I did a basketball thing at Six Flags in New Jersey. It was a net higher up than normal, and throwing from a line further than the foul line. I was used to shooting foul shots and 3 pointers at home, did a whole bunch of bounces to get myself set, and nailed it in one. The prize was a stuffed basketball, no more fun to carry around the rest of the day than a real ball, but my kids were really impressed for about 5 minutes.
Not necessarily. As somebody upthread said, the operators are often bored, so they practice on the game itself. When they get good at it, then they can call in the marks and show off just how supposedly easy the game is to win. “Hey, I’ve never been athletic, but if I can land a baseball in a peach basket, anybody can. Watch!” And the operator promptly does it, three times in a row. But he or she has had lots of free practice.
That’s what my friend, the carnie, has said. Basically, that any time a game operator shows you how easy a game is, you can bet that operator has practiced it hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.
But sometimes that is the case. I once saw one of those tilted-barrel games where the operator was standing inside the box and demonstrating to no one in particular how easy it was to get the ball in the tilted barrel. Next to a sign specifically saying “no leaning” amongst other rules that made it obvious that the trick was the angle at which you needed to throw the ball made it next to impossible to win. I did not even think of the “bouncing off the edge” trick, but the litany of specific rules (which also included “don’t stand too far back”, “don’t throw the ball too high”, “you must shoot into your barrel” which were more subjective in addition to being deleterious to one’s chances) along with the demonstration by the guy who was not following those rules made me convinced that the game was rigged.
Of course it’s possible that, considering no one was actually playing the game, that he was not trying to trick people into playing but was simply playing it himself out of boredom.
Try the cambric shirt-making. If you do it without no seams nor needle-work, you can win a true-love.
Yup - the rope ladder is a classic example. It can be done, with skill and practice, but the average person is going to get bored/run out of money before they come close.
A few years ago I tried a game where you had to ride a small trick bicycle about 10 metres. The problem was the steering was rigged to go the opposite way to the normal inputs. I thought I could beat the system by holding the handlebars with my arms crossed. Nope - didn’t help at all. Second attempt I gave that up, and still got nowhere. Third attempt, I thought I knew what I did wrong the second time - no, straight down again! The game operator, of course, was able to do it with no problem at all. Still, all good fun for a couple of bucks. I’m generally only interested in playing games in which I’ll have fun whether I win a prize or not.
That’s one of Destin’s best videos. A real classic:
Brilliant, thanks! I’m now wondering whether the fairground guy with that bike could ride a normal bike, or indeed if it’s even possible to be able (with a lot more practice) to switch straight from one to the other and back again with no problems.
My local funfair has a straightforward shooting gallery - knock down six little metal tabs with six shots, win the basic-level prize. The BB gun sights are usually accurate so I always manage to win some cheap-ass toy which makes the offspring happy and I feel vaguely manly about it.
I haven’t seen them for years and years but there were Poker machines with 5 spinning wheels like a slot machine with the card numbers and suits on them. You started it spinning and then pushed 5 buttons under the wheels to stop them and create a poker hand. The operators would learn with practice to get winning poker hands any time they wanted. This was most important to prove they were games of skill, not gambling devices that would be illegal in most jurisdictions. But they were also an excellent lure when the operator showed how easy it was to win. Not like anybody else had a chance though.
Can’t find the title, a book from 50s or 60s detailed carnival games and sideshows covering much of this. Author was sword swallower, fire eater, etc. Interesting read.
I learned early on (age 9) the economics of fair prizes by watching Steve Martin in The Jerk.
Navin- Frosty, I’m no good at this.
Frosty- Aw, come on Navin, you’re doing fine.
Navin- No, I’ve already given away 8 pencils, 2 hula dolls, and an ashtray. and I’ve only taken in $15.
Frosty- Navin, you have taken in $15 and given away 50 cents worth of crap! Which gives us a net profit of $14.50.
Navin- Ah, it’s a profit deal.
Navin- GET YOUR WEIGHT GUESSED RIGHT HERE! ONLY A BUCK! TAKE A CHANCE AND WIN SOME CRAP!
Probably not the same book, but one resource I have found to be useful on the topic of carnival games is Scarne’s Complete Guide to Gambling (John Scarne, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961). Obviously, Scarne devotes most of the book to craps, roulette, blackjack, horse racing, etc. but he does include a chapter on carnival games. It’s been a while since I read it, but as I recall, he describes games that you can have fun playing; but most importantly, he describes games that you should never play, as they are complete scams that are impossible to win.
I once asked my carnie friend if he had ever heard of the “Razzle-Dazzle” carnival game, and he admitted that he had, but that his carnival never had it. As he said, “Sure, we ran the carnival to make money, but even we had some ethics.” It’s a little complicated to describe here, but if the game requires the operator to use arithmetic, and you (the player) to amass a certain number of points over multiple plays (each of which costs you money), it is definitely a scam. You will never win, and you’ll end up broke.
Hi everyone. Success! Meet Olè.
Skeeball was indeed the winner! Actually my husband won him and we only had to play 2 games, one each. Ironically we have been playing skeeball a lot at our local arcade (like 1x a month) and so we’ve gotten pretty good at it.
I’ve never heard of Skeeball being rigged. It involves skill that many people already have and can hone quickly. If you want a prize it just takes time, and more money than the prize is worth. In recent years I’ve seen some Skeeball games that cost very little to play, but had correspondingly worthless prizes. Still more fun than trying to knock over milk bottles with nearly no chance of success. My best take was a cool type of squirt gun at Dorney Park in PA when I was around 13 or 14. I needed a ton of tickets it was a step up from pocket combs or pencils, or whatever else was offered.
Great job
Olè is a unibrow away from being able to fill in for Benny the Bull.
Oh wow no kidding!
Thanks for the encouragement hajario. Can check that off my list!
I read somewhere (maybe the same Games magazine article mentioned above?) about a guy who mastered the art of skeeball to the point where he could get the highest scoring zone almost every time; his technique was to bounce it off the side wall instead of the usual “bump” line.
It’s out of most everyone’s way, but for something unique go to Knoebels in Elysburg, PA and play their Fascination game some time. It’s like the single player Lite-A-Line or poker type ball roller games with the twist that you’re trying to do bingo patterns against competition. There’s a few other places that reportedly still have it. Fascination | Knoebels Amusement Resort
Fascination (game) - Wikipedia
Personally, the last carnival type game I won anything at was a shooting gallery at Oktoberfest. Not wanting to find space in my bag for even a minor prize, I gave it to the little girl with her father that was standing next to me.
Not to mention the secret herbs and spices.