This Week in Meaningless Sport Betting: The Hot Dog Eating Championship

This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest (although really the 40th).  According to local legend, four immigrants had a Hot Dog eating contest in 1916 to decide which one was the most patriotic, although that legend is up for debate.  The competition heated up in the 70’s and became more internationally known with the inclusion of the IFOCE, the International Federation of Competitive Eating, in 1997.  Now all competitions, usually about 20 per year are required to be card carrying members of the IFOCE.  

The event is not without it’s fair share of controversy.  In 1999, Competitor Steve Kainer was caught on camera eating half of his first dog before competition began, but the judges never saw it and he was awarded the championship.  Also in 2003 attempts were made for a celebrity edition starring William "the Refrigerator" Perry, but after he failed to complete his sixth dog, the idea was quickly abandoned.  

In 2001, Takeru Kobayashi took home the championship catapulting the event to new levels of international acclaim.  He would go on to hold the belt for six years before the eight year reign of Joey Chestnut.  Kobayashi almost lost his title in 2007 when known around the IFOCE the Roman Method Incident, more commonly known as vomiting, nearly cost him disqualification. Last year, in an All American final, Matt Stonie took away Chestnut’s belt winning 62-60 in a ten minute bout.

There are multiple different strategies used by the competitors today.  Kobayashi invented the Solomon method, where a competitor breaks the dog in half, eats, and then eats the bun.  Other methods include the Carlene Pop, the Buns & Roses, which both include movement and of course “Julieting” which only occurs when a competitor cheats and throws the buns over their shoulder.  

This year looks at fierce competition between defending Champion Matt Stonie and eight time champ Joey Chestnut.  Current odds see Stonie as the favorite with Stonie at -130 and Chestnut at -110.  Originally you could’ve gotten Chestnut at +135, which is where I took him.  Chestnut is 32 years old and owns plenty of world records including 12.8 lbs of deep fried Asparagus in 10 minutes, 13.76 lbs of pork rib meat in 12, and 141 hard boiled eggs in eight minutes.  He also has the current Nathan record with 69.  For years he has complained of not having a true rival, but now he does.  Also before last years competition he was getting over his fiancee breaking up with him.  I believe the extra year gave him time to reflect and considering that 62 dogs was the winning total last year and Chestnut has overtaken said number 5 times in championship competition; the safe bet is with the underdog. 

On this weekend’s episode we will look at the Munster Senior Championship in Gaelic Football between Kerry and Tipperary.  Kerry features as a gigantic favorite, but we will discuss if Tipperary is worth a few dollars at +1000 odds.