What's the tip/trick to winning carnival games?

[virtuamike]

Play skeeball and bounce it off the side. I feel like a pro when I go to Circus Circus and get a 450.

 

[Chunkee]

Tequila

 

[DrPizza]

Waldameer Park and Waterworld (Erie, PA)
Sink a 20 foot putt (golf) and win a small prize.. 30 foot = medium prize... 40 foot = large prize.

2 balls for a buck, limit 2 prizes per day.

Ball 1. na na na na na na (in my best Caddyshack imitation) "it's in the hole"
Ball 2. na na na na na na "it's in the hole"

2 consecutive 40 foot putts. 2 giant stuffed tigers. 2 little kids with me to hand them to (the animals were bigger than the kids). And a crowd of people watching
That was the biggest and only highlight of playing carny games.

 

[blakeatwork]

I actually fluked and won a giant gorilla for the girl i was dating at the time.. think it cost me all of $4.00... it was the toss the softball in the milkjug... I was actually stunned that i won... took a second to hit...

all i can say is throw soft and with little spin...

 

[JoeKing]

I accidently won one of those insanly huge stuffed animals with the throw a softball into a milkjug. They were out of room at the front of the jugs so I took a spot from the side. Being the 1337 sportsman I am I threw the ball a little to hard and got it into the second milkjug away from me. The guy asked "did you do that on purpose?"

Of course I did



I've also won from the easel basket game. You've gotta aim for the lowest corner and put as much of a front spin as you can.

 

[slightlyhuman]

the wood thing and basket game, haha afew years back i paid to do it. i knew i wouldn't win so i threw 2 of 3 balls as hard as i could breaking both of them. he told me to fvck off after the 2nd one.

 

[DAGTA]

Huge stuffed animals are fun!

 

[mobobuff]

Originally posted by: DAGTA
Huge stuffed animals are fun!

Hehehe.

 

[Nitemare]

Race track thing with the water guns is easy. At any time there will only be a couple of guns that produce enough water to win it.

I've won at the football toss pretty consistently as well

 

[kranky]

I picked up a girl once who worked at a carnival. Went back to her place which was kind of eerie since her bedroom was full of stuffed animals. After a few hours of fun, I was pretty proud of my performance so I asked her how it was.

She said, "You can pick anything from the bottom shelf."

 

[PHiuR]

Originally posted by: kranky
I picked up a girl once who worked at a carnival. Went back to her place which was kind of eerie since her bedroom was full of stuffed animals. After a few hours of fun, I was pretty proud of my performance so I asked her how it was.

She said, "You can pick anything from the bottom shelf."

hahaha

 

[jdiddy]

Originally posted by: kranky
I picked up a girl once who worked at a carnival. Went back to her place which was kind of eerie since her bedroom was full of stuffed animals. After a few hours of fun, I was pretty proud of my performance so I asked her how it was.

She said, "You can pick anything from the bottom shelf."

:laugh:

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: kranky
I picked up a girl once who worked at a carnival. Went back to her place which was kind of eerie since her bedroom was full of stuffed animals. After a few hours of fun, I was pretty proud of my performance so I asked her how it was.

She said, "You can pick anything from the bottom shelf."

She made me pay for another go

 

[Yossarian]

you know, carnies, circus folk. small hands, smell like cabbage.

 

[johnjbruin]

Originally posted by: Tomato
Is anyone here a carnie or know someone was?

I've NEVER seen anyone win at the following games:

1. Toss a quarter onto a small, flat plate to win a prize (is the best way to do this to flip the quarter at the plate like you were tossing a coin, and hope it lands somewhat flat?).

2. Knock 3 blocks/milk jugs off a stand with a beanbag.

3. Toss a ball and bounce it off a slanted easel, making it fall into a basket beneath it.

Anyone really good at winning at these games, and if so what's your technique.

I don't know what I'd do with a 5-foot tall stuffed animal, but it'd be kinda cool to win one.

I have won 2 and 3 myself - pure luck I guess. Never won 1 though.

 

[tommywishbone]

It's not the game mentioned but.... I am the offical world champion of the game that you find in the lobby of Norms or Dennys. It has that claw grabber thing and you more it over and it drops down and grabs a stuffed piglet or a dirty hat or a broken watch. The manager at Norms in Santa Monica, threw us out because I was winning all the junk in the machine... plus we were really drunk. Now go knock over those milk bottles!

