The Man Booker Prize Winner Odds

One of the most anticipated events in the world of fiction will be taking place tonight at a dinner in London's Guildhall. BBC will be broadcasting the evening at around 22h00 online, via television and radio.

What's up for grabs?
Luckily for some, there are two sets of prizes up for grabs: one for the authors themselves, and the other for those correctly anticipating the winners.

The shortlist revealed
Sarah Waters with The Little Stranger (Little, Brown, Virago)

Hilary Mantel with Wolf Hall (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)

Simon Mawer with The Glass Room (Little, Brown)

A S Byatt with The Children's Book (Random House, Chatto and Windus)

J M Coetzee with Summertime (Random House, Harvill Secker)

Adam Foulds with The Quickening Maze (Random House, Jonathan Cape)

There will be a first-place check for £50,000 going to the winner. But more importantly are the publicity and book sales that go with the victory.

In addition, all six of the shortlisted authors will be receiving £2,500 and a designer bound edition of their own book. 

The evening's proceedings will be chaired by author and broadcaster James Naughtie. The competition's judges will include Michael Prodger, Lucasta Miller, Professor John Mullan and Sue Perkins.

The latest hot tip is that British author Hilary Mantel is favoured to scoop the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction tonight. She is up against tough competition in two-time winner J. M. Coetzee though.

Online players will be able to place wagers at both Ladbrokes and William Hill Sports. So if you have a hunch you could soon find yourself in the pound seats!