Gambling Odds on Academy Awards Released

Daniel Day-Lewis is a monster favorite to win Best Actor for "There Will Be Blood" at 1-5, and even if his work did not earn him the statuette.

The annual Academy Awards nominations have been announced, and with them come the gambling odds as to which nominees will win awards. Entertainment gambling is a growing business; English bookmaking company William Hill says it expects to take in $500,000 bets on the Oscars this year.

Although the ceremonies may be curtailed due to the Hollywood writers' strike, the awards will still be announced, and, as usual, there is much debate over which nominees are most deserving.

The Best Picture category features "No Country for Old Men", the Coen brothers' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's brilliant novel, favored at even money; "Atonement", a 5-2 choice; "There Will Be Blood", Paul Thomas Anderson's revisiting of an Upton Sinclair story, a 3-1 pick; "Juno", the quirky teen-pregnancy comedy, at 8-1; and "Michael Clayton", about a Washington lawyer and fixer, the long shot at 15-1.

The Best Director field is largely the same, with only  "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"'s Julian Schnabel knocking "Atonement" from the list. Ethan and Joel Coen, long considered by many to be the best directors working, are favored at 7-5; Paul Thomas Anderson, who has continued to please critics since  "Boogie Nights" but not so much audiences, returns strong as an 8-5 choice; Schnabel is listed as 3-1; "Juno" 's Jason Reitmen is 12-1; and Tony Gilroy's work on "Michael Clayton" puts him at 20-1.

Daniel Day-Lewis is a monster favorite to win Best Actor for "There Will Be Blood" at 1-5, and even if his work did not earn him the statuette, the Academy might still give it to him in their shame for not honoring him for his role as Bill the Butcher in "Gangs of New York", as well as failing to even nominate him for "Last of the Mohicans" and "The Boxer". Johnny Depp at 6-1, George Clooney at 10-1, Viggo Mortensen at 15-1, and Tommy Lee Jones at 25-1 follow. Jones' nomination for "In the Valley of Elah" is confusing, considering his strong work in "No Country for Old Men".

Gamblers can expect "No Country" and "Let There Be Blood" to carry the lion's share of awards, but the Academy can be unpredictable, capricious, and even outright foolish; after all, "Ordinary People" beat out  "Raging Bull", "Apocalypse Now" lost to "Kramer vs. Kramer", and the almost unwatchable "The English Patient" beat out "Fargo".