Oscar Pool 2012: How to Win and Betting Tips Guide for Oscars Nominations Ballot

Movie buffs across the nation will rush to fill out their pool sheets before the Oscars on Sunday, where Hollywood’s cream of the crop will be selected for roles in acting, directing and cinematography. But how do you even start an Oscar pool?Here is a guide for setting up the betting pool, tips for how to win and a guide for selecting the best of the nominations on the 2012 Oscars ballot.Steps 1 & 2. Ballots and ParticipantsThe first step is to find a ballot sheet to cast votes. Thanks to Chiff.com, you don’t even need to create your own pool sheet. Here’s where you can score a print-friendly version with every category on it and handy check boxes. If you’d rather a digital version, Picktainment has pools online that you can create within a group of friends, or publically if your friends or coworkers are not as enthusiastic about formulating an Oscar pool. The New York Times also has a ballot sheet to fill out for a chance to win an iPad 2 to the highest scoring subscriber.Like us on FacebookOnce you have a sheet ready to be filled out, participants must be added. Whether it is within a group of friends, family or colleagues at work, decide upon a nominal participation fee for all playing along and keep track of who is playing.Step 3. PrizesOnce you have collected all of the money, formally announce what the prizes will be. Some only award one prize while others choose to award to the top three winners, depending on how many people are participating. If it’s with friends in a party, consider movie gift cards as prizes.Step 4. PointsNow that you have a ballot sheet ready to go, you’ll need to fill in the point value for categories. Some people choose to award one point per correct guess, while others weigh major categories more heavily. Some pools even allow a first and second pick, the latter being a lesser number.Most importantly, in the event there is a tie, find a difficult Oscars trivia question to break ties if needed.Step 5. Vote and Tips for Voting and WinningStep five is the best part: Making your selections for winners. Here are a few tips for voting and winning the pool.1. Do not make selections based on preference or personal bias. Just because you think Brad Pitt is handsome does not mean he will be awarded an Oscar.2. Do your research. Not only will you be informed but you may even see some critics’ predictions.3. Anticipate. Voters typically do not choose comedies to win the awards, as shown by data presented in The New York Times last year.4. Perfect a tactic. Some people tactically choose to do heavy research and make the best selection on the categories where everyone else is typically clueless, like say the foreign film category or Best Sound Editing, and spend less time dwelling on the major categories like Best Picture. Miami New Times had some great insight on some of the “offbeat” categories. Others, however, choose to pull out the big guns and try to nail the major categories. Last year, The New York Times posted a guide for winning an Oscar pool. According to the author, Nate Silver, “If one nominee for best actress appears in an Oscar-nominated film and another does not, the one in the nominated film is more likely to win.”Step 6. ScoringIt’s best to keep a master score sheet so you, as the “bookie,” know who is in the lead and to ensure there is no cheating. Depending on your personal style, you can keep score while the broadcast happens in real time, or wait for the obligatory list the following day all over the Internet.In addition, here is a full list of Oscar Nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards.Actor in a Leading RoleDemián Bichir in “A Better Life”George Clooney in “The Descendants”Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”Actor in a Supporting RoleKenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”Nick Nolte in “Warrior”Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”Actress in a Leading RoleGlenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”Viola Davis in “The Help”Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”Actress in a Supporting RoleBérénice Bejo in “The Artist”Jessica Chastain in “The Help”Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”Octavia Spencer in “The Help”Animated Feature Film”A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli”Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal”Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson”Puss in Boots” Chris Miller”Rango” Gore VerbinskiArt Direction”The Artist”Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan”Hugo”Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo”Midnight in Paris”Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil”War Horse”Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee SandalesCinematography”The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman”The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth”Hugo” Robert Richardson”The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki”War Horse” Janusz KaminskiCostume Design”Anonymous” Lisy Christl”The Artist” Mark Bridges”Hugo” Sandy Powell”Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor”W.E.” Arianne PhillipsDirecting”The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius”The Descendants” Alexander Payne”Hugo” Martin Scorsese”Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen”The Tree of Life” Terrence MalickDocumentary (Feature)”Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner”If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman”Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs”Pina”Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel”Undefeated”TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard MiddlemasDocumentary (Short Subject)”The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin”God Is the Bigger Elvis”Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson”Incident in New Baghdad” James Spione”Saving Face”Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy”The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”Lucy Walker and Kira CarstensenFilm Editing”The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius”The Descendants” Kevin Tent”The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall”Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker”Moneyball” Christopher TellefsenForeign Language Film”Bullhead” Belgium”Footnote” Israel”In Darkness” Poland”Monsieur Lazhar” Canada”A Separation” IranMakeup”Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng”The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy HellandMusic (Original Score)”The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams”The Artist” Ludovic Bource”Hugo” Howard Shore”Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias”War Horse” John WilliamsMusic (Original Song)”Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie”Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah GarrettBest Picture”The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer”The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers”Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer”The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers”Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers”Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers”Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers”The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined”War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, ProducersShort Film (Animated)”Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon”The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg”La Luna” Enrico Casarosa”A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe”Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy TilbyShort Film (Live Action)”Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane”Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren”The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George”Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey”Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar WitzøSound Editing”Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis”The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce”Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty”Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl”War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary RydstromSound Mixing”The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson”Hugo”Tom Fleischman and John Midgley”Moneyball”Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick”Transformers: Dark of the Moon”Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin”War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart WilsonVisual Effects”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson”Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning”Real Steel”Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg”Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett”Transformers: Dark of the Moon”Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John FrazierWriting (Adapted Screenplay)”The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash”Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan”The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon”Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin”Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter StraughanWriting (Original Screenplay)”The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius”Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig”Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor”Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen”A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

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Oscar Pool 2012: How to Win and Betting Tips Guide for Oscars Nominations Ballot