Competitive eaters to down MoonPies at Caruthersville casino

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- Fifteen Major League Eaters and one ordinary audience member will compete Saturday in the second annual MoonPie Eating World Championship at Lady Luck Casino in Caruthersville.

Among the challengers is the No. 2-ranked Major League Eater of the World Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti and No. 3-ranked eater Tim "Eater X" Janus. Bertoletti holds the current Jalapeno Eating Championship title with his record of 275 jalapenos in eight minutes. Janus is the Tiramisu Eating Champion of the World and has also claimed the tamale eating record, consuming 71 tamales in 12 minutes.

The MoonPie Eating World Championship will start at 4 p.m. Saturday at The Lone Wolf inside the Lady Luck Casino pavilion. Competitors will have eight minutes to eat as many MoonPies as they can. Janus, of New York City, has never eaten MoonPies in competition before.

"It's going to be a hard contest," he said. MoonPies "are soft but also sort of crumbly and bind together and they get stuck, so it's going to be tough."

The competition is just as tough as the MoonPies.

"There are probably five guys competing that all have a good chance of winning, and that's a little unsettling," Janus said. "Normally I can go to a contest and I know who I have to worry about; this one there are a lot of people I have to worry about."

Competitors chose their own beverage to help with the digestion of the MoonPies. Janus said he heard that RC Cola is best, but he usually brings lemonade.

"The main thing is to just go as fast as possible," he said. "You don't want to get caught up trying to chew something that is uncooperative. You want to just swallow it and move onto the next MoonPie."

Janus, a former stock trader, started professional eating as a fun alternative to his day job and has been eating in contests for seven years now. In addition to his tiramisu and tamale eating records, Janus holds seven other world eating records.

The event is free to the public and open to all ages. Organizers will draw a name of an audience member who will have the chance to compete alongside the Major League Eaters. Registration is between 3 and 4 p.m. Saturday at the casino.

Lisa McMahan, the director of marketing for Lady Luck, said each Isle of Capri Casino holds different eating contests nationwide, and the Lady Luck Casino in Caruthersville is home of the MoonPie Eating World Championship. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners, with first place winning $1,500.

For more information, call the Lady Luck Casino at 573-333-6318.