Six-and-a-half years ago, Tim Janus was a New York City day trader losing his pants.
Today, he is “Eater X,” a top-ranked competitive muncher set to stuff his mouth with Rocky Mountain oysters in Colorado’s high country.
Eater X, who has always used that moniker in competition, and 14 others will participate in a professionally sanctioned eating contest sponsored by the Isle Casino in Black Hawk.
“This is the first time in the modern era that we’ve had (a Rocky Mountain oyster contest) sponsored,” Janus said Friday. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve eaten Rocky Mountain oysters before. I like them.”
Local casinos are increasingly leaning on such special events to draw gamblers and broaden their appeal. On Thursday, Fortune Valley Hotel & Casino in Central City hosted auditions for “The Price Is Right” television game show. Acts such as “The Vegas Road Show” have played during the week.
“As we come along as a destination, we’ll see more of this,” said Joanne Lah, executive director of the Black Hawk/Central City Visitors & Convention Bureau. “People are looking for other activities. They love to go up and game, but they have a member of the family that would rather do the history piece of it or see the entertainment.”
The winner of today’s eating event will set an official world record for Rocky Mountain oysters.
“We should be looking at 7 or 8 pounds,” said the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Janus. “That should be around the winning total.”
The Isle will have 120 pounds of deep-fried bull’s testicles on hand for the 10-minute competition, which will take place at sister casino Lady Luck.
The eating contest arrives as monthly casino revenue is declining compared with a year ago, perhaps because the shine from looser regulations has worn off. In July 2009, Colorado casinos were allowed to raise the maximum bet to $100 from $5, add roulette and craps, and operate around the clock. The changes immediately bolstered business.
The Isle has hosted eating contests at four other properties this year, each featuring a different food item. Three more are planned.
“It’s just something really different,” said Elissa Plastino, a spokeswoman for the Isle. “It gets new people in our door who may not have been there before.”
The Isle expects a crowd of about 400 people for today’s competition, which will feature six of Major League Eating’s Top 10 eaters and a prize pool of $5,000.
The biggest draw will be fifth-ranked Janus, a 33-year-old who paints his face like a wrestler for competitions. He recently appeared on national TV training Shaquille O’Neal for a hot-dog competition against the No. 1 eater, Joey Chestnut.
This summer, Janus finished second to Chestnut in the Super Bowl of competitive eating, the Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating contest. It’s an unlikely career path for a guy who majored in political science in college and later worked as a day trader.
“It had gotten really tough, . . . and I didn’t like to go to work very much,” the soft-spoken Janus said Friday, recalling when he made the career change. “I had been reading about some of the competitive-eating stuff, . . . and some of the records seemed doable.”
So he signed up for a corned-beef competition in New York. He didn’t do so well in that first event but now holds several world records, including one for ramen noodles, consuming 10.5 pounds in eight minutes.
A Wikipedia entry says Janus’ stomach can expand four times larger than an average stomach, a figure he says is too low.
Wanting to eat everything at least once, Janus recently consumed whale meat in Japan.
“Whale is not good,” he said. “It’s not actively bad. But it’s definitely not good.”
After having a bowl of green chile for lunch Friday, Janus said he planned to eat just Twizzlers and other chewy candy until today’s contest.
“You want to have as much energy as possible,” he said. “I’ll eat a lot of candy because I feel like you bank all of those calories and you’re still kind of feeding off them the next day.”
Janus doesn’t gamble but looks forward to casino-sponsored eating competitions.
“I’m a terrible gambler,” he said. “I love casino contests because it’s my chance to get money from casinos.”
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@denverpost.com or
