Best bets to win an Emmy

Hosted by Stephen Colbert, the 69th annual Primetime Emmy Awards show airs at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, on CBS. Online betting sites, such as Bovada.lv, allow wagers on the top categories.

Among the favorites are “Veep” for best comedy series, “Stranger Things” and “This Is Us” for best drama series, and Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”) for outstanding actor in a drama.

In the outstanding comedy series category, “Veep,” which has won the award the past two years, is -375 on Bovada, (bet $375 to win $100). Next is “Atlanta” at +300 and “Blackish” at +1,600 (or 16-to-1), bet $100 to win $1,600.

In the outstanding drama series category, “Stranger Things” is the favorite at +150, “This Is Us” is +250, “The Handmaid’s Tale” is +350 and “The Crown” is +450. “Westworld” is a longshot at +1,500 (15-to-1).

“This is going to be the first year with no ‘Game of Thrones,’ which has won the award back-to-back,” said Trevor Dueck of SportsBettingDime.com, a site that posts odds but doesn’t take bets on entertainment award shows. “So that’s going to leave a huge opening.”

There’s been a lot of buzz about “Stranger Things,” Dueck said, adding that “the biggest drop has been with ‘The Crown,’ ” with chances for “Westworld” falling as well “because Emmy voters traditionally steer away from sci-fi and fantasy.”

Dueck noted that this year the Emmys shifted to plurality voting in which voters select “their favorite nominee” rather than ranking them. “So that changes things,” he said. “We may see a lot of upsets and twists.”

For outstanding lead actor in a drama series, Brown, who plays Randall in “This Is Us,” is a strong favorite at -175 — and is pitted against co-star Milo Ventimiglia, who plays his father, Jack, on the show. Brown is “the breakout character of the year,” Dueck said. But Bob Odenkirk from “Better Call Saul,” at +225, has a good chance of “sneaking up.” Also in the category are heavy hitters Anthony Hopkins (“Westworld”) at 5-to-1 and Kevin Spacey (“House of Cards”) at 33-to-1.

For outstanding lead actress in a drama series, the favorite is Elisabeth Moss from “The Handmaid’s Tale” at -400 followed by Claire Foy (“The Crown”) at +250. Foy has won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II; she has a chance to win all three major awards in the same calendar year.

“The Emmys love to make history, so maybe they will give it to Claire Foy, but I think Moss has the edge,” Dueck said, adding that Viola Davis (“How To Get Away With Murder”) at 28-to-1 “brings that Hollywood big-time, award-winning actress to the category, so there’s a chance she could win.”

For the full slate of odds: http://bit.ly/2jiI3zP Michael Shapiro (www.michaelshapiro.net) is author of “A Sense of Place.” Twitter: @shapirowrites