Academy Awards Betting At New Jersey Online Sportsbooks

Oscar season is underway in New Jersey. This time with the ability to get skin in on the game.

For the first time in US sports betting history, regulated sportsbooks can now offer wagers on the Academy Awards.

The NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement told NJ sports betting operators late last month that they were allowed to accept bets on the 91st Academy Awards, which are slated for Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. PT (that’s 8 p.m. in New Jersey).

Over the next several weeks, the majority of mobile sportsbooks will have Oscars-related markets available for bettors, adding another layer to the ever-growing sports betting industry in the Garden State.

Top NJ sportsbooks for Oscars betting

Where can I bet on the Oscars?

While Nevada stands as the industry-to-beat when it comes to sports, the Silver State is restricted by the Nevada Gaming Control Board from offering entertainment wagers.

In New Jersey, though, 10 mobile sportsbooks feature Oscars odds:

• DraftKings Sportsbook
• BetStars NJ
• FanDuel Sportsbook
• SugarHouse Sportsbook
• Caesars Sportsbook
• PointsBet NJ
• Resorts
• Hard Rock
• William Hill NJ
• PlayMGM

Certainly, the possibility remains for the other two sites to enter the fold. Not to mention, a few retail books also offer odds including Hard Rock Atlantic City and Golden Nugget.

How can I bet on the Oscars in New Jersey?

First and foremost, obviously only customers 21 years and older can participate in Oscars betting. You also have to be in New Jersey to bet.

Bettors can wager on the moneyline of which film or person will take home the award within several categories. It’s as easy as just picking who you think will win.

Keep in mind, a negative number beside a name means that person or movie is favored to win. A positive number means that a movie or person is an underdog.

Available markets vary from product to product, but for the most part, each online sportsbook features the top six awards:

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Supporting Actor
• Best Supporting Actress

The exceptions to this rule are DraftKings and SugarHouse, which only feature Best Picture odds.

2019 Oscars odds

Below are the current odds at NJ online sports betting sites for the top six award categories. The odds vary wildly so you will want to shop around before placing a bet. All odds are as of Feb. 14.

Best Picture Odds

	Roma	Green Book	The Favourite	BlackKklansman	A Star Is Born	Black Panther	Bohemian Rhapsody	Vice
DraftKings	-335	+450	+1200	+2500	+4000	+2500	+3000	+8000
BetStars NJ	-300	+375	+1600	+2200	+3300	+2000	+2200	+8000
FanDuel	-340	+430	+1600	+2800	+5000	+3100	+3400	+10000
Caesars	-320	+400	+1500	+2500	+4000	+2500	+3500	+10000
SugarHouse	-335	+450	+1000	+2500	+3300	+2500	+3000	+5000
Resorts	-400	+450	+1000	+2200	+4000	+3300	+3300	+10000
PointsBet	-400	+300	+850	+1600	+2500	+3000	+4000	+10000
PlayMGM	-500	+500	+1200	+2200	+4000	+2500	+3300	+10000
William Hill	-280	+400	+1200	+2200	+1200	+2500	+1800	+6000
Hard Rock	-300	+375	+1600	+2200	+4000	+3300	+3300	+12500

Best Director Odds

	Alfonso Cuaron	Spike Lee	Yorgos Lanthimos	Adam McKay	Pawel Pawlikowski
BetStars NJ	-5000	+1000	+4000	+7500	+4000
FanDuel	-1350	+1000	+4500	+4500	+5000
Caesars	-1200	+1000	+4000	+4000	+5000
Resorts	-2000	+1000	+3300	+4000	+5000
PointsBet	-1999	+700	+2500	+2500	+2500
PlayMGM	-2000	+1200	+3300	+3300	+3300
William Hill	-1300	+650	+2500	+2500	+2500
Hard Rock	-1500	+950	+2800	+3300	+3300

Best Actress Odds

	Glenn Close	Olivia Colman	Lady Gaga	Yalitza Aparico	Melissa McCarthy
BetStars	-650	+450	+1500	+4000	+6600
FanDuel	-430	+430	+1600	+5000	+6500
Caesars	-550	+400	+1000	+5000	+5000
Resorts	-500	+375	+900	+3300	+4000
PointsBet	-500	+400	+1000	+3000	+5000
playMGM	-600	+400	+1600	+5000	+5000
William Hill	-600	+500	+900	+1800	+7500
Hard Rock	-450	+375	+1600	+4000	+6600

