Booker Prize Betting

The Booker Prize literary award is always highly anticipated by those who love books. Betting is available once the shortlist of outstanding fiction novels have been announced. The Booker winner can expect international renown and a notable increase in book sales.

Booker Prize Betting
Booker Prize Betting

The Booker Prize Betting

  • The Booker Prize is awarded to the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland. 
  • The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka won the Booker Prize last year.  
  • Booker Prize Betting will be available from the best betting sites. 

Booker Prize Key Dates

The Booker Dozen’ of 12 or 13 books will be announced in July 2023 with a shortlist of six books to follow in September. The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced in the Autumn of 2023.

What is Booker Prize Betting?

Every year since 1969 there has been a Booker Prize Literary Award. In recent times the bookmakers have latched on to the interest the prize generates and started offering betting odds on the novels.  

Booker Prize Judges

This year the five judges are Esi Edugyan, Adjoa Andoh, Mary Jean Chan, James Shapiro, and Robert Webb.

Booker Prize Betting Markets

The main market that the majority of the best betting sites will have is selecting the Booker Prize winner. 

However other markets can be offered or you can ask directly for prices on a range of options 

  • Choose the English language novel that will win the Booker Prize this year. 
  • Will the Booker Prize be won by someone born in the United Kingdom?
  • Will the Booker Prize be won by a debut novelist?


How To Place A Booker Prize Bet

  • Once at the bookmakers scroll to the specials market and find Booker Prize Betting
  • Here you will see the list of books being offered as options to bet on.
  • All you need do is click on your selection.
  • This will open up the bet slip, at which point you will see confirmation of the betting odds being offered
  • Now you choose your stake - most betting sites will show you how much you can expect to have returned if your prediction is correct.
  • If you are happy, simply hit, PLACE BET, to confirm your selection, stake, and bet.
  • You will be given a receipt for your bet and it will appear in your open bets in your account details.
  • Then it's just a matter of waiting to see which of the books is chosen as the winner.

Betting Apps

You have the option to use a bookmaker betting app to place your Booker Prize bet, we review and rate the best betting apps via our betting guides. 


ALSO READ

Betting Apps | Best UK Sports Betting Apps

May 09, 09:18am

The Booker Prize Betting News Diary Timeline

The betting for The Booker Prize is normally available after the longlist is revealed and then updated when the final six on the shortlist are announced.  Often the major bookies disagree on a favourite and there is plenty of movement in the Booker Prize Odds. 

Here is a round-up of the Booker Prize Betting News from our OLBG News feed

12th October 2022

ALSO READ

Booker Prize 2022 Betting Odds: Elizabeth Strout's 'Oh William!' now into 3/1 favourite with bookmakers to win this year's Booker Prize Award!

Oct 12, 10:27am

Elizabeth Strout is now the bookmaker's favourite to win this year's Booker Prize Award ahead of next week's event. The 2022 Booker Prize winner will be awarded on 17th October with the first public event with the winner set for Thursday 20th at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Smarkets have made Elizabeth Strout's 'Oh William!' the 3/1 favourite just ahead of 'The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida' by Shahan Karunatilaka.

1st September 2022

ALSO READ

Booker Prize 2022 Betting Odds: Alan Garner's Treacle Walker REMAINS 5/1 favourite with betting sites to win this year's award!

Sep 01, 11:45am

Alan Garner's Treacle Walker is now the 5/1 favourite with betting sites to win the 2022 Booker Prize Award. Walker's booked has received massive critical acclaim with one report in the Guardian calling it the "book of a lifetime". Maddie Mortimer's Maps of our Spectacular Bodies is joint-favourite at 5/1 with some betting sites. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout is just behind in the betting market with Bet365 at 6/1, with 13 candidates in the odds. Those 13 candidates will be whittled down to just 6 nominees next week on the 6th of September.

4th August 2022

ALSO READ

Booker Prize 2022 Betting Odds: Alan Garner's Treacle Walker is the 9/2 favourite to win this year's award!

Aug 04, 10:23am

Alan Garner's Treacle Walker is now the 9/2 favourite with bookmakers to win the 2022 Booker Prize Award. Walker's book has received massive critical acclaim with one report in the Guardian calling it the "book of a lifetime". Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout is just behind in the betting market at 5/1, with 13 candidates in the odds. Bet365 have a full list of odds available for the Prize, with each longlist nominee given odds.

15th September 2021

ALSO READ

Damon Galgut is cut to 5/2 with Bookmakers with a Promise of Booker Prize Glory

Sep 15, 07:57am

There were 7 disappointed authors from the Booker prize betting yesterday as their chances were killed off with the final shortlist of 6 being announced. The biggest to have been dropped being Kazuo Ishiguru's Klara and the Sun which had been Third Favourite at the shortlist 13 stage. Rachel Cusk's Second Place will not be gaining that position this year either after being dropped. Damon Galgut's 'The Promise' remains the favourite to win at 5/2 with bookmakers, closely followed by Richard Power's highly acclaimed 'Bewilderment' at 3/1, the remainder of the odds suggest this is rather a two-horse-race.

