In New Jersey, gamblers made bank on ‘Green Book’ and other Oscar bets

The best picture win for Green Book at the Academy Awards on Sunday night was also good news for a good many bettors who reportedly took advantage of Oscar wagering in New Jersey, legal this year for the first time.

Sportsbooks that took action on the Oscars reported that movie fans were betting their personal favorites in the days leading up to the ceremony, and while that meant lots of A Star Is Born fans lost money on Lady Gaga’s and Bradley Cooper’s defeats in the acting categories, Green Book fans made out OK.

“We won five of the six categories we booked. We lost best picture. Lots of betting support for Green Book,” reported Nick Bogdanovich of William Hill.

There were similar results at other sportsbooks.

“Green Book saw the most betting volume, so there were a lot of happy winners,” said Mattias Stetz, COO of Rush Street Gaming, affiliated with PlaySugarHouse.com.

There were a dozen sportsbooks taking Oscar action in New Jersey, where you physically had to be to place a bet, even if you used a mobile app. All had Green Book as the second favorite behind Roma. Its odds were generally plus 200, meaning that if you bet $100 on Green Book to win, you won $200 over and above your $100 wager.

The sportsbooks did a pretty good job sniffing out favorites. They correctly predicted best director (Alfonso Cuarón, Roma), best actor (Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody), best supporting actor (Mahershala Ali, Green Book) and best supporting actress (Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk). Olivia Colman (The Favourite) scored a minor upset in best actress, but she was listed just behind favorite (Glenn Close, The Wife) at every single sportsbook.

The general public seemed to be genuinely interested in Oscar wagering, noted Jessica Welman, analyst at PlayUSA.com, who tracked the inaugural Academy Awards betting, made possible last year when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave states like New Jersey the ability to compete with Nevada in sports wagering. New Jersey became the first state to offer bets on the Oscars, something that Nevada has long resisted.

“I didn’t think there would be a lot of public money in Oscars betting. By ‘public,’ I mean bettors who are betting largely for fun and not people researching or studying up on the best bets. But with a flood of bets on things like Bohemian Rhapsody for best picture and several A Star is Born nominees suggest a lot of people voting with their hearts,” Welman said.

PlayUSA keeps a close watch on the movement of odds and money, and noticed some unusual activity in the best director category, where a late influx of money on Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos, a decided longshot, raised fears of inside information leaking out. Another possibility, Welman said, was that some bettors were working in concert to try to create better odds for a wager on prohibitive favorite Cuarón. Either way, odds were taken off the board for a short period of time and later re-established.

In early February, just as legal wagering was approved, New Jersey regulators temporarily suspended the activity until limits on wagers ($1,000, with lower self-imposed limits at most sportsbooks) could be established. Sportsbooks say they are happy with the first-time experience.

“It was a great first year for Oscar betting, and players told us they had a lot of fun. We are happy to have given those who are not necessarily sports fans a chance to experience a new, exciting way to watch a big event and have an extra reason to root for their favorite to win,” Stetz said.

At William Hill, Bogdanovich reported “lots of interest, and we were a small winner as well. This event was a feeling-out process for sure, since it was our first crack at it. Can’t wait for next year.”