 

[myusername]

I won the quarter/glass plate once. Took me about $10 to do it and it was certainly all luck. I did think to myself at the time that rubbing a quarter with a very light coat of beeswax might improve your odds though

 

[brtspears2]

Bottle Ring Toss - total luck. I won once by not caring to win anymore and suddenly, I win.
Climb the rope ladder, ring the bell - Santa Monica Pier - piece of cake, you aren't climbing a ladder. You have to use the ropes on the side so you don't twist and fall.
Three Milk Bottles - I find a lighter toss works much better than a hard toss.
Bushel Game w/ Wiffle ball - only way I have won is cheating. Wait for person to not look, lean close, and drop it in.

 

[Beefy6969]

omfg?! PLease tell me the claw grabber trick!!

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: Beefy6969
omfg?! PLease tell me the claw grabber trick!!

1) there is no trick, the claw is designed to have a weak grip.
2) learn to speak like something other than an AOL-tard.

 

[Mo0o]

I have a family friend that won a massive stuffed gorilla doing the "toss the ring around the coke bottle" games in Vegas. He gave it to me since he didn't need it w00tw00t. He then won a huge stuffed cow on the same game a few years ago when he went back.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: tommywishbone
It's not the game mentioned but.... I am the offical world champion of the game that you find in the lobby of Norms or Dennys. It has that claw grabber thing and you more it over and it drops down and grabs a stuffed piglet or a dirty hat or a broken watch. The manager at Norms in Santa Monica, threw us out because I was winning all the junk in the machine... plus we were really drunk. Now go knock over those milk bottles!

you're far from the world champion. Coworkers and I used to do that game for competition. We ended up donated bags and bags worth of brand new stuffed animals to the salvation army. We had a machine to practice on (where we worked) and we could go to the other machines and almost equally well, although there is a simple adjustment that can be made to the claw to make it harder or easier.

 

[dullard]

My trick (your mileage will certainly vary):

At my local county/city fair, most of those toss the coin games have specials that they run. Things like 6 quarters for a dollar, or 12 dimes for a dollar. That is a way to lure people in to spend a dollar, lose the 6 quarters, and leave empty handed and minus $1.

What I do is bring many, many $1 bills. Go to one place, get 6 quarters for a dollar. They are looking at you at that point, so I toss one quarter. I almost always lose, but that isn't the point. By then, other people are tossing coins and giving dollars and the carny looks away from me. So I take my $1.25 and leave. Put the coins in my pocket (my original $1 plus a free quarter) and go to the next game. Get 12 dimes for $1, toss one dime, and leave (pocketing the original $1 and the free dime). Repeat.

Go to all the games, and do this once. Take profits to car and drop heavy coins there. Repeat.

If I really want a prize, I'll go to the fish for the magnetic fish game (catch the odd colored magnetic fish in a pool of other magnetic fish). With lots of patience anyone can win all the time (eventually the odd colored fish is far, far away from the others and you just snatch it with the magnetic fishing line). I'll take my free quarters and dimes to pay for that with each circle through the games. Eventually the fishing carny recognizes me and refuses to let me play again since I always win.

 

[Zontor]

I saw a guy (no, not me, but I thought about doing it several times) get PO'd at a claw machine once so he moved the claw over the area where you'd normally drop the prize. He then lowered the claw down, reached up the prize slot and grabbed it and ripped it out.

He left, so I took the claw to work. Sits on my desk to this day!

Once won a giant black panther by throwing a hula hoop over the panther so it landed surrounding the panthers pedestal. Can't say there was any trick to it....only cost me about $2.

Another game I got fairly good at (haven't seen it too much) is to use a fishing pole with a ring on the end of it. You put the ring over some fallen pepsi bottles and try to make them stand up. Practice helps a lot with this one.

 

[mordantmonkey]

Originally posted by: Zontor
Another game I got fairly good at (haven't seen it too much) is to use a fishing pole with a ring on the end of it. You put the ring over some fallen pepsi bottles and try to make them stand up. Practice helps a lot with this one.

i got really good at that game. the trick i used is move the pole in a small circle-get the bottle to spin as you pull it up. bam! stands up almost everytime. just takes practice.