Buzz
The carnival midway is a sensory delight, filled with the aroma of funnel cakes, the cheerful tunes of carousel music, and the bittersweet sound of dashed hopes as visitors spend money hoping to win oversized plush prizes. While not every carnival game is dishonest, some are designed to tip the odds in the house's favor. Here are five classic midway games that are frequently manipulated.
1. THE MILK BOTTLE KNOCKDOWN
This game seems simple enough: a carnival attendant arranges three milk bottles in a pyramid, hands you a softball, and you channel your inner Nolan Ryan to knock them down. However, it’s rarely that easy. The bottom bottles are often weighted with lead, making them nearly 10 pounds each, and the softballs provided are intentionally lightweight, sometimes filled with cork to reduce their impact.
Here’s another trick to be aware of: If one bottle is slightly more protruding than the others (even by a mere half-inch, as revealed by a Today Show hidden camera investigation), it absorbs the impact of the ball, reducing the force on the remaining bottles when you throw.
2. THE BALLOON DART GAME
Before you take aim and throw that dart, keep in mind that you’re using equipment provided by the carnival. The darts are often dull, lighter than standard ones, and sometimes even
The balloons themselves are also misleading: While they may appear ready to burst, they’re typically filled to only 30 percent of their capacity, making them harder to pop. The vibrant colors aren’t just for show—they’re also a clever distraction tactic.
3. THE BASKETBALL FREE THROW
The basketball hoops at carnival free throw booths are enough to frustrate even LeBron James: they’re smaller than standard hoops, and, as noted in a 2011 Art of Manliness article, “bent into an oval shape to create the illusion of being larger from the front.” Bruce Walstad, an expert in rigged carnival games, explains that the oval shape is intentionally designed to make players miss. Even with a flawless shot, players have only a half-inch margin for error.
The hoops aren’t the only issue that would violate NBA standards: the basketballs are often overinflated to increase their bounce, and Glenn Hester, a Georgia police officer who focuses on carnival game fraud (author of Carnival Cop), notes that “netting or other obstructions behind the rim can disrupt your depth perception.”
4. THE RING TOSS GAME
When a carnival worker effortlessly slides a ring onto a pole to demonstrate how easy the game is, it’s because they’re standing in the perfect position—usually directly above the pole and using a wider ring than the one provided to players.
The Carnival Cop highlights the challenges of ring toss games in his book: the rings are only slightly wider than the bottlenecks and made of rigid plastic, making them prone to bouncing off rather than looping around the target.
5. THE BALL BOUNCE GAME
While it may not be as notorious as the Tubs of Fun (or the New Hampshire man who lost his life savings playing it earlier this year), bouncing a plastic ball off a vertical board into a basket is far from simple. Carnival employees revealed to the Today Show’s Jeff Rossen that players are unaware of a hidden spring behind the tub that causes the balls to bounce back out.
Similar to the ring toss, carnival workers have the advantage of positioning to make the game appear effortless. Standing close to the board, they can gently toss the ball, minimizing bounce-back and making the task seem much easier than it truly is.
