Betting Odds for the 2011 Oscars

Betting Odds for the 2011 Oscars

If you’re the type of person who bets on everything in order to “make it more interesting,” you should find this article about betting odds for the 2011 Oscars to be of interest. That’s right, folks, handicappers around the globe have examined the merits of everyone from Christian Bale to Natalie Portman, and now they’re ready to take your wagers.

Personally, I have no use for gambling, but the following odds do provide an interesting insight into who might come out on top during Oscar night. Oddsmakers approach their craft with a great deal of care (I always think of Robert De Niro from Casino), so you can rest assured that their picks are backed up by plenty of research.

In each category, I’ve listed the nominees in order of their odds. Those who are favored to win go on top, and those with the least chance go on the bottom. And just in case the plus and minus signs confuse you, here’s a simple explanation to keep in mind:

• A positive symbol indicates how much money will be won on a $100 bet. For example, +250 means that a $100 bet will win you $250.
• A negative symbol indicates the amount of money that needs to be wagered in order to win $100. For example, -1000 would mean that a gambler would need to wager $1000 just to see a return of $100.

Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s dive in and take a look at the betting odds for the 2011 Oscars:

2011 Academy Award for Best Picture

• The Kings Speech -1000
• The Social Network +250
• The Fighter +2500
• True Grit +2500
• 127 Hours +3000
• Black Swan +3000
• Inception +3000
• Toy Story 3 +5000
• The Kids Are Alright +5000
• Winters Bone +5000

2011 Academy Award for Best Actor

• Colin Firth (The Kings Speech) -2000
• James Franco (127 Hours) +800
• Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) +900
• Javier Bardem (Biutiful) +2000
• Jeff Bridges (True Grit) +2000

2011 Academy Award for Best Actress

• Natalie Portman (Black Swan) -1000
• Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) +300
• Jennifer Lawrence (Winters Bone) +1200
• Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) +2000
• Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) +3000

2011 Academy Award for Best Director

• Tom Hooper (The Kings Speech) -150
• David Fincher (The Social Network) -175
• Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) +1800
• David O Russell (The Fighter) +3000
• Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit) +3000

2011 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale (The Fighter) -1200
• Geoffrey Rush (The Kings Speech) +200
• Jeremy Renner (The Town) +2000
• John Hawkes (Winters Bone) +3000
• Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) +3000

2011 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

• Melissa Leo (The Fighter) -250
• Hailee Steinfeld (True Gift) +175
• Helena Bonham Carter (The Kings Speech) +400
• Amy Adams (The Fighter) +800
• Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) +1000

2011 Academy Awards Prop Bets

In addition to picking the specific winners in each category, many sportsbooks will let you make prop bets. These bets are all about predicting certain events. For example, prop bets during the Super Bowl might include how many touchdowns will be scored by a specific player or whether or not the opening kickoff will be run back for a touchdown.

When it comes to the 2011 Oscars, there are a trio of prop bets available (at least from the website I looked at):

• Who will a winner thank first in his or her acceptance speech: (a) God/family/Academy or (b) someone else?
• Will a winner cry during their acceptance speech?
• How long will the acceptance speech of various winners last?

When it comes to thanking God/family/Academy first, the winner of the 2011 Best Director Oscar is the least likely to do so according to the odds. As far as crying during their acceptance speech, the least likely candidates are the Best Director and Best Actor winners. Not surprisingly, those deemed most likely to weep come from the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. Let’s just hope we don’t get an anguished bout of crying like the one provided by Gwyneth Paltrow after winning for Shakespeare in Love.

That concludes our look at the betting odds for the 2011 Oscars. While I wouldn‘t encourage anyone to gamble with professional bookies, the list above still comes in handy for determining the current favorites. If you’re taking part in an Oscar pool with friends and/or co-workers, this might be your last chance to get a leg up on the competition. Of course, these numbers will change as the event draws closer and people place their wagers, so there’s no telling what they’ll finally look like. But you can be certain of one thing: the bookies will be the real winners at the end of the night.

• 2011 Oscar Predictions
• 10 Victims of the Oscar Curse
• Past Oscar Winners

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