Joey Chestnut Dominance Has Caused Bettors To Lose Common Sense

The unhealthy dominance of Joey “Jaws” Chestnut continues to captivate the United States of America ahead of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Contest held on the Fourth of July.

All eyes will be on Chestnut on Tuesday as his mouth wraps around both bun and dog all while his constantly flexing jaw leaves nothing in its wake. Chestnut will by vying for his 16th belt, the belt which will thankfully rest on his shoulder as opposed to wrap around his ballooned waist.

Chestnut, who entered his first hot dog competition in 2005, hasn’t lost since 2015. Notably, he has the 10 highest totals with his 76 hot dogs in 2021 serving as the record — one of six times he’s inhaled more than 70 dogs and buns.

There’s no debating that Chestnut is the GOAT of competitive eating.

And while there is absolutely zero value in placing a bet on the “Glizzy Gladiator,” he’s become as much of a Fourth of July staple as fireworks themselves. It’s why so many bettors can’t help themselves whenever the event rolls around. But it’s still important to do so with some common sense.

One DraftKings Sportsbook bettor, for example, didn’t exactly have that. He wagered $2,000 on Chestnut — let’s digest this slowly — to eat more hot dogs than anyone else. It would win said bettor a mere $50 as he put the wager on Chestnut at -4000.

… -4000 to eat hot dogs!

Chestnut was listed at -5000 on BetMGM as of Monday morning, too. Still, he represents 69% of the handle and 16.2% of the tickets at BetMGM, which indicates that DraftKings bettor isn’t the only one with a large sum on Jaws.

The competition will be televised on ESPN at noon ET.