Betting on the 2020 Oscars

Long gone are the days when betting was all about sports. Any major event is now a good opportunity for punters to try their luck and the Oscars make no exception. Actually, betting on the Academy Awards is getting more popular with each year that passes thanks to all the attention it gets in international media. With 24 Oscars to be won at the next edition taking place on the 9th of February 2020, betting enthusiasts have plenty to choose from. And while most of the public attention goes towards the Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in Leading Role categories, there’s much more about the Oscars than meets the eye.

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony will also be the second consecutive one without a host. Despite a long-standing tradition of big names in the industry presenting the awards – Jimmy Kimmel, Alex Baldwin or Hugh Jackman – following last year’s fiasco, the organizers decided it’s better to stick to this formula.

Speaking of Oscar history and superlatives, you should know that Walt Disney holds the record for most Oscars won with 26. Also, if you were wondering who’s the actor/actress rewarded with the most Academy Awards, the answer is  Katherine Hepburn with four Best Actress wins.

Since we know all the movies and actors nominated for the 2020 Oscars, we can take a closer look at some of the most important categories, analyze the main types of bets available for this event, and also predict some of the possible results.

2020 Oscar Predictions

After analyzing the nominations for each category, many may think that Joker is going to be the absolute winner with its 11 nominations. However, competition is fierce with titles like The Irishman, 1917 or Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood following with 1- nominations each. With such a fierce race, we took a good look at the odds for each category and summed everything up in these predictions.

Best Picture 

Considered by many the most important award of the Oscars, the Best Picture has some remarkable contenders. However, there’s something very special about this category this year. Parasite is the first Korean film in history to be nominated for Best Picture. And while it looks like the industry specialists and the biggest bookmakers in the UK agree by making 1917 the favorite for the award, the competition is stiff with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Joker close behind.

Best Actor

Judging by the minuscule odds offered by the biggest UK bookmakers for Joaquin Phoenix to win this category – 1/12 at William Hill, 1/20 at BetFred – there’s not a lot of guesswork to be done here. When you also add the Best Actor awards won at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild, the star of Joker looks like an even more sure bet than before. And while Pheonix shares the list of nominations with the likes of Leonardo di Caprio or Antonio Banderas, Adam Driver is considered second-favorite.

Best Actress

The Best Actress category comes with another interesting and rare turn of events. Renee Zellweger is, by far, favorite to win the Oscar even though the movie she stars in is only nominated for the Best make-up and hairstyling category. However, just like Joaquin Pheonix, Rene has a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award to her name for the performance in Judy. Adding the Critics’ Choice Award to that list just makes her seem like a sure winner despite the competition from Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron or Cynthia Erivo.

Best Director

Again, the most prominent bookmakers in the UK seem to agree that Sam Mendes – 8/13 at William Hill – has the best shot at winning the Best Director category at the 2020 Oscars. However, it’s not at all uncommon for the winners of Best Picture and Best Director categories to not coincide. So, Bong Joon Ho with Parasite and Quentin Tarantino with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood should not be taken out of this race just yet.

The same pattern can be applied for all the other 20 categories if you want to improve your chances of making the right choice when betting on the 2020 Oscar winners. By consulting the odds offered by the main bookies in the UK and also taking into consideration other big awards received by the movie/actors, you will be able to tip the scale in your favor.