Some people will have a gamble on just about anything. However it’s hard to believe that British punters have been laying down large wagers on this year’s 4th of July Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

According to legend, on July 4 1916 four immigrants had a hot dog-eating contest at the site of the first Nathan's Famous stand (at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues on Coney Island, New York) to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. After 12 minutes, Irishman James Mullen had eaten 13 hot dogs and was crowned the victor. A 12 minute contest has been held every year since on Independence Day at the site.

However the tournament was thrown into disarray this week when defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi from Japan will miss this year’s championships.

Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi.

Tsunami" Kobayashi last year put down a world-record 53 and 3/4 hot-dogs in just 12 minutes. He has become a celebrity in Japan and the US and also holds a world record for eating cows' brains.

The injury occurred only a week after Kobayashi started training to win another Coney Island title.

Reacting to the diagnosis he told fans "I feel ashamed that I couldn't notice the alarm bells set off by my own body. But with the goal to win another title with a new record, I couldn't stop my training so close to the competition. I was continuing my training and bearing with the pain but finally I destroyed my jaw."

Following the withdrawl of the star attraction British bookmakers are no longer offering odds on the contest.