Mirren Crowned Queen At The Oscars But Will She Drop It?

Bookmakers William Hill -who paid out £50,000 on Dame Helen Mirren winning the Best Actress Oscar on Wednesday - have since seen a 80% increase in Oscar turnover as punters reinvest their winnings on the other categories.

Peter O'Toole has been especially popular at 10/3 and is the second favourite to win the Best Actor Award behind Forest Whitaker who can be backed at 1/5.

The Best Film Oscar looks by far the most competitive market with the top three films in the betting coming in for genuine support.

William Hill rate The Departed as their even money favourite and offer 9/4 for Little Miss Sunshine, and 7/2 for Babel. The bookies have also created a number of specials for Oscar night which include: 1/2 That Meryl Streep wears a Prada dress on the night; 20/1 for any of the major Oscar winners drops their Oscar on stage and 33/1 that any of their speeches goes on for longer than five minutes.

"Helen must be a certainty for the Oscar and we did not want any more money on her so were happy to payout early - the first time we have done so in twenty years of Oscar betting. They always say that there is one big shock but hopefully it will not be at Helen's or our expense," said William Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.