Three Point Donniker

Yeah; there is literally nothing there now except the Three Point game. I was actually surprised that they didn't fence it off as they did the passageway there behind Chaos and Planet Snoopy a couple of years ago.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

RideMan said:
Oh, and Jason...I take issue with your numbers....

I see what your saying Dave. I hadn't looked considered looking at it that way. Perhaps they intended to move it and ran out of available man hours because of the StR issues. Obviously they didn't have enough time to finish Chaos. Different people I'm sure would be working on that, but you see my point.

Also, the fact still remains, that we have no idea what CP's plans are for that area and that in and of itself could be the reason for not having moved it.

EvilChameleon09 said:
You forgot to mention that the ball is not a standard size ball, and the hoop is smaller than a standard size hoop. Anything to take your money. ;)

Not true on both counts. I've played TPC at no less than 10 different amusement parks and I've yet to come across one that's "rigged" in any capacity. Why would any park do so? They're just like Vegas in the sense that the odds are so overwhelmingly in their favor of making money (and lots of it) that there's no reason to mess with the game in any way.

My educated guess is that the average score is around 3 points. Sure, some people will come in and do better than that, but I'm guessing that 3 points isn't far off from the actual average. At most places you don't even win a prize until you get to 4 pts. Cedar Point (and every other park that offers the game) is making an absolute killing on TPC. There's a reason every major Cedar Fair and Six Flags park has installed them in their parks. I'm betting that not only is it the biggest cash cow game in the park but that it's probably by a wide margin.

Speaking of cash cows, That stupid little game where you try to bounce the ball off the board and get it to land in the box below, without knocking down the sticks on the top or bottom gets $5 or $10 from me everytime. I won this HUGE scooby doo at a carnival a couple of years ago at the same game and always think, 'I can do this'.

I'm a sucker... :(

gad198 - not to mention that even if you win a prize, you've paid 5 bucks for a 25 cent prize.

So even when you win, the park wins more.

Kyle2154 said:
Speaking of cash cows, That stupid little game where you try to bounce the ball off the board and get it to land in the box below, without knocking down the sticks on the top or bottom gets $5 or $10 from me everytime. I won this HUGE scooby doo at a carnival a couple of years ago at the same game and always think, 'I can do this'.

I'm a sucker... :(

Bank-A-Ball is actually pretty straightforward. You need to make sure that when you're throwing the ball that it's actually going UP when it hits the top half of the board. See the link below at the 1:00 minute mark for a demo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYw2avh27NY

Juggalotus, you're absolutely right, especially at places where there's not anything of real value to be won before you get to the 12 point level, which is the case at most Cedar Fair parks. This actually isn't the case at Six Flags, where they offer NBA jerseys at most places at 8 points, but it's also $10 a pop at SF parks. Cedar Fair parks usually will offer you an NBA (or NFL at some parks) jersey for 12 points, but I'm betting that you can count on two or three hands the amount of people who get 12 points in a game each year. Also, to my knowledge only one person has won the top prize as long as they've had the game, so yeah, I'd say that the parks love this game...a lot!

gad198 said:

EvilChameleon09 said:
You forgot to mention that the ball is not a standard size ball, and the hoop is smaller than a standard size hoop. Anything to take your money. ;)

Not true on both counts. I've played TPC at no less than 10 different amusement parks and I've yet to come across one that's "rigged" in any capacity. Why would any park do so? They're just like Vegas in the sense that the odds are so overwhelmingly in their favor of making money (and lots of it) that there's no reason to mess with the game in any way.

My educated guess is that the average score is around 3 points. Sure, some people will come in and do better than that, but I'm guessing that 3 points isn't far off from the actual average. At most places you don't even win a prize until you get to 4 pts. Cedar Point (and every other park that offers the game) is making an absolute killing on TPC. There's a reason every major Cedar Fair and Six Flags park has installed them in their parks. I'm betting that not only is it the biggest cash cow game in the park but that it's probably by a wide margin.

Oh, it is true. All of these slideshow bob games are rigged in the park's favor, everywhere. Doesn't matter if it's at Disney or the Canfield Fair.
For instance, the game where you throw darts at the balloons? The darts are dull and the balloons aren't filled with air completely.
The game where you throw a ball in a bucket to win a prize? The bucket is angled in such a way that if you just throw the ball in, it will bounce back out.

Come on. Get real.

I'm a sucker for the twisty rotating wire game. I always buy one try and get one free with my Platinum Pass. I can never do it more than twice because I get to aggrivated and lose my edge. I've come very close but can never get it all the way down.

EvilChameleon09 said: All of these slideshow bob games are rigged in the park's favor, everywhere.

I don't know how they get away with it in Ohio then because each game is inspected by the State of Ohio each year.

