The way we structured the betting pool was by ranking in terms of likelihood, the results of the Hollywood Stock Exchange. So, if you vote for instance for the most likely to win best movie, The Departed, you only get 1 point but if The Queen had won for example, you get 5 points because it was least favored to win. Basically, we pegged to the HSX and rewarded people for predicting long shots. I won mostly because I was the only person who had money on Alan Arkin for Best Supporting Actor and since he was second favored to win, I got 2 point for that category!

'm still in shock that I won the Oscar betting pool last night - I never win these things! ...which is why I woke up this morning with a nasty little smile on my face, fondly remembering my winnings...but the smile was soon erased when Jonah reminded me that everyone kind of hates the person that wins...and I thought, oh, that's true - I do always kind of hate the winner. So I'm now saying for the record, I'm sorry I was that person (winner) and rest assured that victory (when stepping outside of the victor's perspective) is bittersweet!

* If you can make sense of the above photo, I'll split my winnings with you.