Anyone See This Carnival Scam?

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THE SILENCER

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went to a carnivale, near my home today, why? i still don't know, anyway, to my amazement there were two pool tables under a tent! they had a sign, break and run , and win a stuffed animal. they set up 4 balls in a diamond configuration, like a nine ball rack, but with only 4 balls. it was a 4x8 table. i figured, shit, i could probaly break and run 20 times!, well, i broke, and made a couple, then missed. , it was two dollars, to do this. i gave the girl, another two dollars, broke, and missed on the last ball., something seemed funny, eyeing the pockets. i took two object balls, and placed them into the jaws, of one of the corner pockets, sure enough, they couldn't fit at all, the pockets were a drop larger than snooker table pockets! the girl, saw me do this, and had a shit fit!, "sir, it is supposed to be challenging" she snapped!, meanwhile, between the crapy cloth, unlevaled table, and snooker sized pockets, it's a scam!, you guys ever see this ripp-off?
 
Bernie, I could be one of the reasons they tightened the pockets. Myself and a couple of friends last year robbed the carnie's for a few stuffed animals each. If you break soft, you've got good action. But then again last year the pockets were about 5 inches. I guess carnies didn't realize how popular pool has become.
 
intresting. yes, with a 4x8, 5 inch pockets, only 4 balls, and a soft break, we could break and run, until george w. bush grows brains.
 
THE SILENCER said:
intresting. yes, with a 4x8, 5 inch pockets, only 4 balls, and a soft break, we could break and run, until george w. bush grows brains.

I don't think anyone could string racks for that long! ;)
 
At L.A. County Fair my 4 year old daughter and I waited in line to try the pool tables. She watched player after player win nothing. I paid $2 and ran the table despite the wacky equipment.

She picked out an animal and as we were leaving the booth, she gave my leg a big hug and said "your the greatest, daddy". That was the single most rewarding moment of my pool playing career.

Chris
 
TATE said:
At L.A. County Fair my 4 year old daughter and I waited in line to try the pool tables. She watched player after player win nothing. I paid $2 and ran the table despite the wacky equipment.

She picked out an animal and as we were leaving the booth, she gave my leg a big hug and said "your the greatest, daddy". That was the single most rewarding moment of my pool playing career.

Chris

I hear ya Tate. Great out, at a perfect time.
 
Jimmy M. said:
I don't think anyone could string racks for that long! ;)

Seems like there are a couple of more morons that do not understand the brilliant leadership of George W. Bush. Wait, I'm sorry, I don't intend to make this personal. I realize it's just a difference of opinion, but you boys are ripping the President of the United States and I'd just like to respond.

You say George W. Bush has no brains. I think he's the gretest leader we've had in the last 20 years . What would you like us to do? Roll over and beg for help from France and Germany and Russia?? I know that's what John Kerry would do. But those just happen to be the folks that were in bed with Saddam on a $10 billion oil-for-food scandal. Those are the same countries that tried to turn the rest of the world against us after voting for UN Resolution 1441 by a vote of 15-0!! John Kerry says they are the friends George W. has turned against us. The logical conclusion is that we should have been taking kickbacks from Saddam, much like the UN.

If turning the world against your military and putting their lives in greater danger is your idea of National Security, then I guess you should vote for John Kerry. If securing the United States of America is ideal to you, then you should vote for George W. Bush. That's all I've got. If you'd like the more detailed version, feel free to private message me because I'd rather not turn a pool forum into a political forum. The only reason I responded was because two people said something that I believed was more opinion than fact. I'd especially like to hear from those folks that are not American citizens. This is not a challenge, I'm not trying to be Americanly macho. I am just very interested in politics and Foreign affairs and I'd like to hear the opinions of others. Feel free to e-mail me at kferris123@msn.com. I enjoy an educated debate, but if you're just going to say George Bush is an idiot with nothing to back it up, then I'd rather not waste my time with you.
 
TATE said:
At L.A. County Fair my 4 year old daughter and I waited in line to try the pool tables. She watched player after player win nothing. I paid $2 and ran the table despite the wacky equipment.

She picked out an animal and as we were leaving the booth, she gave my leg a big hug and said "your the greatest, daddy". That was the single most rewarding moment of my pool playing career.