31st August 2021

ALSO READ

Bookmakers Make Kazuo Ishiguro 6/1 3rd Favourite to Land Second Booker Prize after 32 years!

Aug 31, 08:09am

As August comes to a close there are 13 excited authors on the Booker prize long list waiting expectedly and hoping their publication is not one of the seven eliminated as the Booker prize shortlist is announced on 14th September. There are currently there joint-favourites all being offered by Bookmakers at the same 11/2 odds to win the prize including Klara and the Sun from Kazuo Ishiguro. The Japanese-born British author has had multiple nominations in his career and has a previous booker prize win under his belt for 'Remains of the Day' back in 1989. Klara and the Sun is currently 11/2 to win representing a 15% chance as per bookmakers' odds. There is little to choose between the given probabilities of the expected 6 books to make the shortlist on 14th September. 

The Booker Prize Winners 1969-2022

Year Winner Author Novel Born
2022 Winner Shehan Karunatilaka The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida Sri Lanka
2021 Winner Damon Galgut The Promise South Africa
2020 Winner Douglas Stuart Shuggie Bain Scotland
2019 Joint Winner Margaret Atwood The Testaments Canada
2019 Joint Winner Bernardine Evaristo Girl, Woman, Other England
2018 Winner Anna Burns Milkman Northern Ireland
2017 Winner George Saunders Lincoln in the Bardo USA
2016 Winner Paul Beatty The Sellout USA
2015 Winner Marlon James A Brief History of Seven Killings Jamaica
2014 Winner Richard Flanagan The Narrow Road to the Deep North Australia
2013 Winner Eleanor Catton The Luminaries Canada
2012 Winner Hilary Mantel Bring Up the Bodies England
2011 Winner Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending England
2010 Winner Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question England
2009 Winner Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall England
2008 Winner Aravind Adiga The White Tiger India
2007 Winner Anne Enright The Gathering Ireland
2006 Winner Kiran Desai The Inheritance of Loss India
2005 Winner John Banville The Sea Ireland
2004 Winner Alan Hollinghurst The Line of Beauty England
2003 Winner DBC Pierre Vernon God Little Australia
2002 Winner Yann Martel Life of Pi Spain
2001 Winner Peter Carey True History of the Kelly Gang Australia
2000 Winner Margaret Atwood The Blind Assassin Canada
1999 Winner J. M. Coetzee Disgrace South Africa
1998 Winner Ian McEwan Amsterdam England
1997 Winner Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things India
1996 Winner Graham Swift Last Orders England
1995 Winner Pat Barker The Ghost Road England
1994 Winner James Kelman How late it was, how late Scotland
1993 Winner Roddy Doyle Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Ireland
1992 Joint Winner Michael Ondaatje The English Patient Sri Lanka
1992 Joint Winner Barry Unsworth Sacred Hunger England
1991 Winner Ben Okri The Famished Road Nigeria
1990 Winner A. S. Byatt Possession: A Romance England
1989 Winner Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day Japan
1988 Winner Peter Carey Oscar and Lucinda Australia
1987 Winner Penelope Lively Moon Tiger Egypt
1986 Winner Kingsley Amis The Old Devils England
1985 Winner Keri Hulme The Bone People New Zealand
1984 Winner Anita Brookner Hotel du Lac England
1983 Winner J. M. Coetzee Life & Times of Michael K South Africa
1982 Winner Thomas Keneally Schindler's Ark Australia
1981 Winner Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children India
1980 Winner William Golding Rites of Passage England
1979 Winner Penelope Fitzgerald Offshore England
1978 Winner Iris Murdoch The Sea, the Sea Ireland
1977 Winner Paul Scott Staying On England
1976 Winner David Storey Saville England
1975 Winner Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Heat and Dust Germany
1974 Joint Winner Nadine Gordimer The Conservationist South Africa
1974 Joint Winner Stanley Middleton Holiday England
1973 Winner J. G. Farrell The Siege of Krishnapur England
1972 Winner John Berger G. France
1971 Winner V. S. Naipaul In a Free State Trinidad & Tobago
1970 Winner Bernice Rubens The Elected Member Wales
1970 Winner J. G. Farrell Troubles England
1969 Winner P. H. Newby Something to Answer For England


Debut Novels

Only 6 authors have won with their debut novel, this includes the 2020 winner.

Douglas Stuart

Booker Prize Nationality of Winners

The Booker Prize is a truly international award as you can see by the winners below. 

English Booker Prize Winners

Around 53% of Booker Prize winners were born in the UK.

Country of Birth Wins
United Kingdom 29
Australia 5
Canada 4
Ireland 3
India 3
South Africa 3
New Zealand 2
USA 2
France 1
Jamaica 1
Sri Lanka 1
Nigeria 1

More Than One Winner

The Booker Prize has been shared on 3 occasions, in 1974, 1992, and 2019.

The Booker Prize Statistics

It can help our booker prize betting decisions to research various aspects of previous booker prize winners.

