A KCBS record was set here
$75,940
prize money listed
This contest holds the KCBS record for biggest purse — $75,940 prize money listed, 487 teams cooking for it, set right here. Nobody has beaten it since.
- Biggest purse
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 2023
Sep 27 – Oct 1, 2023 · Kansas City, KS · State championship
Reps: Dave Rogers, Eugene Wickham, Forrest Bruce, Julie Cook, Larry Hadley, Larry Voth, Lynda Voth, Peg Rogers, Rusty Cook, Sarah Wickham · Prize money: $75,940
JANKY LEG BBQ won Grand Champion at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest on September 27, 2023 in Kansas City, KS, scoring 705.1200 in a field of 487 teams. MACHETE BOYS BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 704.5256. Category winners: Chicken — LAZY BACON BBQ (180.0000); Pork Ribs — SMOKIN' OUTLAWS (180.0000); Pork — WOOD HOOK BBQ (180.0000); Brisket — RIO VALLEY MEAT BBQ (180.0000). This is the 3rd of 6 editions of this contest on record; the 2022 edition was won by QUE U; the next was held in 2024.
The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)
How the field scored
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
69.31
median 672.54
705.12 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 180 🔥
- Pork Ribs 180 🔥
- Pork 180 🔥
- Brisket 180 🔥
20
180
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2021 to 2026 — this edition picked out.
Entries
487
4 judged meats · 2 ancillary
Top score
705.1200
Winning margin
0.5944
GC over RC
Field average
660.81
69.31705.12
median 672.54 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
18 🔥
Tightest race
Pork
0 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
700.5140
69.31705.12
10th place overall
Field spread
635.8056
winner to last place
Prize money
$75,940
on the line
How hot was the win?
Top 14%
beats 86% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
64%
322 of 505 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.72 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,592
avg power rating going in · stronger than 73% of contests
Storylines (9 found in this contest's numbers)
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
A razor-thin finish
0.5944
points between champion and reserve
Closer than 88% of the 4,722 championships in the data
The Grand Championship was decided by 0.5944 points — closer than 88% of every championship in the data.
- JANKY LEG BBQ
- MACHETE BOYS BBQ
An upset on the books
34-in-100
shot on pre-contest ratings
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 66 times in 100
JANKY LEG BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, SHAKE 'N BAKE BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 34-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
- champion 1916
- top seed 2031
Won without a category win
0 of 4
meats called to the stage
JANKY LEG BBQ won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 0 calls from 4 boards, best of them 13th. Consistency beat fireworks.
- Chicken 70th
- Pork Ribs 18th
- Pork 13th
- Brisket 76th
A day of perfect scores
18
perfect 180s
18 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- RIO VALLEY MEAT BBQ · Brisket
- COCAMOKE SMOKE BBQ · Brisket
- HICKORY NUTS · Brisket
A knife fight at the top
1.7144
points across the top five
First to fifth in the overall standings covered just 1.7144 points — 2 teams sat within a single point of the lead.
- 1st JANKY LEG BBQ
- 2nd MACHETE BOYS BBQ
- 3rd PETIE'S SMOKIN PITS BBQ
- 4th TRIPLE H BBQ
- 5th WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 27 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 1–2: LAZY BACON BBQ and TRIPLE H BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 2–3: TRIPLE H BBQ and THE REAL SMOKIN ACES tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' RUB and NECTAR OF THE HOGS tied on 179.4400 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 1–2 · tie
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
- Chicken 5–6 · tie
Back to defend
2
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: LAST CALL HEROES BBQ (won 2021), QUE U (won 2022).
- LAST CALL HEROES BBQ · 2021
- QUE U · 2022
One of the big ones
487
teams on the grounds
The 6th biggest field of the 5,482 contests in the data
487 teams — the 6th biggest field of the 5,482 contests in the data.
Records set here — 1 still standing (2 in the KCBS record book)
What happened at this contest that stands in the all-time KCBS record book. A gold line is a record nobody has beaten.
This contest's own records (1 in the KCBS record book)
Records held by every edition of this contest put together, not just this one afternoon.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2021 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas Speedway | 467 | 709.1428 | LAST CALL HEROES BBQ | HOGLINE |
| Sep 29, 2022 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas City, KS 66111 | 505 | 707.4056 | QUE U | LOOT N' BOOTY BBQ |
| Sep 27, 2023 ← this one | Kansas City, KS | Kansas City, KS 66111 | 487 | 705.1200 | JANKY LEG BBQ | MACHETE BOYS BBQ |
| Oct 30, 2024 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas Speedway | 444 | 710.8228 | Chunky BBQ | Bushmaster BBQ |
| Nov 5, 2025 | Kansas City, KS | Kansas Speedway | 401 | 708.5488 | Wag's Backwoods BBQ | OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE |
| Sep 30, 2026 | Kansas City, KS | 1899 American Royal Way | 360 | 708.5600 | Smokey Bey's Barbecue | Pop A Top Cookers |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180 | 179.4400 | 178.8572 |
| Pork Ribs | 180 | 179.4400 | 178.8572 |
| Pork | 180 | 180 | 178.8572 |
| Brisket | 180 | 180 | 178.3200 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
487 entries · top 705.1200 · median 672.5372
Chicken
483 entries · top 180 · median 168.5484 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
487 entries · top 180 · median 168.5944 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork
481 entries · top 180 · median 168.5140 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
484 entries · top 180 · median 166.8456 · 🔥 perfect 180
Ancillary categories
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
Ancillary — Sausage
280 entries · top 180 · median 167.9714 · 🔥 perfect 180
Turkey Smoke Series — Turkey Smoke
219 entries · top 180 · median 168.5256 · 🔥 perfect 180