Chris
cheers to you!!!!!
 
To the original poster. What the heck did you expect? You were at the carnival man. Is it ever as easy as it looks? Is it easy to throw the ball into the bucket? Is it easy to shoot the star off the paper with the machine gun? Is it easy to knock over the bottles with the softball? No. None of the games in the carnival are meant to be easy, they are meant to take your money. They are all made to look easy though, don't doubt that. It just shocks me that you suddenly thought you were gonna get even, the carnival people are not stupid, they are the perfect hustlers and you got hustled. Wanna know what is worse though? I ran 4 racks in a row at the carnival on one of the POS tables with a warped cue and a pole that could get in your way at the worst time and they kicked me off the table and barred me cause I started to offer people any size of animal they wanted for 2 times the price of an attempt.
 
you've got to be a fish to play in one of these it's so ovbvous that these carnies will rtry and rip you off all the cents you've got...serioulsy wuts the point in playing in one of these? to show of your talent or show of how dumb you are?
 
Reno said:
Seems like there are a couple of more morons that do not understand the brilliant leadership of George W. Bush. Wait, I'm sorry, I don't intend to make this personal. I realize it's just a difference of opinion, but you boys are ripping the President of the United States and I'd just like to respond.

You say George W. Bush has no brains. I think he's the gretest leader we've had in the last 20 years . What would you like us to do? Roll over and beg for help from France and Germany and Russia?? I know that's what John Kerry would do. But those just happen to be the folks that were in bed with Saddam on a $10 billion oil-for-food scandal. Those are the same countries that tried to turn the rest of the world against us after voting for UN Resolution 1441 by a vote of 15-0!! John Kerry says they are the friends George W. has turned against us. The logical conclusion is that we should have been taking kickbacks from Saddam, much like the UN.

If turning the world against your military and putting their lives in greater danger is your idea of National Security, then I guess you should vote for John Kerry. If securing the United States of America is ideal to you, then you should vote for George W. Bush. That's all I've got. If you'd like the more detailed version, feel free to private message me because I'd rather not turn a pool forum into a political forum. The only reason I responded was because two people said something that I believed was more opinion than fact. I'd especially like to hear from those folks that are not American citizens. This is not a challenge, I'm not trying to be Americanly macho. I am just very interested in politics and Foreign affairs and I'd like to hear the opinions of others. Feel free to e-mail me at kferris123@msn.com. I enjoy an educated debate, but if you're just going to say George Bush is an idiot with nothing to back it up, then I'd rather not waste my time with you.

Just go to the "non-pool related" section of this board, there are a few discussions about this going on in there.
 
Reno said:
(other stuff snipped) if you're just going to say George Bush is an idiot with nothing to back it up, then I'd rather not waste my time with you.

Here's the requested proof - Bush Quotes.

"First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country."

"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have-he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."

"It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas."

"They misunderestimated me."

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."

"The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."

"We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans."

"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe-I believe what I believe is right."

"I understand small business growth. I was one."

"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."

"If a person doesn't have the capacity that we all want that person to have, I suspect hope is in the far distant future, if at all."

You're welcome.

John Barton
 
I don't think the 4 ball carnival game is a scam. It just works on odds. Only a solid B player or better will be able to beat it more than half the time. What is the ratio of B or better player to the weekend pool player who can't run two balls? It is very low. The condition of the carnival tables isn't any worse than the average bar table. It is just the number of pool players who can run 4 balls compared to the number who can't is extremely low.
 
Hell, if they Meucci as house cues, that'd be enough. lol
They are not slate tables, so it playing on it should be tough.
 
I have to disagree. The conditions of that I've seen at various carnie game was pretty bad. The one time I actually won the game more than once, the carnie wanted me to keep playing. When people saw somebody winning, they started lineing up.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I don't think the 4 ball carnival game is a scam. It just works on odds. Only a solid B player or better will be able to beat it more than half the time. What is the ratio of B or better player to the weekend pool player who can't run two balls? It is very low. The condition of the carnival tables isn't any worse than the average bar table. It is just the number of pool players who can run 4 balls compared to the number who can't is extremely low.