LOL. Dude, you're insane. You're ignoring the facts on the ground mate. How would the state know what a rigged game looks like? Please. Don't believe me? Read this article:

http://www.blifaloo.com/info/beat-carnival-games.php

The facts are staring you in the face. Don't let them smack you like a fool.

By and large, in the major parks, the games are not rigged. There is no reason to rig the games. The games are winnable, but yes, the odds are stacked in the park's favor. Everybody knows that. But running the game honestly, the park still makes a tremendous profit. Besides, if they never had any winners, they would never have any players.

That said, it is not uncommon for basketball games to use non-regulation rims, balls, and distances. These facts are disclosed if you look closely enough at the game. But the ball *will* fit through the hoop. It's just that the exact jump shot that the player has been practicing for years happens to be the wrong angle for the game.

These days even the carnivals don't cheat quite so outrageously. There's simply no need to.

Of course that doesn't mean that all games are strictly honest. I did see a game at a Major Amusement Park this season where the operator was cheating outrageously. (QuickTime looping movie link) Watch as the operator quite brazenly takes control of the outcome of a "game of skill". :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Vince982 said:
I'm a sucker for the twisty rotating wire game.

Oh man, me too! That game is so hypnotically fun! Maybe it's the rotating shiny that makes it almost irresistable.

I can never do it more than twice because I get to aggrivated and lose my edge. I've come very close but can never get it all the way down.

That's what she said? :)

RideMan said:
Of course that doesn't mean that all games are strictly honest. I did see a game at a Major Amusement Park this season where the operator was cheating outrageously.

Dave,

Thanks for posting that. I'm glad to see a game op going out of their way to make sure the little kids enjoy their day rather than just acting like they don't care.

Yes it is. Though, it's probably one of the "winner every time" games.

Well, yes, of course it was. :) And as John pointed out, it is actually nice to see the operator go beyond, "Nice try, kid; grab a prize and get lost." It's more fun to hear the bell ring.

"Every time a bell rings, a little kid gets a neon-colored stuffed monkey."

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I worked games at Conneaut Lake Park for my uncle when he was running them for a few years... I can honestly say none of the games are 'rigged'.

For the milk-can game (when you throw the softball into the can) it is just a tight fit. I did it plenty of times... Higher arch is needed to get it in.

Ring Toss... Well, hard plastic bounces like crazy on bottles. If you find a cracked ring, you have MUCH better odds. Other then that, its luck. And it usually ALWAYS happens on a bounce.

Balloon Darts... The darts we used were often brand new, never 'dulled'. I could not tell you how many times people felt the tip to make sure they were legit... In our version, a tag was behind the balloon with a S, M, L, XL tag.. Sure, most of them were S.. But we had plenty of M, L, and a few XL tags. Our star-dart game (get dark into star without touching color around it) was pure skill.

The roll-ball games, with the bowling ball on the track are just skill. If you can, give the ball backspin when somebody is not looking for best odds... Usually, they have signs prohibiting this though. If not, go for it. The ball looses so little energy on the track, you have to get it to CRAWL over the top on the way over otherwise it usually always comes back. Backspin solves all this. It acts like a brake all the way through the crest and slows down plenty.

And as for the basketball game, the hoops were perfectly legit. Not "oval" or "off-round". Many people assume this when they don't have proper skills :D

That is just from my experience though at Conneaut... Nothing was ever rigged.

Am I the only one that finds it interesting that in this thread there are plenty of people who don't mind blowing $5 for shooting baskets or playing the twisting wire game, but in a different thread many of the same people feel it is highway robbery to pay $4.50 for a soda? Which is the bigger rip-off, the game that you don't win or the sugar water? Funny how people's perception changes.

Shades said:
Am I the only one that finds it interesting that in this thread there are plenty of people who don't mind blowing $5 for shooting baskets or playing the twisting wire game, but in a different thread many of the same people feel it is highway robbery to pay $4.50 for a soda? Which is the bigger rip-off, the game that you don't win or the sugar water? Funny how people's perception changes.

There is a big differance between a 10 cent cup of soda being sold for $4.50, opposed to a stuffed animal that cost's more than the $5 you are spending to play the game.

No, that stuffed animal does not cost more than the 5 bucks for the game.

But there is some entertainment value in the game. And 5 bucks, for whatever reason, doesn't seem terribly unreasonable at times.

JuggaLotus said:
No, that stuffed animal does not cost more than the 5 bucks for the game.

But there is some entertainment value in the game. And 5 bucks, for whatever reason, doesn't seem terribly unreasonable at times.

Really?

You may want to look here....

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=huge+stuffed+animals&tag=googhydr-20&index=toys-and-games&hvadid=1107266561&ref=pd_sl_1u2o4porzf_b