(WXYZ) - Summertime is carnival time in Michigan, bringing chills and thrills to thousands of children. It is also a time to put lots of money in the pockets of carnival operators.
While the whole idea behind the traveling carnival is to have fun, some experts say there is a dark side.
They say carnival barkers run carnival games that seem to be rigged and give little chance of winning.
Richard Margittay is a former Dearborn police officer and an expert on carnival con games. He wrote the book, “Carnival games: The perfect crimes.”
”What sickens me are the children losing all the money they brought to the carnival,” says Margittay.
Using hidden cameras, we show two very popular carnival games where it seems to have little to do with how well you play the game.
“They’re deceiving the public and they’re taking their money,” says Margittay.
We begin with the classic target-shooting game -- Shoot the Stars -- where players pay five bucks to try to completely shoot out the red star target.
We send in Sergeant Greg Moore, a SWAT Team sharp shooter with the Oakland county Sheriff’s Department.
But when Moore tries to “shoot the stars,” a two-inch target that’s just four yards away, he can’t do it. Moore believes the game is rigged.
“I lost miserably,” he says.
Moore says the sights are off and the ammunition is blasting in different directions.
Next up is the carnival basketball game. Just sink one ball and you win in the basket and you win.
“I can’t do it,” says six-foot-one Alexis Brumm, who was the star basketball player at Birmingham Seaholm High School.
“I was a really good free throw shooter,” says Brumm. “I considered it my specialty.”
But the man running the game says an eight-year old won earlier in the day. Despite the encouragement, Brumm misses again and again. In fact, she misses nine out of nine shots—and kisses $15 goodbye.
Carnival game expert Margittay says it’s not Brumm, it’s the game. He explains that the basketball is usually over-inflated and the hoop is not round, but elliptical.
When we question the guys running these games, we start with the shooting gallery.
“We have winners all the time,” he says.
Before we can question anyone else, the carnival manager says, “Ain’t going to be no more interviews.”
Channel 7 is ordered to leave the carnival. Bottom line is carnivals are meant for everyone to have fun. But when it comes to playing some games, buyer-beware.
via www.wxyz.com
