Crowe: Favourite to win an Oscar

Goldfish racing, first revealed at the start of the month, could become a hot favourite.

All competitors will start the opening race at odds of 5-1 with William Hill, but with goldfish renowned for their short memories, form guides for future races may not be reliable.

For those who prefer to have some knowledge of what they are betting on, how about predicting the Oscar winners?

Gladiator is odds-on to win Best Film, with Traffic and Erin Brokovich joint second favourites at 11-2.

Ridiculous

If you think the Conservatives will overhaul Labour's lead and win the General Election this year, you will get odds of 5-1.

Meanwhile Lennox Lewis has already been installed as 6-4 favourite to lift the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2001 - ahead of Denise Lewis (3-1) and Round-the-world yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur (4-1).

You can also put a wager on who will shoot EastEnders' Phil Mitchell, which will be shown on BBC1 on Thursday.

But perhaps one of the more ridiculous wagers is to predict who Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, currently going through a bitter divorce, will end up marrying.

Burke: 100-1 to marry Tom Cruise

William Hill are offering odds of 4-1 that Kidman will wed Gladiator star Russell Crowe.

Actress Penelope Cruz is 6-4 favourite to walk down the aisle with Cruise, although Meg Ryan is a decent bet at 25-1 and Kathy Burke worth a punt at 100-1.

If after all that you are still stuck on what to bet on - how about a wager on yourself?

Paul Channa, from north London, who is celebrating his 28th birthday, walked into a bookies and bet that he will live until he is 127.

He was offered the generous odds of 10,000,000-1!