What's July 4th without a hot dog or two….or 60, as it will be for Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi in the 94th annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Hey, I grabbed a bacon and cheese dog from a vendor yesterday and loved it, but I couldn't imagine eating five dozen of them in the next year, let alone in a 10-minute time span. But that's why we leave it to the professional eaters.
This eating contest has become a tradition in New York, gaining international exposure (thank you ESPN) and impressive spectator numbers (30,000 showed up to watch last year).
And with the popularity, the sports betting world has taken notice and bettors look forward to having a little fun with it every year as well.
Online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com is offering up the biggest number of prop bets and wagering options for the event, with some very cool betting offers.
As you might expect, most of the betting focus surrounds the rivalry between the two top contestants (the only two people who have won the competition the past eight years) Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi.
As it stands, Chestnut is listed as the odds-on at -125, Kobayashi is next in line, with hot dog contest odds listed at -105, and the Field is listed at +1000. SPORTSBETTING.com is seeing a little over 60% of the action right now on the reigning champ Chestnut.
There was a time and place when Kobayashi, nicknamed "the Tsunami," was actually like a force of nature-he won five-consecutive years in a row between 2001 and 2006-but he is currently on a two-contest losing streak, with Chestnut grabbing back to back wins.
With Kobayashi and Chestnut the two big favorites, let's look at the head-to-head bets you can make:
In matchup betting between the two, Kobayashi is listed at -105 while Chestnut is listed at -125 and there are also "Adjusted Lines" with 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 dog lines.
When it comes to propositions:
The Over/Under for the amount of hot dogs the eventual winner will eat is set at 61.5 and the O/U for the margin of victory between the winner and the person in 19th place is set at 43.5.
Do you think the contest will go into overtime, aka a "Dog-Off?" If there is and you wager, it will pay out at a whopping +1000 and if it doesn't, which is the most likely scenario, it will pay out at -2500.
Who will eat 15 hot dogs first? Will it be the favorite Chestnut (-135) or will it be Kobayashi (+105)?
Will Chestnut down 30 hot dogs first (-125) or will it by his Japanese counterpart (-105)?
Will the defending champ Chestnut devour 45 hot dogs first (-125) or will Kobayashi (-105) beat him to the punch?
There is even a Grand Salami-like Total bet for the contest, the Grand Dogami.
Like its hockey and baseball counterpart, the bet revolves around the total number of hot dogs eaten by all contestants with the Over/Under set at 604.5.
The Fourth of July is fast approaching and with it barbeques, fireworks and picnics comes betting on hot dog eating.
You might even want to throw some hot dogs on the grill.
Enjoy your long weekend.
Bovada Sportsbook •
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