File combination photo shows nominees for the Academy Awards best actor category Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale and Bruce Dern
File combination photo shows nominees for the Academy Awards best actor category Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale and Bruce Dern Reuters

A day before the official awarding of the winners for the 2014 Oscars and the favourites are looking more and more a lock in bagging the trophies in their respective categories. But one popular star can pull off the underdog win.

If the betting odds are to be believed, “12 Years A Slave” will take down the Best Picture Award; Matthew McConaughey will be the Best Actor for his impressive work in “The Dallas Buyers’ Club; and Cate Blanchett will win the Best Actress plum for her powerful performance in “Blue Jasmine”.

Then again, sports and/or entertainment betting does provide the occasional underdog surprise. Can popular opinion sway the judges’ decisions? If the voice of the people will be heard then Leonardo DiCaprio and “Gravity” will get a fair shot at those underdog upsets; and for the uninitiated here’s the simple and easy formula for sports betting:

X (Amount of Bet) times Betting Odds = Payout

Betting Odds – 2014 Oscars Best Picture
12 Years A Slave (1.17)
Gravity (4.50)
American Hustle (17.00)
The Dallas Buyer's Club (17.00)
The Wolf Of Wall Street (51.00)
Her (101.00)
Captain Phillips (201.00)
Nebraska (201.00)
Philomena (201.00)

For example, a $100 bet on Steve McQueen’s movie on slavery (at betting line of 1.17) will only net a payout of $117 (or $17 winnings); on the opposite end of the spectrum if the Tom Hanks piracy drama should pull off the major upset, a $100 bet on Captain Philippines will net a $20,100 payout! The dark horse bet is indeed the popular space thriller featuring the equally popular Sandra Bullock-- $100 turns to $450 in the betting lines with the 4.50 betting line.

Betting Odds – 2014 Oscars Best Actor
 Matthew McConaughey - The Dallas Buyers' Club (1.17)
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf Of Wall Street (4.50)
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years A Slave (11.00)
Bruce Dern – Nebraska (21.00)
Christian Bale - American Hustle (67.00)

Similarly, Matthew McConaughey is the odds-on favourite to win the Best Actor plum with a similar betting line of 1.17 (as with the Best Picture race) and the next contender (DiCaprio) with a 4.50. Can DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort finally win an Oscar? The most famous in this group has already been nominated four times before including his performances in “Blood Diamond” and “The Aviator”. Could this finally be the year that he gets that trophy?

Betting Odds – 2014 Oscars Best Actress
 Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine (1.02)
Sandra Bullock – Gravity (13.00)
Amy Adams - American Hustle (19.00)
Judi Dench – Philomena (34.00)
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County (51.00)

Meanwhile, Cate Blanchett has all but locked up the Best Actress category. With her performance in “Blue Jasmine”, she was nominated for the sixth time the Academy Awards. And at 1.02 betting odds ($100 wins $2!), it’s all but a formality now. Blanchett already won an Oscar in 2004 but that was for a supporting role. She was also nominated in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” in 2007 and “Elizabeth” in 2008 as Best Actress. Third time’s the charm for this veteran actress.

Prediction: “12 Years A Slave” and Cate Blanchett get the nod as expected for Best Picture and Best Actress but Leonardo DiCaprio finally gets his Academy Award via a slight upset.

The 2014 Oscars is scheduled to start at 10 am AEDT on March 3.