2009 Academy Awards Betting Odds: Best Picture
As promised, Sportsbook.com released a limited selection of Academy Awards betting odds on Thursday immediately following the nomination announcement.
"We anticipate having the rest of the odds posted by the end of the weekend," Sportsbook.com spokesperson, Dave Stanley, told Gambling911.com.
The first odds to be released were for "Best Picture". Slumdog Millionaire came in as the -300 favorite but by no means is this one a "lock" in the eyes of oddsmakers. Aside from The Reader with +1200 odds that would pay $1200 for every $100 bet, and Frost Nixon at +1000 odds, the other two contenders are listed with low single digit odds. Milk would pay out $500 for every $100 bet and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would pay $350 for every $100 bet.
"Slumdog Millionaire would require a $300 bet to win $100," explains Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of Gambling911.com, which will be monitoring the Academy Awards betting odds over the course of the next few weeks. "That $300 is paid back along with the $100 should Slumdog Millionaire win and I will go out on a limb to say this film does have a legitimate shot."
Oddsmakers typically base their odds on how a film performed at the Golden Globe Awards. Slumdog Millionaire won the 2009 Golden Globe award for "Best Picture".
The film barely escaped going straight to video before it caught the eye of moviegoers and critics in the United States.
Set and filmed in India, Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on a game show and exceeds people's expectations, arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. Mumbai, incidentally, is considered the "Hollywood of Asia" - taking the name "Bollywood" as the city had previously been named Bombay. Mumbai was the sight of November's tragic terrorist attacks.
The Academy Awards are the 3rd most bet on single day event of the year.
2009 Academy Awards betting odds for Best Picture were available at Sportsbook.com
Frost/Nixon +1000
Milk +500
Slumdog Millionaire -300
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button +350
The Reader +1200
This is Carrie Stroup reporting for Gambling911.com.