Best Actor Odds

	Rami Malek	Christian Bale	Bradley Cooper	Viggo Mortensen	Willem Dafoe
BetStars NJ	-450	+300	+2000	+3500	+8000
FanDuel	-370	+300	+2200	+3600	+6500
Caesars	-380	+300	+2000	+3300	+4000
Resorts	-400	+250	+1400	+2200	+5000
PointsBet	-500	+250	+1600	+2000	+3300
playMGM	-400	+350	+2000	+5000	+5000
William Hill	-500	+280	+2000	+4000	+12500
Hard Rock	-500	+265	+1300	+5000	+10000

Best Supporting Actress Odds

	Regina King	Amy Adams	Rachel Weisz	Emma Stone	Marina de Tavira
BetStars NJ	-225	+400	+450	+1800	+3300
FanDuel	-220	+300	+750	+1800	+2900
Caesars	-200	+300	+800	+1700	+2500
Resorts	-200	+275	+600	+1800	+2500
PointsBet	-222	+225	+700	+1600	+2500
playMGM	-225	+300	+700	+2000	+2000
William Hill	-240	+260	+850	+1800	+2200
Hard Rock	-245	+290	+650	+1800	+2800

Best Supporting Actor Odds

	Mahershala Ali	Richard E. Grant	Sam Elliott	Adam Driver	Sam Rockwell
BetStars NJ	-2000	+750	+1600	+5000	+5000
FanDuel	-1200	+1000	+1600	+3400	+4500
Caesars	-1000	+1000	+1400	+3300	+5000
Resorts	-1400	+700	+1400	+3300	+5000
PointsBet	-999	+600	+1600	+4000	+5000
playMGM	-1600	+1000	+1600	+3300	+5000
William Hill	-1000	+800	+1000	+4000	+3000
Hard Rock	-1400	+800	+1400	+3300	+5000

How previous Oscars have gone

Feeling out of the loop when it comes to this year’s Academy Awards? That’s fair. And common.

For what it’s worth, and as shown by the moneyline, “Roma” appears to be the runaway favorite for Best Picture, as it has already claimed 15 awards in similar categories at various guilds. Contenders “The Favourite” and “Green Book” have won six and four awards, respectively, in similar categories.

Alfonso Cuaron has cleaned up as best director, piling up 25 critics’ awards for his work on “Roma.” Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”) has won three such awards.

As for best actor and actress categories: favorite Rami Malek of “Bohemian Rhapsody” has won three times at critics’ awards, though Christian Bale (“Vice”) has five victories. A similar pattern emerges in Best Actress, as favored Glenn Close (“The Wife”) has just two wins, compared with 11 by Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) and five by Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”).

Of the finalists for Best Supporting Actress, only two have multiple wins at critics’ awards. Regina Kings (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) has 28 victories, and Emma Stone (“The Favourite”) has won four times.

Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) has won best supporting actor 14 times at various awards shows. Among the other finalists, Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”) has eight wins, and Sam Elliott (“A Star Is Born”) has five.

Oscar predictions and expert advice

If studying up on movies and Hollywood stardom is not your thing, that’s OK. There are plenty of sites that offer predictions for the awards.

Gold Derby is probably the most well-known of them all. It tracks the entire awards season and, with the help of industry insiders, offers predictions.

Recent Oscars winners

Obviously, this marks the first year in which legal Oscars betting in NJ is a thing.

Let’s take a look, though, at the past five years’ worth of winners in the major categories.

Best Picture

• 2018: The Shape of Water
• 2017: Moonlight
• 2016: Spotlight
• 2015: Birdman
• 2014: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director

• 2018: Guellermo del Toro (The Shape of Water)
• 2017: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
• 2016: Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant)
• 2015: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman)
• 2014: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Best Actress

• 2018: Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
• 2017: Emma Stone (La La Land)
• 2016: Brie Larson (Room)
• 2015: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
• 2014: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Actor

• 2018: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
• 2017: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
• 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
• 2015: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
• 2014: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress

• 2018: Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
• 2017: Viola Davis (Fences)
• 2016: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
• 2015: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
• 2014: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

Best Supporting Actor

• 2018: Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
• 2017: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
• 2016: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
• 2015: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
• 2014: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)