CROOKED CARNIVALS: THE SUMMERTIME SCOURGE

NEW YORK, NY… July 22, 2004...

Every summer, just like clockwork, parking lots and empty fields all across the nation become the temporary homes of traveling carnivals, where the Ferris wheel lights up the night sky, and cotton candy and corn dogs delight both young and old. It's a slice of Americana that has been ingrained in our culture for more than a century, and for most people, the chaotic environment of the carnival is a welcome respite from the everyday routine.

But for some, a carnival is nothing more than a wandering assemblage of con artists and safety hazards, and in the end, an indiscriminate rip-off. Rigged midway games, poorly-maintained rides and unclean food vendors all have become part of the carnival's negative reputation. While many carnivals run relatively honest operations, and many have cleaned up their acts since the glory days of sideshows and flimflams of the late twentieth century, a surprising number of these nomadic spectacles still rely on cost-cutting and double-dealing to bring home a bigger haul.

Kessler International, an investigative firm headquartered in New York City, conducted an undercover examination of carnivals throughout the United States, and found that nearly three out of four operations utilized unfair practices. Games that would take a miracle to win were prevalent on midways from coast to coast, and most carnival goers recognized that the odds were sharply against them.

"I've probably lost about two thousand dollars on these games over the years," said John, a 19-year-old student from New York. "The carnival's fun, but they really rip you off."

Comments from dozens of other patrons were equally pessimistic.

"I don't know anyone that has ever won one of those huge stuffed animals," said Chris, also hailing from New York. "They reel you in with those things and you end up winning a New Kids on the Block lunchbox or something."

"The best prize I ever won was an inflatable bat," griped Nick from Massachusetts. "That was ten bucks well spent."

Many carnival attendees also expressed their concerns about safety hazards and unsanitary conditions.

"I'm always afraid that something is going to go wrong when I'm on one of these old rides," said Rory from California. "And most of the refreshments are pretty scary, too."

Indeed, a glaring concern facing many carnivals is the perceived danger of old, broken-down rides operated by listless, inattentive flunkies. Unfortunately, this perception is sometimes spot-on, and the reason is simple… to save money. A good portion of ride operators are extremely overworked and underpaid, leading to an apathetic disposition and a workday fueled by caffeine and pep pills. Rather than hire additional help, carnival owners often expect rides to be disassembled, transported and built again by the minimum amount of workers needed. Not only is the constant grind a catalyst for error, but the resulting indifference of many ride operators can be a serious safety issue. Of course, not all carnivals suffer from this sort of fatigue-induced disregard. Typically, the larger the carnival, the safer the rides, and in today's sue-for-everything society, safety is an important priority for most owners.

In fact, the greater danger may not lie in a faulty piece of machinery, but in the corn dogs and burgers being devoured by carnival patrons. While certain staples such as cotton candy and candy apples are generally safe, other food items may be less than sanitary. Like ride workers, food servers are often equally underpaid, and when the rare time comes for an employee's break, washing hands is either not possible or is considered a waste of time. Cost-cutting continues when carnival owners purchase nothing but the lowest-grade products, and re-using food day after day, even after it has been sitting out for hours collecting germs, is a somewhat common practice. The best advice here is to get your cotton candy at the fair, but leave the food alone.

Of course, most people recognize that the majority of illicit carnival operations take place on the midway amongst a collection of simple games, fast talkers and promises of giant plush prizes. Not all carnival games are rigged… in fact, prizes are typically so cheap and prices are usually so high that raking in a sizable, but honest profit is a fairly easy task. But a good portion of crooked carnies will go beyond these lopsided deals and take naive players (known as "marks" in the business) for everything they possibly can. Kessler's investigation uncovered the secrets of some of the more familiar cons.

One of the most common shams on the midway is the use of the Small, Medium and Large prize system. This scheme can be used for a number of popular games, which often claim that you'll win a prize every time. In a game such as the duck pond, where a tub of water is filled with rubber ducks with S, M or L written on the bottom, players almost always find that they've chosen a duck with an S. The prize is usually a cheap plastic novelty (called "slum" by insiders) that costs mere pennies, far less than the two-dollar fee to play the game. Meanwhile, ducks with an M are few and far between, and L ducks usually don't exist, except when a shill "wins" a huge prize in order to entice more people to play the game. The same principle is used with a number of other games, including "Tag Balloon," in which darts are thrown at small balloons to reveal prizes.

Another enticing game is known as the "Bulldozer," in which players pump quarters into a machine filled with hundreds of coins, many teetering on the ledge, waiting for the sweeping device in the back of the machine to push them over the edge into the player's greedy hands. Unfortunately for the player, the machines are designed to create pile-ups and trick the mind into thinking the coins will drop, when in reality then are simply forced to the sides and returned to the operator. An occasional small payout will occur, but that only whets the player's palate, prompting them to drop even more money into the machine.

Ring toss games are among the most popular games on the midway, and while many of them are legitimate, some resort to sneaky tactics to keep the marks playing for big prizes that are impossible to win. The famous "Pitch Til You Win" game, which features prizes strapped to wooden posts, ranging from toy spiders to twenty-dollar bills. The object of the game is to toss plastic rings until you land one around a post, and you win the prize strapped to that peg. Of course, the good prizes are attached to enormous posts that are angled in such a way that a ring must be thrown from the back in order to completely circle the prize. Needless to say, most walk away with a piece of slum and a lighter wallet.

Some games require players to toss softballs into a peach basket, or to rebound a ball off an angled board into a container to win a prize. Often, the game operator will even give you a practice shot (with a deadened ball, of course) to show you how easy it is. Once the money is on the table, the ball is switched with one that will almost always bounce out of the basket or go careening off the board, or perhaps the target itself is angled slightly differently or reinforced with a hidden device. Either way, the player usually ends up empty-handed.

Perhaps the most famous scam involves a game called "One Ball," in which three metal milk bottles are stacked like a pyramid, and the player tried to knock them all down with a single softball. Contrary to popular belief, only one, not all of the bottles is weighted. However, this may not be evident to players when they take their practice shots… to show that it can be done, the weighted bottle will be placed on top, but when the mark gets ready for the real thing, the weighted bottle is positioned on the bottom and slightly further back, making it nearly impossible to knock down all three with one shot.

In the end, there are a still a good deal of corrupt organizations and individuals in the carnival business, and often, those simply seeking a night of fun are exposed to unsafe, unsanitary conditions and a cavalcade of lying scoundrels. It is important to make sure that you recognize when a game cannot be overcome, and when it is okay to fire away and have a good time. Certainly nobody wants to get taken to the cleaners while cruising the midway… and if you heed these warnings, you'll have a much better chance of walking away with a little cash in your pocket, instead of a yellow mustache comb.

Kessler International is a private investigation firm headquartered in New York with offices worldwide. For more information about this or other types of fraud, please contact Michael Kessler at 1-800-932-2221 or visit the Kessler International website at www.investigation.com.