You can gamble pretty much anywhere these days, from the scabrous shores of Atlantic City to the ebullient banks of the mighty Mississippi (and the, uh, majestic peaks of the Internet). But there's really no better place in the whole wide world to do it than Las Vegas.

As luck would have it, that's where the MTV Video Music Awards are taking place — live from the Palms Casino on Sunday, September 9. And since we'll be in the Mecca of wagering, we decided it'd be a good idea to handicap the race for the evening's biggest award: Video of the Year.

(Why wait until Sunday to get your VMAs on? See who might take home the most prized Moonman, what to bring to Sin City and much more.)

This is actually harder than it looks. For the first time since 2002, there are six nominees for Video of the Year, and the field is split between grizzled VMA vets, highly touted newcomers and one pair of French DJs. Picking a favorite is really better left to the experts. That's why we went to some of gamble-dom's elite — oddsmaker/ radio personality/ ESPN analyst/ self-described "horse player" Hank "The Hammer" Goldberg; the brain trusts behind Ladbrokes, the largest betting company in the U.K.; and online-gaming purveyors Bodog Entertainment — to get the odds on who will be taking home the biggest, shiniest Moonman come VMA night.

And while our oddsmakers might not agree on everything (check their differing opinions on Amy Winehouse), they did manage to come to one consensus: Justice don't have a prayer.

» Oddsmaker: Hank Goldberg
» How He Picked 'Em: "I looked at the videos — I knew the stories behind a couple of them — and I tried to figure out who's hot right now. For example, all this stuff in the news about Amy Winehouse is probably going to have some influence on the way people vote. Also, I try to stay current on the videos, but to be honest, half of the ones I watch, I don't know who they are. But I'm a Justin Timberlake fan. I think he's tremendous, and I think his work has always been good. I like Beyoncé too. I mean, there's no question she's a fox, but her music's real good too."

1. Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z), "Umbrella": Odds: 3/5. "I made this my favorite because I watched all the videos and I figured out who was hot. And I don't think there's a hotter video than 'Umbrella.' "

2. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab": Odds: 2/1. "She's getting so much attention, and the message in the video has sort of become a true-life experience."

3. Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable": Odds: 7/2. "I think she's just terrific."

4. Justin Timberlake, "What Goes Around ... Comes Around": Odds: 4/1. "I think he's got so many nominations, sometimes that factors in. Actually, I probably should've made him better than fourth choice. But this is the video that supposedly wrecked his romance, so I factored that in."

5. Kanye West, "Stronger": Odds: 6/1. "I just thought the other videos had better messages and better stories behind them, which are better reasons to be favored. The special effects didn't sway me. I'm a horse player; sometimes you get into a situation where the most heralded horse may not win the derby."

6. Justice, "D.A.N.C.E.": Odds: 10/1. "I'm not really too familiar with them, but I just think they're the outsiders. Very frequently, when horses are brought over from across the pond, the horse players over here aren't familiar with them, and so they go off at a long price. Then again, sometimes those horses also win. It happens in Breeder's Cups all the time ... particularly if they run on a grass course, where they're familiar with the turf, and the horse players never know. And the oddsmakers aren't that familiar with them either."

» Oddsmaker: Ladbrokes
» How They Picked 'Em: "Justin Timberlake's videos rarely disappoint, and this offering is no exception," explained Nick Weinberg, head of Ladbrokes' novelty betting division. "He'll face stiff competition from the likes of Beyoncé and Rihanna, but we expect JT to land the prize."

1. Justin Timberlake, "What Goes Around ... Comes Around": Odds: 2/1. "See our reasons above."

2. Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable": Odds: 5/2. "You can never discount a music video from Beyoncé."

3. Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z), "Umbrella": Odds: 4/1. "Popular single, but the video may just lack edge."

4. Kanye West, "Stronger": Odds: 5/1. "Just falls short in our opinion."

5. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab": Odds: 8/1. "Not the strongest offering."

6. Justice, "D.A.N.C.E.": Odds: 12/1. "A good video, but should struggle against the opposition."

» Oddsmaker: Bodog Entertainment
» How They Picked 'Em: "The competition for the Video of the Year award is so intense that even [we] were hard-pressed to pick a clear favorite," Bodog's Entertainment Bookmakers wrote in an e-mail. "We split the top honors between "Stronger" by Kanye West and "Umbrella" by Rihanna, [but] all things considered, this year's competition is amazingly tight, and the award could go to anyone."

1. Kanye West, "Stronger," and Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z), "Umbrella": Odds: 5/2. "Both videos and songs are impressive and have done incredibly well, so picking one over the other was nearly impossible."

3. Justin Timberlake, "What Goes Around ... Comes Around": Odds: 3/1. "A not-so-distant second. While both the song and the video have done very well, they haven't shared the same success as some of Justin's past work."

4. Justice, "D.A.N.C.E.": Odds: 4:1. "Definitely one of the more creative videos on the list, but at the same time the song hasn't done as well as the others on the list."

5. Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable": Odds: 5:1

6. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab": Odds: 6:1. "Both Beyoncé and Amy had some of the biggest songs of the year, but they also have the most traditional videos of the group, which is why they are ranked in fifth and sixth place, respectively."

Wait -- don't cash out on the VMAs just yet! From Britney's sultry comeback performance to the big winners, you saw it all -- well, almost everything! Get yourself even richer with our wall-to-wall show coverage, party reports, videos and loads more at www.VMA.MTV.com. For reports, photos, video and much, much more from previous VMAs, dive into the VMA archives.