Eating Contests That Pay

Can you imagine getting paid for gorging yourself and stuffing yourself full of usually-bad-for-you food. Contrary to popular belief, professional eaters who participate in the Major League Eating circuit are not obese and don't eat large amounts every single day. They have managed to stretch their stomachs out and can cram more in there than the regular Joe. There are also some interesting techniques that they use to keep a constant flow of food going down their esophagus. Their training can consist of building elasticity of their stomachs by eating foods that expand with liquids. If not done well and monitored closely, competitive eating can be very unhealthy. In fact, the International Federation of Competitive Eating does not encourage, nor allow training to exist in its circuit. Regulating such rules, however, can be difficult on a day-by-day basis.

The World Class Corned Beef Eating Championship carries one of the largest purses in the Major League Eating competitions. The prize payouts are:

• 1st - $12,500
• 2nd - $2,500
• 3rd - $1,500
• 4th - $1,250
• 5th - $1,000
• 6th - $750
• 7th - $500

This $12,500 first prize payout is the highest in the circuit. This beef-eating event will be taking place for the second time on March 17th, 2011 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In addition to seeing the professionals gorge themselves, there will also be an amateur contest with a total payout of $5,000. What a way to spend St. Patrick's Day!!

Last year, at the birth of this event, Joey Chestnut, the #1 Eater, downed 15 1/2 TooJay's Corned Beef Sandwiches in ten minutes. TooJay's is a New York Style Deli chain that has 26 full service restaurants in Florida.

This wing-eating contest will be in Dallas, TX for the 2011 competition.  On February 1, 2011, Major League Eating competitors will be eating as many chicken wings as they can.  A total of $10,000 will be given away in the following payout levels:

• 1st-$5,000
• 2nd-$2,000
• 3rd-$1,500
• 4th-$750
• 5th-$500
• 6th-$250

Wingstop is sponsoring this competition, providing a bottomless pit of wings for the competitors to stuff into their stomachs.  The Wingstop headquarters is in Texas, where they have come up with nine different flavors for consumers...Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, and Hickory Smoked BBQ.  I wonder which flavor they serve for the Wingstop World Wing-Eating Championships.

Loose meat sandwiches was the only dish served at the Isle Casino Bettendorf Maid-Rite Sandwich Eating World Championships. On November 6, 2011, Pat Bertoletti was crowned champion when he took ten minutes to consume 26 Maid-Rite loose meat sandwiches. The second place, Bob Shoudt came in second with 23 sandwiches. Pat took home $2,500 and Bob raked in $1,500.

This particular competition was one of many Major League Eating events hosted at Isle of Capri properties. Some of the other competitions feature interesting foods, such as peanut butter and banana sandwiches eaten in Biloxi, MS and pickles in Pompano Park, FL.

For more information about the Major League Eating Championships sponsored by Isle of Capri, visit their website.  They are the biggest sponsors for the events.

Each year, the Annual Stockton, California Asparagus Festival is kicked off by THE event of the celebration: The World Deep-Fried Asparagus Eating Championship. There is a total cash prize purse of $2,750 awarded to those who can stomach the strong taste of asparagus. Of course, anything deep fried does taste good.

The #1 Eater, Joey Chestnut has won this event five times and still holds the record. In 2008, he ate 8.8 pounds of asparagus in ten minutes. In 2009, the #2 Eater, Pat Bertoletti had a chance to take the crown from Joey, however, the record still remains unreachable to Pat. Chestnut won the competition in 2010 but also had a hard time breaking his own record.

If you are interested in finding out more about eating competitions and learning more about how eaters do it, visit the International Federation of Competitive Eating's website. They organize and regulate over a hundred World League Eating Championship events each year. Their three most popular events are the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, the La Costena Jalapeno Challenge, and the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship.