June 27, 1980
When I was a kid back in East St. Louis, Illinois, I used to love to go to the carnival. I used to stand by the hour and watch people try to knock over a bowling pin with a baseball hanging from a cord. When the patron was only practicing, he could knock over the pin every time (you had to swing out the ball and knock the pin over on the back swing). But as soon as the money was on the table, the ball couldn’t find the pin. I knew it was crooked, but I couldn’t figure it out.
Well, last month, Bob Stephan, the Attorney General of Kansas, invited me out to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in Topeka, and the KBI presented a program on how carnival games work. I was right, most of the games are crooked. Even the little innocent-looking mouse is a crook. He always runs into a colored hole that no one has bet on. The operator has ammonia on his finger and touches the hole he wants the mouse to go into. The mouse is attracted to the ammonia and goes to that hole. I also found out that there is a spot where the bowling pin can be placed so that the ball cannot hit it. The pin is placed a little off the spot for practice shots.
Carnivals get by on the basis that there is always a sucker ready to part with his money. I saw a spinning wheel in Topeka that always won when it was spun to the left and never won when it was spun to the right. All the numbers games with conversion charts are made so that you will never win. If the operator shows you how easy it is to win, you can bet he didn’t add the numbers up right. He will do it so quickly that you won’t be able to keep up with him. But when the money is on the table – forget it – the addition will be impeccable and you lose.
The coin toss works on the percentage. If you pitch enough coins, you may win a prize. The $2.00 stuffed animal ends up costing you $5.00. Such a deal. The coin toss is rigged by hanging the prizes low over the dishes so the coins can’t be arched. Further, the dishes are waxed and tilted at a slight angle. My advice is to let your kids ride the merry-go-round and buy them some cotton candy.