Betting insights for Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest

It almost seems criminal that the men's and women's champions in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest wil each make only $10,000 for their efforts, considering the event may be seen by as many as two million people live on ESPN.

Oh, the winners get a belt too, which we trust must be worth a lot of money. Otherwise, this is one of the last sporting endeavors where the competitors are doing it for the "love of the game."

And speaking of love, how about a genuine couple involved in a BetOnline prop? Nick Wehry is a world-class eater; his over-under is 47.5 dogs (-115 either way). He is +300 to win the contest in a "without Joey Chestnut" prop.

He is also a -350 /+275 favorite over his significant other. Niki Sudo is, if you will, the Chestnut of the women's side of the competition. The world recored holder for ice cream and kimchi, she is representative of the strides these women have made. When she won her first Nathan's championship in 2014, she downed 34 dogs. By the time she had won her SEVENTH straight title, in 2020, her total was 48.5. That was a new world women's record.

To put that in perspective, in 2003 that would have been good enough to win the title against Kobayashi. And it was 18 more than last year's women's champion managed.

Sudo, who set her world record indoors, with no fans present (due to the pandemic), had to sit out last year's event. But she had a good reason - she was expecting a child she was having with Wehry. So there's another factor here - motherhood.

These two actually "practice" together, but not so frequently, because, in the words of Wehry, "Usually one of us has to practice and the other one's on baby duty."

She is nonetheless expected to dominate and recapture her crown. That has been reflected in her being listed at -5000 at BetOnline. Her top competition is likely to be last year's winner, Michelle Lesco, who has finished second in the event three times and has been among the top four every year since the women were given their own separate competition in 2014.

But Lesco only got to 30-3/4 dogs last year in the process of winning the "Pink Belt." So the general feeling is that she is borrowing it until Sudo takes it back.

Lesco is a 38-year-old out of Tucson whois known as the "Cardboard Shell." We're not sure why, but we know that she once ate 4.5 pounds of rib meat in twelve minutes.

So yes, we have high drama, and a backstory.

Wehry, a former competitive bodybuilder, started out his eating career in a jelly donut-eating contest. is fourth overall in the Major League Eating rankings. That's one spot behind his girl. He once ate 50 hard boiled eggs in 184 seconds. Don't try this at home, kids. You may wind up having a "reversal of fortune." In plain language, that means throwing up, and if do that during this contest, you are O-U-T.

Bet the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, and many other strange and interesting events, at BetOnline, where it's easy to sign up with just about any cryptocurrency in the world!