I'm glad I completely forgot to both bet and watch the awards yesterday. A few times in the day I said to myself that when I get to my computer I need to bet. However, every time I got there, I just forgot. Maybe because I saw so few movies nominated this year that I just didn't care.
Glad I forgot! There was a huge upset for Best Picture. La La Land was a -700 favorite. The announcer even called them as the winner. However, you've probably heard by now there was a Steve Harvey incident of the wrong winner being called. The actual winner was Moonlight*. Below is an uncut video of the fiasco. So, in case anyone was worried that I jumped off a bridge last night, I'm fine.
* Corrected
Quote: WizardThe actual winner was Dreamland.
Moonlight.
Meanwhile, I wonder how many people who bet on La La Land collected before the mistake was announced...
Quote: ThatDonGuyDid any Vegas books accept bets on the Oscars? I was under the impression that the Gaming Commission authorized it this year.
I didn't hear of any. I know they liberalized what you can bet on but I don't know the specifics. I did see some bets on the Olympics. The rule there is you can't bet on events where the winner is largely determined by judges, like gymnastics.
Quote:Meanwhile, I wonder how many people who bet on La La Land collected before the mistake was announced...
In my experience, Internet sports books usually take an hour or so to pay on anything. For example, if you bet whether the first score would be a touchdown in the Super Bowl, and you won, it would take about an hour to get paid. In the event anybody paid it immediately, I think they would take the funds back with a word of explanation.
I used to be a big film buff, but now I have no clue what any of these movies are about. Even back then, I never cared about the oscars, or most of the films nominated, but I was at least aware that they were going on and knew about the films. I was saved by my ignorance of the outside world.
However, I might just check out Moonlight. A friend with reasonable taste says it is the best film he's seen in 5 years. There's no way I'll like it THAT much, but I'm open to the idea that it's an excellent film.
Opening it up to possibly having 10 a year is too many. It dilutes the prestige of the award.
The winner is still the best of the year, not the best of 5 or best of 10. Then again, best of 10 is better than best of 5. So maybe winning is now MORE prestigious...
Quote: Wizard..... However, you've probably heard by now there was a Steve Harvey incident of the wrong winner being called.
This was actually an "Academy" or "Price Waterhouse Coopers" incident, depending on who is actually in charge of sealing the envelopes and delivering them to the onstage announcement celebrities. I felt bad for Warren & Faye as they likely will be linked to this "incident" forever, when in fact Warren was given the wrong envelope or had a duplicate envelope from Best Actress that was given to him prior to going on stage.
I thought he was messing around trying to be comedic when he took a 2nd look in the envelope...but he was looking at a card that said "Emma Stone/La La Land" (the winner of the Best Actress Award announced immediately before Best Picture) and didn't know what to do. Faye then mistakenly thought he was joking around and just read out La La Land,. This is on the Academy or PWC, and I think it is the latter, so it will be very interesting to hear the fallout at Price Waterhouse Coopers and whether they retain the Academy Awards as a client.
Quote: Paradigmso it will be very interesting to hear the fallout at Price Waterhouse Coopers and whether they retain the Academy Awards as a client.
Nothing like screwing up on the biggest award of the night when they had all those others to choose from.
Quote: ams288Opening it up to possibly having 10 a year is too many. It dilutes the prestige of the award.
I think the reason was with only five nominees the Academy was picking too many obscure foreign movies that few people saw. Not only have I never seen Moonlight, I've never even heard of it before today. The other five were supposed to give movies the masses actually saw a nod.
Quote: ParadigmI thought he was messing around trying to be comedic when he took a 2nd look in the envelope...but he was looking at a card that said "Emma Stone/La La Land" (the winner of the Best Actress Award announced immediately before Best Picture) and didn't know what to do. Faye then mistakenly thought he was joking around and just read out La La Land,. This is on the Academy or PWC, and I think it is the latter, so it will be very interesting to hear the fallout at Price Waterhouse Coopers and whether they retain the Academy Awards as a client.
If PWC gave him that envelope, and who else would have, then they deserve the lion's share of the blame. Nevertheless, at least one of two presenters should have paused and said that something wasn't right. Especially after the Steve Harvey incident, which showed such mix ups are possible.
Quote: WizardMy long time followers know that I have been betting the Academy Awards since 2004. My strategy is simple -- bet the big favorites.... I'm glad I completely forgot to both bet and watch the awards yesterday. A few times in the day I said to myself that when I get to my computer I need to bet. However, every time I got there, I just forgot.
You dodged a bullet this year, congrats!
Quote: WizardNot that anyone asked, but I'm planning to sit out betting in the Oscars this year. I'm sick of risking $5,000 to end up winning $50.
That quote is from February 26, 2016.
Have you learned your lesson? Are you going to bet next year? With a low stakes bankroll (less than $100 or $200) I could see it being entertaining. It's hard to justify betting $5,000 to win $50, since upsets (while rare) aren't impossible.
Quote: WizardNot that anyone asked, but I'm planning to sit out betting in the Oscars this year. I'm sick of risking $5,000 to end up winning $50.
I totally forgot I said that. Thanks for the reminder. The reason I won only a little last year was losing on an upset in some minor category most people don't care about. Had I bet this year, I would have stuck to just the big six.
Quote: renoYou dodged a bullet this year, congrats!
Thanks. Just goes to show what I sometimes say -- when in doubt, don't bet.
Quote:Have you learned your lesson? Are you going to bet next year? With a low stakes bankroll (less than $100 or $200) I could see it being entertaining. It's hard to justify betting $5,000 to win $50, since upsets (while rare) aren't impossible.
Certainly not planning to at this point. Someone please remind me of this after the Super Bowl, when I normally start to think about betting the Oscars.
AFTER the Super Bowl? After the SB beating you took this year to squeak out a tiny profit, I think you might want us to remind you about THAT in about 11 months.Quote: Wizard... Someone please remind me of this after the Super Bowl, when I normally start to think about betting the Oscars.
But why wait 11 months? I'll remind you now: I got your check. Thanks for the speedy payoff. (I meant to tell you two weeks ago.)