How to Bet on the Oscars

The Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars, is held annually and sees the elite of the film industry gather together in celebration of the big screens previous twelve months.

From the red carpet, to the glitz, glamour, and sometimes ridiculous outfits, this is Hollywood’s finest all out for a good time and hoping to win one of the many Oscar awards on offer.

The Oscars – A Brief History

The Oscars are actually the Academy Awards, first held in 1929, and are a celebration of the best movies to make it to the big screen in the last year.

Each winner receives an Academy Award of Merit, otherwise known as the Oscar Statuette, which is a 34.3cm tall gold-plated Knight depicted holding a sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. These spokes represent actors, directors, producers, writers, and technicians.

The Oscars – Awards

There are twenty-four awards given out during the Academy Awards ceremony, honouring the best of the film industry from the writers, directors, and actors down to the make-up artists and visual effects people.

Obviously, there are some awards more famous than others and the biggest awards given out at the Oscars include:

• Best Picture
• Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Best Actress in a Leading Role
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Best Director
• Best Cinematography
• Best Writer for an Adapted Screenplay
• Best Writer for an Original Screenplay
• Best Animated Feature Film
• Best Original Score
• Best Original Song

Oscars Betting Markets

There are usually several betting markets available for the Oscars, ranging from the usual outright winner markets to special markets allowing punters the chance to bet on someone dropping an award or saying a certain line during an acceptance speech.

The most popular betting markets are usually:

• Outright Winner – This market allows punters the chance to bet on who will win a certain award and these markets are usually available for almost every award being given out at the ceremony.
• Over/Under – Where a film is nominated for several awards in different categories, the bookmaker will usually offer an over/under market and the punter bets on whether that movie will win more or less awards than a set number.
• Head to Head Bets – These are usually markets offered where the punter bets on which movie will win the most awards out of two possible selections.
• Special Bets – These bets can include some ridiculous betting markets, such as brand of dress worn by the winner of the best actress award, first recently deceased celebrity to feature in the memorial film sequence, and which celeb the host will take a selfie with first. These markets can be bizarre but always offer punters great fun.

Betting on the Oscars

When betting on the Oscars it’s probably best to stick to the more well known categories, although these are still difficult to predict. We do have some tips on how to be able to make an informed decision when betting on the Oscars, and how to give yourself the best chance of making a profit.

Previous Award Ceremonies

Take note of the awards ceremonies which precede the Oscars, namely the Critics Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild’s Awards, as history has shown that winners from these two awards do often go on to win an Oscar.

In fact, 90% of best actor winners at the Critics Choice Awards since 1998 have gone on to win the best actor Oscar in the same year. At the same awards, 74% of winners of best actor, best actress, best picture, and best director have gone on to win the Oscar shortly after.

From the Screen Actors Guild’s Awards, we can note that 75% of best actress awards in the last twenty years have been given to the same actress who then goes on to win the Oscar.

Another awards ceremony to pay attention to is the Golden Globes, although only 56% of winners have then won an Oscar in the past two decades.

Current Affairs

Hollywood loves a message and that is why recent world events or social media movements can have a big impact on who wins certain awards.

For example, during 2017 there was a social media movement that allowed women who had been sexually exploited to stand up and #metoo. This indicated female empowerment and the Oscars panel obviously took this into consideration when “The Shape of Water”, a film with a powerful female lead, was named best picture during the 2018 awards ceremony.

Some say this was coincidence, but it was the first time a film with a female lead had won best picture since “Million Dollar Baby” in 2004.

Similarly, the year before a film called “Moonlight” won best picture despite another film being declared the winner and then it being corrected a few minutes later. Moonlight made history by becoming the first film with an all-black cast and the first LGBT film to win the best picture Oscar.

What is strange about this is the fact that Hollywood was criticised a year before for the lack of nominees from ethnic or minority backgrounds. Again, current affairs not only had an impact on the nominations but also on who won the awards.
Shop Around

Our last piece advice for betting on the Oscars is to shop around, find the best odds available and also take advantage of some of the more bizarre special bets available.