How to Win Fairground Games at Michigan Fairs and Festivals

It’s always fun to go to your local fair or community festival. Think of events like the Ionia Free Fair, the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, or the Venetian Festival in Charlevoix. It’s a part of summer.

In addition to the rides and food, you can count on the fairground games. Ring toss, bottle knocking, or “quarter pushers.” They are fun to watch and play and can be addictive. The fairground workers who run these booths are very skilled at luring you in and taking as much money from you as possible.

Mitch Candiano, a veteran showman – a name he wears with pride – who has spent several summers on the New England festival circuit, was a guest on This Past Weekend, along with comedian and podcaster Theo Von. In a wide-ranging discussion of the showman’s life, Mitch goes into detail about games and how exactly they work to keep you from winning the prize, and how dozens, even hundreds of dollars or more can be spent in a futile attempt to win something like a giant stuffed animal.

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Candiano felt a bit like a magician giving away trade secrets when he said that many games are designed in such a way that it is impossible to win – unless the showman wants you to win.

The carnival worker will keep you entertained and make you feel like winning is just around the corner. A win may fall to you if a large crowd has gathered, and others may be tempted to join in if they see you winning.

In a game called “Cover The Spot,” where discs must completely cover a spot, the spot is made just large enough so that the discs cannot cover it.

In a game called Tubs of Fun, a thrown softball must stay in the basket to win. The basket is set at an angle so the ball will bounce out. The carnival worker’s hook is set at an angle so the ball can land. There is a trick to throwing the ball with an underhand punch to slowly soften the throw and prevent it from flying out.

How about popping balloons? The balloons may not be inflated enough so the arrowheads won’t pop them.

In classic knockdown, stacks of milk bottles or cans are weighted down so that they cannot be knocked over. However, the bottle or can on top of the stack would not be weighted down, so it could serve as evidence to an unconvinced player.

However, the ring toss game is actually a pure game of skill. It is not a trick, if you can throw a ring around the small glass bottle, you can legitimately win.

Finally, there is the “quarter pusher” or “splashdown” where a mechanical arm pushes quarters and prizes forward and anything that falls into the bowl is yours. The trick here is that the games have a lock-out area on the side where the “house” keeps the coins and not you. The center of the play area is weighted down so that many more coins are directed to the sides for payout rather than the front.

So, as with anything, play for fun and not with the expectation of winning big.

To see the full conversation, watch the video below.