How to Beat Carnival Games

Carnival games lure you to win on the promise of big prizes, but most often they just take your money, one quarter at a time. Game operators will do everything they can to make you think that you can win, while actually doing everything they can to ensure that you lose. While some carnival games are simply impossible to win, others are easy to beat if you know the tricks. Read on to learn how to beat carnival games.

Instructions

1. Beat the classic plate toss carnival game, where your tossed dime falling in the center of a plate can win you a fancy prize. Plates are slick and often made more so with petroleum jelly or vegetable oil, so the trick to winning is to slow down the trajectory of the dime to ensure that it lands and stops on the plate. The first and easiest tactic for winning the plate toss is to toss the coin high with a sharp angle and absolutely no spin so that it falls flat onto the plate. The other more difficult trick is to practice bouncing the dime, as you do when you skip rocks, so that it first hits the table before jumping into the plate.

2. Burst a balloon and win a trinket in balloon dart throw carnival games. The operator has a couple of tricks up his sleeve in this game, as the darts are usually dull, the balloons under-inflated and difficult to pop and the best prizes placed on the outside of the board where players are less likely to aim. You have three tries, so pick one balloon for all three aims, choosing a balloon on the outer edge to win the best possible prize. Aim for the lower portion of the balloon where the rubber is weakest and more easy to pop.

3. Climb the ladder and ring the bell, a trick the operator does swiftly and easily. It may seem simple enough to climb a rope ladder and beat the game, however the ladder usually pivots around on a pulley system so that you fall off in mid-climb. Watch the operator climb and you will see that he pushes his feet against the ropes between the rungs, and does not climb directly on the rungs themselves, pulling himself up with his arms.

4. Claim to be born in October, whether it's true or not, when trying to beat "Guess Your Birth Month" games. The operator will write down his guess on a piece of paper and stick it in his pocket, saying that he can guess your birth month within two months. His trick is that he writes either "June," "July" or "January," in horrible handwriting so that he can claim it to be either June, July or January. October is the only month that won't work for the game operator.