Genre Booker Prize Percentage
Historical fiction 36%
Fiction 27%
Psychological Fiction 11%
Historical Metafiction 4%
Domestic Fiction 4%
Dark Comedy 4%
Philosophical, Biography, Mystery, Comic 14%


Male or Female

35 Male (66%) and 18 Female (34%) authors have won the Booker Prize.

Five authors have won the Booker Prize on two occasions.

Author Title & Year
Margaret Attwood 2019 Testaments & 2000 The Blind Assasin 
Hilary Mantel 2009 Wolf Hall & 2012 Bring Out The Bodies
Peter Carey 1988 Oscar and Lucinda & 2001 True History Of the Kelly Gang
JM Coetzee 1983 Life and Times Of Michael K & 1999 Disgrace
JG Farrell 1973 The Siege of Krishnapur & 2010 The Troubles 


The Booker Prize Historical Betting Odds

To give you some insight into betting odds and percentages here are the betting odds prior to the winner being announced. 

2022

Author Title Betting Odds Bookmakers Percentage Chance
Alan Garner Treacle Walker 4.0 or 3/1 25%
Elizabeth Strout Oh William! 4.5 or 7/2 22.22%
NoViolet Bulawayo Glory 4.5 or 7/2 22.22%
Shehan Karunatilaka (Winner) The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida 6.0 or 5/1 16.67%
Claire Keegan Small Things Like These 6.0 or 5/1 16.67%
Percival Everett The Trees 6.5 or 11/2 15.38%

2021

Author Title Betting Odds Bookmakers Percentage Chance
Damon Galgut (Winner) The Promise 2.75 or 2/1  36.36%
Nadifa Mohamed The Fortune Men 3.0 or 2/1 33.33%
Maggie Shipstead Great Circle 3.75 or 11/4 26.67%
Richard Powers Bewilderment 8.0 or 7/1 12.50%
Anuk Arudpragasam A Passage North 10.0 or 9/1 10.00%
Patricia Lockwood No One Is Talking About This 10.0 or 9/1 10.00%

2020

Author Title Betting Odds Bookmakers Percentage Chance
Douglas Stuart (Winner) Shuggie Bain 4.5 or 7/2 @ Ladbrokes 22.22%
Maaza Mengiste The Shadow King 5.0 or 4/1 @ Ladbrokes 20.67%
Tsitsi Dangarembga This Mournable Body 5.0 or 4/1 @ Paddy Power 20.00%
Brandon Taylor Real Life 7.0 or 6/1 @Paddy Power 14.27%
Diane Cook The New Wilderness 9.0 or 8/1 @ Ladbrokes 11.11%
Avni Doshi Burnt Sugar 13.00 or 12/1@ Ladbrokes 7.69%



International Booker Prize Winner 2022

The winner was announced last year as The Tomb Of The Sand by Geetanjali Shree translated by Daisy Rockwell. In 2021 it was At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop and translated by Anna Moschovakis

International Booker Prize

The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for the finest single work of fiction from around the world which has been translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland.

The £50,000 International Booker Prize money is equally split between the author and translator. 

Booker Prize

With jury voting, it will always be a subjective opinion, and with human beings prone to emotion the most moving novel often seems to do well.

The Booker Prize Controversy

Since the Booker Prize was created in 1969 it has seen its fair share of controversy with both at times judges and authors questioning the fairness of the award and whether it is appropriate to rate books. 

In 2019 the judges went off message by awarding the prize to two authors, despite being told that this was against the Booker rules. 

In  June 2020 there was another literary furore when the Booker Foundation Vice President Lady Nicholson was removed from her honorary position. 

The Peer had been criticized by writers who accused her of homophobia.

Authors cited her for voting against the Same-Sex Marriage Bill, and for as some saw it her controversial comments on social media in relation to the trans community.

Booker Prize FAQ

  • How long have we been able to bet on the Booker Prize?

    Booker Prize Betting has been available since 2015, the odds tend to be on offer from the biggest betting sites. 


  • What month do we first get Booker Prize Odds?

     The Booker Prize odds are normally available when the long list is announced, (In 2022 it was the end of July)


  • What year was the Booker Prize first awarded?

     1969 saw the Inaugural Booker Prize award.


  • Who was the first winner of the Booker Prize?

    P.H Newby, his winning novel was titled Something to Answer For. He was prolific, writing more than 25 fiction and non-fiction books. 


  • Who is the Oldest Booker Prize winner?

    The oldest Booker Prize winner was Margaret Attwood.

    She was 79 when she shared the Booker Prize in 2019 for her novel The Testaments.

    This was a sequel to the now better known The Handmaid's Tale. 

  • Who is the Youngest Booker Prize winner?

    The youngest Booker Prize Winner is Eleanor Catton, she was just 28 when she won in 2013 for The Luminaries, a complex and lengthy mystery. 

No Comments

There are no comments here. Be the first to comment...

Please login or register to reply to this blog

By using this site you confirm you are 18+ and consent to our use of cookies and processing of personal data as set out in our Privacy Policy
Got it!

We detected you are connecting from United States. We have a different section in our site for users from your country.

You are not logged in.
__user_name_placeholder__ avatar Hi, username! Logout