The tables at the carnivals are MUCH worse than average bar tables. They ususally have a wood bed rather than slate, the tables aren't even close to level, the rails are loose or dead and the cues are just short of trees.

The tabel condition AND the fact that there are many people who THINK they can play pool is the gaff. Even good pool players sometimes have it tough adjusting to the tables but once they do it's all over for the carny and they ususally politely or not so politely ask the good pool player to leave.

John - Won a HUGE Winne The Pooh Bear on the pool game and got my nose open on all the other ones.
 
i usedtoberich, two words for you your WRONG!! the snooker pockets, and not being levaled table, would have stopped reyes from running out.
 
Perhaps your table was much worse than average. However, the few that I've seen at carnivals, maybe about 4 carnivals containing 2 tables each, were on par with average to poor bar tables. That said, even if the tables were perfect, they would still make a ton of cash. I forgot the rules exactly as its been a few years since I saw this game at a carnival. Do you have to run the balls in numerical order?

The cut of the pockets might cause problems, but I don't think a crooked table would. If you slow roll and the cue ball moves less than 6 inches for the length of the table, I would consider that "acceptable" for a carnival game. After all, a good player can just shoot firmly and still get out. But if the cut of the pockets require as precise hit, that is a different story.
 
never tryed this game at a carnival, but i did win 2 giant stuffed animals at 6 flags (only aloud to win twice a day). and it was the coolest prize i ever won. 3 foot blue bull dog named spike.
 
Reno said:
Seems like there are a couple of more morons that do not understand the brilliant leadership of George W. Bush. Wait, I'm sorry, I don't intend to make this personal. I realize it's just a difference of opinion, but you boys are ripping the President of the United States and I'd just like to respond.

You say George W. Bush has no brains. I think he's the gretest leader we've had in the last 20 years . What would you like us to do? Roll over and beg for help from France and Germany and Russia?? I know that's what John Kerry would do. But those just happen to be the folks that were in bed with Saddam on a $10 billion oil-for-food scandal. Those are the same countries that tried to turn the rest of the world against us after voting for UN Resolution 1441 by a vote of 15-0!! John Kerry says they are the friends George W. has turned against us. The logical conclusion is that we should have been taking kickbacks from Saddam, much like the UN.

If turning the world against your military and putting their lives in greater danger is your idea of National Security, then I guess you should vote for John Kerry. If securing the United States of America is ideal to you, then you should vote for George W. Bush. That's all I've got. If you'd like the more detailed version, feel free to private message me because I'd rather not turn a pool forum into a political forum. The only reason I responded was because two people said something that I believed was more opinion than fact. I'd especially like to hear from those folks that are not American citizens. This is not a challenge, I'm not trying to be Americanly macho. I am just very interested in politics and Foreign affairs and I'd like to hear the opinions of others. Feel free to e-mail me at kferris123@msn.com. I enjoy an educated debate, but if you're just going to say George Bush is an idiot with nothing to back it up, then I'd rather not waste my time with you.

Normally I stay out of debates like this on pool forums. Since I'm a political science major, it's finals week, and I don't want to study I feel the urge to reply. Now, you're right when the two previous posters stated their opinion, I would include in this, your own opinion. The difference is that you used facts and they did not. Furthermore, one of the core values of our society, is that people have the right to say what they want about our president. A fair amount of criticism and dissent is a good thing, because lacking either of these is one of the characteristics of fascism, I can list several examples of a authoritarian state. Another characteristic is the existence of ultra-nationalism as a prevailing idea within the dominant party. Now I'm not argueing that Bush is a fascist, because he's not. I voted for him. I'm just saying that people in our country have the right to say what they want about the government. A certain amount of criticism enables the circulation of free thought.

Look at what Donald Rumsfield said, "If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much"

"It is the common failing of totalitarian regimes that they cannot really understand the nature of our democracy. They mistake dissent for disloyalty. They mistake restlessness for a rejection of policy. They mistake a few committees for a country. They misjudge individual speeches for public policy." (Answering North Vietnamese charge that US could not endure)
-- Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73), 36th US President, Democrat


To Bernie - I've seen that game. Man all Carnies do is rip you off. It what they live for.
 
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