Oscars Awards Betting Odds

A popular non-sporting event for betting within the TV and Specials Betting category at Sportsbooks is the Academy Awards, known more popularly as the Oscars. This annual awards show is designed to commemorate the best of the year’s achievements in filmmaking. 

With awards presentations and acceptance speeches from A-list actors, the Oscars are a festival of red carpet glamour and celebrity drama — we all remember Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, after all — and a casual wager only adds to the fun of the occasion. 

This article will look at some of the ways you can bet on the Academy Awards, and some things to keep in mind if you’re thinking of trying it out.

TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

It will be 10 years before we see Will Smith attend an Academy Awards ceremony again after the 'altercation' at the 94th Edition

Oscars Betting Key Dates

• General entry categories submission deadline: Tuesday, November 15, 2022
• Preliminary voting: Monday, December 12-15 2022
• Oscar Shortlists Announcement: Wednesday, December 21, 2022
• Nominations voting: January 12 -17, 2023
• Oscar Nominations Announcement: Tuesday, January 24, 2023
• Finals voting: Thursday, March 2 - 7, 2023
• 95th Oscars: Sunday, March 12, 2023

What is Betting on the Oscars?

Betting on the Oscars is just like betting on any other market or event, so sports bettors shouldn’t be too intimidated. There are a handful of categories, however, so it’s a good idea to acquaint yourself with the various categories, and who the nominees are each year.

How to Find Oscars Betting Odds

Most betting sites are focused on sports events of course, but things like Entertainment and TV and Political betting are becoming more and more popular but still require a little searching to find markets and odds. If available, you will usually find these odds in a 'Specials' category or 'Entertainment' somewhere in the menu between the various sports on offer.

How to Bet on the Oscars Awards

If you’ve bet on sports in the past, you can follow the same process to bet on the Oscars. Sportsbooks will often offer “Entertainment” or “Pop Culture” betting markets, so keep an eye out at sportsbooks which go above and beyond the world of sports. For instance, if a sportsbook offers bets on political races, there’s a better chance they’ll offer bets on the Oscars.

Things to Consider When Betting on the Oscars Awards 

1. Current Betting Odds
2. Entertainment and TV Betting News
3. Critical Reviews
4. Actor Popularity
5. Historical Results

Don’t know much about movies? No need to worry, we’re here to help! Here are a few basic things to keep in mind.

Betting Odds

Betting lines give you a pretty solid indication of who’s favoured to win at any given time, but also you should consider any movement in the odds too - IF a contender has had betting odds move from a + figure to Negative odds, then plainly they are either expected to have a high probability of winning or somewhere, a sportsbook has had a substantial bet made for that choice and had to shorten the betting odds accordingly

Favourites don’t always win at the Oscars, as we’ve discussed, but looking at the odds is still a good way to get a handle on the relative probabilities of the outcomes.

Entertainment and TV Betting News

Entertainment & TV betting news is always a good source of what's going on, critical acceptance and betting odds movement. From Top grossing film information which will play a part in what has been the most successful film of the year, to news on the eventual nominees for a category, each breaking piece of news information can see punters rushing to sportsbooks to get the best odds before the market moves.

Critical Reception

It’s a great idea to read pieces from mainstream arts and entertainment publications and newspapers in the lead-up to the show. Most will offer breakdowns and predictions of the Oscars, in addition to coverage and reviews of the movies themselves. Again, getting good press doesn’t guarantee an Oscar win, but movie journalists are in their jobs for a reason, and can provide some useful intel for aspiring bettors.

Actor Popularity & Oscar History

The Oscars isn’t a popularity contest per se — the awards are voted on by the members of the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — but there’s always an element of that going on. For instance, when Leonardo DiCaprio finally won, many observers suggested that the voters had simply considered the beloved actor to be overdue for an Oscar. 

Some actors have also won the award more than once, like Daniel Day-Lewis, which you could take as an indication that the Academy members are, at the very least, willing to vote for them.

Oscars Awards Betting Markets

There are currently 24 Active categories for which Oscars can be won at the Academy Awards - betting may not be available for some, although most are often featured at some point in sportsbooks betting.

The table below shows which are the most popular and odds most easily found.

Best Picture 

In this betting market, you’ll be wagering on which film is going to win the overall Best Picture award for the year. This is the most prestigious award that gets given out on Oscar night, so it will be one of the biggest betting markets. The 2022 winner was CODA, and its fellow nominees included Power of the Dog and West Side Story. CODA broke the mould somewhat, with no A-list actors in its cast, and a relatively unimpressive critical reception. 

