Will box-office hit win more awards than critically acclaimed rival?

Avatar and The Hurt Locker dominate this year's Oscar nominations with nine each and Boylesports believe that the former will fare better on the big night.

The Irish firm are offering 2/9 that James Cameron's box-office hit will pick up more awards than it's big rival, which was directed by his former wife Kathryn Bigelow and can be backed at 3/1 for this match bet.

“There were no huge surprises in this year’s nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards," said Nicola McGeady, Boylesports Entertainment Spokesperson.

"It’ll be very interesting to see how punters bet on the Best Director category as much of the attention will be focused on the head-to-head battle between James Cameron and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow.

"Will the academy favour the big-budget, record-breaking Avatar or the critically acclaimed but much less commercially-successful The Hurt Locker?”

Punters can get 5/1 that Avatar wins all nine of the categories it has been nominated for and 16/1 The Hurt Locker achieves that feat.

It is 16/1 for any film to win a ‘clean sweep’ of the following categories - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading or Supporting Actor/Actress.

Boylesports prices

Best Film: 1/2 Avatar, 7/4 The Hurt Locker, 13/2 Up In The Air, 20/1 Inglorious Basterds, 28/1 Precious, 33/1 An Education, 40/1 A Serious Man, 40/1 The Blind Side, 40/1 Up, 50/1 District 9

Best Director: 4/6 Kathryn Bigelow, 6/5 James Cameron, 16/1 Jason Reitman, 20/1 Quentin Tarantino, 33/1 Lee Daniels

Best Actor: 1/5 Jeff Bridges, 4/1 George Clooney, 16/1 Colin Firth, 18/1 Jeremy Renner, 28/1 Morgan freeman

Best Actress: 8/11 Sandra Bullock, 8/5 Meryl Streep, 9/2 Carey Mulligan, 16/1 Gabby Sidibe, 22/1 Helen Mirren