12 Years a Slave leads in current Oscar Odds

It's become a yearly tradition for me to get all excited about the Oscars as it is the one time of year that I allow myself to have a bit of a gamble. I'm already looking at the odds even though the nominations have not been announced yet.

12 Years a Slave appears to be a favourite in all the major categories over at Paddy Power at the moment. I'm wondering if the death of Mandela and the imminent release of Long Walk to Freedom stands a chance of shaking things up a bit in the coming weeks.

The favourites for Best Picture are currently 12 Years a Slave at odds of 1.80, Gravity at 4.50, American Hustle at 5.00, Mandela: Long walk to Freedom at 6.00 and Saving Mr Banks at 13.00.

For Best Director, Steve McQueen (2.25) is just ahead of Alfonso Cuaron (2.75) as the favourite with David O. Russell and Martin Scorsese lagging behind with odds of 5.00 and 11.00 respectively. The Coen Bros come in just behind with odds of 13.00.

The Best Actor race is tied between Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Yrs a Slave) and Robert Redford (All is Lost), both with odds of 2.50 and Idris Elba is just behind for Mandela with odds of 4.00. I wonder if that's going to change with the very sad but well timed death of the legend himself. Surprisingly Matthew McConaughey (5.50) with The Dallas Buyers Club is ahead of Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips (11.00).

Cate Blanchett is the clear favourite for Best Actress with Blue Jasmine at odds of 1.25 while Sandra Bullock is in second place with odds of 4.50. Meanwhile Oprah Winfrey (The Butler) and Lupita Nyong'o (12 Yrs a Slave) are virtually neck and neck in the best supporting actress category. Similarly in the best supporting actor race, Jared Leto (The Dallas Buyers Club) and Michael Fassbender (12 Yrs a Slave) are also very close with odds of 2.37 and 2.25 respectively.

It's too early for me to be placing any bets yet, particularly as I have yet to see frontrunners 12 Years a Slave, Long Walk to Freedom, All is Lost and The Dallas Buyers Club. I'm wondering if the death of Mandela is going to cause more heat to pick up around Long Walk to Freedom and help it to push aside 12 Years a Slave in some categories. Either way, with The Butler, 12 Years a Slave and Mandela all in the running, it is definitely going to be an incredible year for African American actors, actresses, directors and their films.

Would you fancy placing a bet on any of these yet?