remain allowable under state law, with the following provisions:

No participant wins or loses more than a total of $200 in one or more games at any time during any period of 24 consecutive hours.
No person including the one organizing the bracket shall receive a take from the monies collected.
All participants in the gambling are individuals, and no participant may participate as the agent of another person.
A social relationship must exist between all participants involved.
The game is conducted in a fair and honest manner.
There is no minimum age to participate.
From a technical standpoint, be sure that no participant in this pool lives outside of Iowa, for the same federal restrictions that limit a mobile app's geographical footprint also govern these monetary transfers. 

The Register's Stephen Gruber-Miller and Ian Richardson contributed to this report.

This article is a reprint from DesMoinesRegister.com.   To view the original story and comment, click here.