Oscars Betting
The world is captivated by the glitz and glamour of the Oscars every year – but very few of us put our movie knowledge to the test and try out Oscars betting on the eve of the ceremony.
The Oscars – also known as the Academy Awards – mark the high point of the movie industry’s “awards season” and to land a golden gong here is to immortalise your status among the greats.
The likes of Michelle Pfeiffer, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Laura Linney, Sigourney Weaver and Edward Norton have all been nominated for Oscars but never won one. How Dustin Hoffman won Best Actor Oscars for Kramer vs Kramer and Rain Man, and not The Graduate or Midnight Cowboy, is beyond us.
There is not always a clear favourite to win the big Oscars gongs like Best Actor and Best Actress. But there is an Oscar betting odds market for them. Here at Bet UK you can wager on the biggest awards at the Oscars each year – and we’re here to explain how it all works.
How to bet on the Oscars
Sign up to Bet UK and make a deposit before heading over to the Oscars betting page in our sportsbook to place a wager on the night. You can back nominees to win in a range of categories. Simply click on the odds you want to back, enter your stake in the bet slip, and hit Place Bet to complete the process.
Here are just a few of the Oscars betting markets available:
- Best Actor
- Best Actress
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- Best Cinematography
- Best International Feature Film
Best Oscars betting markets
Betting on the Oscars usually centres around the big awards, such as Best Actress and Best Picture. These are the headline awards that transform movie stars into global sensations. And so it’s no wonder that us, as bettors, want to wager on these gongs. But awards aren’t the only thing you can bet on at the Oscars. There are plenty of weird and wonderful things going on in Los Angeles on awards night, and controversies such as Will Smith’s slap cannot be predicted.
So, here are some of the best Oscars betting markets you might not have considered…
Nationality of Actors and Actresses
It can be possible to wager on the nationality of the Best Actor and Best Actress category. This is great if you’re in the UK and Oscar betting, and want to support your favourite home movie stars against the Americans. Just one Brit (Olivia Coleman) has won the Academy Award For Best Actress since 2010. Anthony Hopkins was the last man to win the Best Actor award for his role in The Father in 2020.
Movie totals
If there’s a big movie that is set to dominate the Oscars then you might be able to wager on how many awards that film will pick up. Ben-our, Titanic and Lord of the Rings each earned a record 11 awards. Successful films should get five or more, and so it's worth keeping an eye on the sportsbook to see if there's an over/unders market.
What are they wearing?
You can bet on the colour tie the next US president will wear at their inauguration. You used to be able to bet on the hat the Queen would wear as Ascot. So why not wager on the clothes the film stars will wear in LA?
Smart Oscar bets
While novelty bets can make the Oscars fun to watch, it’s all about maximising your chances of winning big. And therefore it’s worth looking at smart bet options, and focusing on the big awards like Best Actress and Best Cinematography.
But the problem with the big awards is that they’re heavily publicised. It means we might already know who is the dead-cert a week before the stars hit the red carpet. This leaves you with a dilemma. Do you risk a short-odds wager that might turn out wrong, or ignore the market altogether?
Here are some smart Oscar bet options to consider…
Back the favourite – In reality there are very few shocks at the Oscars. The favourite should be known within a month or two of the awards, and you can generally track how likely a movie is to win Best Picture by their prowess in other awards earlier in the night. Backing the favourite has shorter odds but a far greater chance of winning.
Look internationally – International movies fare well at the Oscars, just look at Parasite in 2020. It’s only recently that the Academy has started taking international movies seriously, but they’re now a common pick.
Don’t be snobbish – The Oscars are not the BAFTAs or the Writers Guild of America Awards. There’s always a chance a more mainstream, less “literary”, movie wins at the Oscars. The Academy Awards are more welcoming of blockbusters. And so it’s time to shed your preconceptions about superhero movies or kids mega films, and bet on what you think the judges will like, not necessarily you.
Judge the career arc – Leonardo DiCaprio required four goes before finally being recognised with an actor gong at the Oscars. He was denied Best Supporting Actor for What's Eating Gilbert Grape in 1994, then was nominated for Best Actor for The Aviator (2005), Blood Diamond (2007) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2014). He didn't win. Only in 2016 did DiCaprio finally get his Oscar for the main role in The Revenant. This can happen. The Academy can wait years to give an actor or actress an award they arguably should have earned a decade or two before. So bear that in mind when betting on the Oscars. If there's a nominee who has been there time and time again, perhaps this will be their year.
Remember, you don’t need to see the movies to bet on the Oscars. In fact, if anything watching the films could affect your judgement in a bad way. Bettors need to think about what the judges and the media will like, not themselves. There’s no room for personal preference here!
Oscars FAQs
Can you bet on the Oscars?
Yes. You can bet on the Oscars odds right here at Bet UK and get access to the top markets, such as: Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Actor.
How to bet on the Oscars?
You can bet on the Oscars by joining Bet UK and heading to our sportsbook. Check out the latest odds on awards such as Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Actor today!
