Best Bet For 2022 Oscars Best Picture
There are 10 different nominees for 2022 Best Picture — the most in about a decades time. However, in the eyes of the most popular online sportsbooks, there are really only three movies in betting contention to win 2022 Best Picture. That trio includes Belfast, The Power of the Dog, and West Side Story. Here are the betting odds for each, plus a few others (as a frame of reference to see how lopsided the lines are):
| Movie |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| The Power of the Dog | -200 | -200 |
| Belfast | +225 | +225 |
| West Side Story | +700 | +700 |
| Licorice Pizza | +1800 | +1800 |
| Dune | +2000 | +2000 |
As with any entity featuring the elite and rich, there’s no shortage of “politics” with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the body that votes on the Oscars’ to begin with. For several years, those politics were used to shun Netflix out of several award categories. Back then, Netflix was seen as an existential threat to the classic Hollywood model of movie-making (traditional distribution to theaters). Alas, that was then and this now: Hollywood can’t get enough of Netflix these days. The collapse of the movie theater business has forced the Hollywood elite to embrace Netflix and the big checks the new-age distributor is tossing at projects and talent.
That is readily apparent with the 2022 awards. Get this, Netflix earned 27 Oscar nominations — the most of any studio including the likes of Disney and Warner Bros. Almost half of those nominees (12 to be exact) are courtesy of The Power of the Dog. The Netflix production has the most nominations of any single movie and on top of Best Picture, it’s also up for best directing, writing, editing, among many other awards.
We’re predicting a monster night from both Netflix and The Power of the Dog, which includes a victory in Best Picture. Speaking of which, this is an award Netflix has never won before. With Hollywood eating out of Netflix’s palm now, we’re betting that changes on March 27. Hammer away at Power of the Dog throughout the night, but especially in this category.
Best Bet For 2022 Oscars Best Actor
Alright, if there’s one award NOT to bet alongside The Power of the Dog, it’s this one. Only because the top sports betting sites have the 2022 Oscars Best Actor bet heavily tilted in one direction — that of Will Smith. Look at the current Best Actor betting lines below:
| Actor | | |
|---|---|---|
| Will Smith (King Richard) | -260 | -260 |
| Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) | +250 | +250 |
| Andrew Garfield (tick tick Boom) | +600 | +600 |
| Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of MacBeth) | +3000 | +3000 |
| Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos) | +4000 | +4000 |
Smith has been a Hollywood A-lister for a long time but has yet to win a single Oscars award. He came close in 2002 for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali but lost out to Denzel Washington that year. Two decades later, he’s a nominee once again for his portrayal of a different sports legend — Richard Williams, the father of Serena and Venus. His current betting odds blow out Benedict Cumberbatch of The Power of the Dog, and the rest of the nominees for that matter.
Betting Smith here is one of the “safer” choices of the entire night. Like Leo DiCaprio a few years ago, the Academy has a knack for voting in performers that are “overdue” their first Oscar award. Not that Smith isn’t deserving for his acting in King Richard, but his lack of Oscar hardware will also influence the voting, and favorably so. Take the Fresh Prince in this category!
Best Bet For 2022 Oscars Best Actress
One of the toughest bets of the night is the 2022 Oscars Best Actress. Realistically, we could see four different winners in this section and that’s reflected directly in current betting lines to win:
| Actress | | |
|---|---|---|
| Nicole Kidman (Lucy and Desi) | +100 | +100 |
| Kristen Stewart (Spencer) | +225 | +225 |
| Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) | +300 | +300 |
| Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) | +450 | +450 |
| Penelope Cruz (Paralell Mothers) | +1500 | +1500 |
After picking two favorites in the previous bets, we’re taking a bigger “stab” in the Best Actress wager. Here, we’re choosing underdog Jessica Chastain, who has shortened her odds to win tremendously in the last few weeks. Momentum is definitely on her side and so are the politics.
Like we said before, politics exist in the voting process — both behind the scenes and upfront. Chastain falls into the latter group. She’s been incredibly vocal about the troubles women face in Hollywood including less pay than male counterparts and sexual assault. Those same troubles have crossed into society at large and what better way for the Academy to align themselves with that societal viewpoint than voting in Chastain, then giving her a platform to speak about this pesky problem during her acceptance speech? You can't write a better script than that!
How To Bet On 2022 Oscars?
The three bets we covered are a small sample size of the bets available for the 2022 Oscars. To see all the Oscars 2022 odds, just click one of the websites below. These bookies have you covered for Oscars betting, and also cashing in lucrative sportsbook bonuses. Details on the latter are in the table below!
