Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest: Joey Chestnut favorite

What could be more patriotic than the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest? For those of you who ask what is the Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest - it is an annual hot dog eating competition held at Nathan's Famous original and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. The competition is held each year on the 4th of July and is regarded world-wide as the most famous hot dog eating contest. The popularity of the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest has exploded to the point where now it's televised live on ESPN and draws millions of viewers. Of course, with such an interest, it's only natural that the online bookmakers are offering odds on who will win.

There have been two main competitors at the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, one is America's own Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., who took the 2007 title back home by eating 66 hot dogs (that's hot dogs and buns) under 12 minutes for a new world record, beating his long-time adversary Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi from Japan. Takeru Kobayashi has taken the title seven straight times - from 2000 until losing in 2007 to Chestnut. But in 2008, at the online sportsbook BodogSports, Joey Chestnut is the favorite to win the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, listed with odds 4/5. The San José State University student entered the competitive eating scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in the deep-fried asparagus eating championship, in which he beat high-ranked eater Rich LeFevre by eating 6.3 pounds of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. That same year, during Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, Chestnut downed 52 hot dogs and buns, placing second behind Takeru Kobayashi.

But don't underestimate Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, who holds second best odds at 20/21. Out of the seven times Kobayashi has won the Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest, the Japanese competitive eater set new world record five times. When Takeru Kobayashi set his first record at his rookie appearance on July 4th, 2001,by eating 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes at the Nathan's Coney Island hot dog-eating contest, the record was so unexpected, that when Kobayashi got to the later numbers, the organizers ran out of signs indicating how many dogs Kobayashi had eaten and had to resort to handwritten signs. Real though competitor and the results of the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest could swing either way. The 2008 Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest is scheduled for July 4th, 2008 at 12 p.m. EST, you can catch it live on ESPN and bet online at BodogSports.

Published on 07/03/2008