By IMP Awards / 2021 Movie Poster Gallery / CODA Poster, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68035183

Best Picture winners are tough to predict — there have been a few outside winners, like Moonlight, in the recent past — all you can do is see what critics and audiences alike are saying in the immediate buildup to the event, and make an informed guess.

95th Academy Awards Nominees and Betting Odds

Nominees and betting odds will appear when they become available

Best Actor & Actress

The “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” awards, given out separately as two different categories, aims to recognize the best individual performance from a male and female performer in a leading role, respectively, in a feature film that year. This is one of the categories that often gets the most media attention, since it pits major celebrities against each other. Film production studios will campaign hard for their actors and actresses, building “Oscar buzz” for months ahead of time, in the hopes of adding to their film’s credentials. 

Last year, Will Smith won (amid controversy) for his role in the biopic King Richard, while Jessica Chastain took home best actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Both Smith and Chastain were front-runners in the build-up to the 2022 Oscars, but this doesn’t always mean much. The category often includes as many as 3 “favourites,” alongside 1 or 2 outside candidates.

95th Academy Awards Best Actor Nominees and Betting Odds

Nominees and betting odds will appear when they become available

95th Academy Awards Best Actress Nominees and Betting Odds

Nominees and betting odds will appear when they become available

Best Supporting Actor & Actress 

This category aims to recognize performances from actors and actresses who shine in lesser roles. You might not see as much betting buzz around this category, but it’s still going to be available at some operators. This category is often even less predictable, with younger and less well-known actors and actresses more likely to take home the award, like the South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung, who won for Minari in 2021, despite being relatively unknown in the United States prior to her win.

95th Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Nominees and Betting Odds

Nominees and betting odds will appear when they become available

95th Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominees and Betting Odds

Nominees and betting odds will appear when they become available

Best Director

The Best Director seeks to recognize particular achievements in the practice of filmmaking by honouring individual directors. This is the last of the headline-grabbing categories that might be available for wagering at entertainment-oriented operators. Most recently, Jane Campion won the award for Power of the Dog. Other winners will include such famous names as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Steven Spielberg. This award is often linked to the outcome of Best Picture: 88 movies that have won Best Picture have had their director nominated for Best Director, with the director winning 67 of those 88 times.

95th Academy Awards Best Director Nominees and Betting Odds

Nominees and betting odds will appear when they become available

Notable Canadian Performances in Betting Categories

At the time of writing ahead of the 95th edition, Canada can lay claim to some 87 Academy Awards from 359 Nominations to date, here are the most notable Nominations and winners starting with Actresses in leading roles

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

From Walter Huston in 1936 and 1941 through to Ryan Gosling in 2006 and again in 2016, there have been just 5 Canadian actors nominated over 7 individual years, without producing a winner yet.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

We have to go all the way back to 1930-31 for the last Canadian winner in this category when Marie Dressier won for her part in Min and Bill and shared the award with former winner Norma Shearer for A Free Soul. She became only the third winner since Norma Shearer and Mary Pickford before her.

Since then, there have been just 6 nominations, the last being Geneviève Bujold in 1969 - However, the records have been changed somewhat to include Elliot Page who was nominated in the Actor category in 2007, but being since coming out as transgender is now listed in the actress category.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

gdcgraphics, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Three winners in the best Supporting actor category, the first pair being Harold Russell in 1946, quickly followed by Walter Huston in 1948

Christopher Plummer gained nominations in 2009, 2011, and 2017, winning in 2011 for his supporting role in Beginners

In his win in 2011, he became the oldest Canadian Actor to win an Oscar in this category at the ripe old age of 87

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Just the one winner for Canada here with Anna Paquin in 1993 for her role in The Piano, she became the youngest Candian to win an acting Oscar at age 11, and the second youngest winner in Oscar history

The last nomination Canada has received in this category is Rachel McAdam for Spotlight

Best Director

Angela George [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

There have been a total of 14 nominations for Canadian directors over the history of the Academy Awards and just one winner; James Cameron in 1997 for Titanic. The same year Atom Egoyan received a nomination for The Sweet Hereafter

Cameron was nominated once again in 2009 for Avatar but failed to pick up the award that went to Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire