On the eve of the 91st Academy Awards, DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello is seeing a ton of action on Oscars underdogs. "I was surprised at the amount of action we're getting, and surprised where the action is," Avello said. "There's a lot on the underdogs. If you're gonna play you might as well take a shot at the 15- or 20-to-1s. No reason why underdogs can't win here. I don't blame the bettor for taking a chance." As of Wednesday, [A Star Is Born was drawing a huge portion](http://www.betchicago.com/a-star-is-born-oscars-betting-draftkings) of the DraftKings handle, and Avello credits that to the movie's quality and popularity. __Play along__: [Oscars pick 'em contest](https://betchicago.chalkline.com/games/2019-academy-awards) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSbzyEJ8X9E" class="embedly-card" data-card-width="100%" data-card-controls="0">Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSbzyEJ8X9E</a> Bettors have stayed away from heavy favorites like Glenn Close (The Wife, -715) for Best Actress and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody, -835) for Best Actor, Avello said, and loaded up on Lady Gaga (+1400) and Bradley Cooper (+1700). "People who've seen these movies feel that's one of the better movies," Avello said. "Lady Gaga did such a good job and she was overlooked." Avello, who has seen all of the Oscars entrants, is a believer in A Star Is Born, even if Roma has gotten major pre-Oscars buzz. "Roma is not as good, in any way possible, as A Star Is Born," he said. "Cinematography, yeah, pretty good. Director-wise? OK. But A Star Is Born is a much more entertaining movie. If you've seen them all, your choice is not going to be Roma." Will Oscars voters feel the same way? One thing Avello points out is there are so many more of them than the other awards, an Oscars surprise isn't a shock. "For the Golden Globes, the Hollywood foreign press, there are only about 95 voters, and some in the other organizations there are even fewer - The Academy Awards has 6,000 voters," Avello said. "There may be a whole different opinion that forms. Handicapping the Academy, it's about what are they basing their opinion on? "I don't know what the overall 6,000 voters are thinking, but I understand what the bettor is thinking. He's saying Roma is not the best movie." Avello said he's surprised how much action is coming in on Best Picture, with Best Actress and Best Actor coming in next. He added that DraftKings will put out an update on Sunday about where the action fell. The action throughout the week hasn't changed Avello's ideas about who'll win, though they will inform his oddsmaking in the future. "It doesn't change my opinion on what I beleive may happen," he said. "Bettors have habits and I understand and will undertand why they go that way. Before betting started, I would not have told you I thought A Star Is Born or Lady Gaga would receive that action. Now that it has, I understand why. I understand where people are betting from and what the odds are. That all makes sense to me." __Game lobby:__ [Find our free contests here](https://betchicago.chalkline.com/)