2010 Oscars Odds to be Updated as Nominations Announced

The 2010 Oscars odds were expected to be updated by Tuesday evening and they were now live at Sportsbook.com following the announced nominations that morning.  This is Carrie Stroup reporting for Gambling911.com. 

The Best Film odds were widely posted prior to the official nominations with Up In The Air and The Hurt Locker both favored at near even odds. 

Avatar surprisingly had been listed with longer odds of +300 for a payout potential of $30 on every $10 bet. Avatar was now a pretty big favorite at -250.

Both Avatar and The Hurt Locker led the nominations for the 2010 Oscars.  The Hurt Locker is a gritty film about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq while Avatar is perhaps the single most talked about film of the year and number one at the box office for several weeks straight now.  It also earned back its enormous cost of production. 

"Precious," about a poverty-stricken teen and her dysfunctional family, was also nominated in this category.  That film would now pay out an amazing $2500 for every $100 bet if it were to win.

Ten films have been nominated for "Best Picture".  It is a return to the way the Oscars were awarded in the movies' early decades when as many as 12 films were considered in the field of finalists, then-academy President Sid Ganis said announcing the change in June.

Best picture nominees included:

"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"Up in the Air"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Up"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"A Serious Man"

"For the online gambling websites this means even more money might be taken in thanks to the larger selection," expressed Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of the Gambling911.com website. 

The Oscars is among the top 5 most bet on single day events of the year.  It is the most wagered on non sporting event outside of the U.S. Presidential election. 

"Oscar betting draws just slightly less interest than the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby when it comes to online gambling," O'Brien disclosed, adding that March Madness draws more action but is played out over a longer period of time.

The Best Actress category promises to be hotly contested.

Sandra Bullock, who has never won an Oscar, is now considered the front-runner, playing a wealthy woman who takes in homeless teen Michael Oher, now a star with the Baltimore Ravens.  Indeed oddsmakers listed her as a small -160 favorite.

"You laugh at the absurdity of it all and how they pit women up against each other. We go, 'Why are they making us out to be fighting when we're just happy to share this moment?'" Bullock said. "The women I've met and gotten to know along the way have made me so happy for this business that didn't really support women for a long time. It's been really sweet. I feel really lucky to be working at this time."

Best Actress

Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"

Best Actor

George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Jeff Bridges was now a huge favorite to win at -500. 

For Best Supporting Actor, the frontrunner is likely to be Christoph Waltz.  The veteran Austrian actor won the Golden Globe and SAG awards last month. He played a memorable Nazi villain in Tarantino's thriller.

Waltz was a huge -2000 favorite in this category. 

Supporting actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus" 
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger" 
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station" 
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Supporting actress

Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"

Director

Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

The 82nd Academy Awards show is set for March 7 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

Watch for the 2010 Oscars odds to be updated shortly at Sportsbook.com here

Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter