Betting (and Winning) on the Oscars

The Academy Awards ceremony is one of America's most-watched events, and Sunday's broadcast will be hyped for "suspense," as usual. But insiders and savvy gamblers know that most of the nominees don't have much chance of winning. There are only 6000 members of the Academy, and they choose the winners for "weird reasons." Nevertheless, winners are predictable, and Oscar night is a good night for gamblers. That's according to Walt Hickey, lead life-style writer for FiveThirtyEight, a data-driven website that specializes in predictions.

Photo: John Eckman