5 am: The prop-betting evolves … as Pauly discovers (much to Benjo’s dismay) the Hungarian offshoot of lime tossing: trying to hit bums with apple cores. The ethically questionable game of skill comes up as Pauly is on prop-bet tilt after losing a scaled down apple bet. From there, the good doctor and his Euro-conscience debate what games of bum abuse may or may not be acceptable.
Book 3: Budapest (w/ Benjo)
Episode 3.4: Euro Core-tossing 3:17
[audio:tao/TOP-3-4.mp3]
… even though the dudes from PokerListings think so when they drink. If competitive eating were to become the next poker, though, it would probably be fun to see the field whittled down to a “final table”.
For those interested in seeing a real competitive eater at work, I interviewed Rich LeFevre, aka “The Locust”, as he successfully gulped down The Ultimate Steak at Brand (nice, fancy-ish steakhouse at the Monte Carlo) — a 120oz porterhouse (with sides) that usually feeds six, but is free if it feeds one and you clean your plate.
It took LeFevre 40 minutes, and that was with me peppering him with questions all the while:
As far as life on the competitive eating circuit goes, LeFevre looks back to the golden days of 2005, when he competed in 26 events and won $35,000. Clearly this dude could make way more money via prop bets as a competitive-eating hustler … but considering that he asked for ice cream after he finished devouring 8 pounds of steak, a pound of potatoes, and an similar volume of creamed spinach, you can tell he does it just for the love of the “sport”.
More…
Prop bets among the international press break out at the EPT afterparty, and, of course, Benjo and Pauly are there to moderate/get in on the action. The big bet comes when Matt Showell challenges his PokerListings colleague Rod Stirzaker‘s claim that he can eat 50 apples in 90 minutes. Legal concerns emerge (what’s the rule on a prop bet that leads to death?) before it turns into a scavenger hunt to find 50 edible Granny Smiths at 3:30am in Budapest.
Book 3: Budapest (w/ Benjo)
Episode 3.3: Competitive Apple Eating 4:08
[audio:tao/TOP-3-3.mp3]
