It's that time again, everyone: the 91st Academy Awards are upon us, and they'll take place on Sunday (February 24) at 8 p.m., airing, once again, on ABC. This has been a particularly bad year for the awards show, what with the Academy attempting to shear time off the broadcast or the total and utter failure on the behalf of the Academy to find a host for the show, so it's becoming clearer and clear that the purpose of the Oscars is less about honoring artistry and way more about ratings and, you guessed it, money. So let's treat this awards ceremony with the respect it deserves -- which is to say not very much if those who put it on this little for it -- and do a deep dive into the gambling prospects for this year's Oscars.
We've taken our odds from bwin, a U.K.-based online sportsbook, and they're just meant, mainly, to read the field, though we have included some advice if you'd like to place some bets. Don't try and do this at your local casino, as most casinos throughout the country are prohibited from gambling on non-sports events, especially those in Nevada (we're willing to wager that this will change as gambling laws become more liberal nationwide). We've got most of the major categories here (though a few we've left off simply because they're not as interesting gambling-wise), and we were a bit surprised by the odds here. It's not too far removed from joining your office Oscar pool, and you can win categories without having to worry about Dave, who somehow has seen all of the shorts, from totally wrecking the curve.
A quick explanation of the numbers: They're presented in what's called "American Odds," where the favorite is represented by a negative number and the underdogs are represented by positive (without any impact by a point spread), which is a bit weird if you haven't bet on anything before. It's very easy to understand, though: a negative number represents how much money you would have to bet in order to win $100, and a positive represents how much you would win on a $100 bet. So when bwin says that Spider-Verse is -2000 to win the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar, that means you'd have to bet two grand in order to win a cool Benjamin. If Isle of Dogs were to upset in that category and you bet $100 on it, you'd win $1200. The reason they feel comfortable offering those odds is that it's probably not going to, so always keep that in mind.
Hell, even if you don't bet, sportsbooks are a solid predictor of what's going to go down on Sunday night, given that those books really don't like to lose money. And with that, we'll head to the categories after a word from the patron saint of Oscar gambling, Oscar Gamble:
Here are the nominees:
Best Supporting Actor
The Favorite: Mahershala Ali, Green Book (-1429)
The Contenders: Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (+1000); Sam Elliott, A Star is Born (+1600)
The Long Shots: Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman (+4000); Sam Rockwell, Vice (+5000)
Advice: We know, we know: Our crush Mahershala Ali is going to run away with this category, given that he’s won every similar award from every other awards show out there in the world. Hell, he’ll probably win a goddamn Kid’s Choice Award later this year and get slimed on stage with Blake Griffin or something. This grinds our gears a bit, given how good that we thought Sam Elliott was in A Star is Born, and how sad it is that Ali’s getting an award for his (admittedly solid) work in what may be the worst movie he’s ever been in. But if there’s one man whose hope, optimism, and love for Barbra Streisand can potentially save this category from being totally boring, it’s Richard E. Grant, who has advocated for why he should win this award with only the help of a personally-operated Instagram account. We love you Mahershala, and we’re looking forward to you getting an Emmy this next year, but let’s give this one to Grant.
