Board 8 > How many prizes will I win at the fair this year?

(+) Yeah! (+)

2019: 10/10 prizes:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/8/5/AABgm0AADql1.jpg

2020: 0/0, there was no fair due to how bad I wrecked them the year before and definitely not because of COVID-19.

2021: 0/0, the fair was open but again they lacked the courage to bring my game back.

2022: there are five days left I can still attend, and that first day is tomorrow. Will the bottle game return? And do I still have the skills?? And might I get a deep-fried Milky Way ice cream bar while I'm there???

I for one will be tagging this topic because I need to know.

What's your game?

People voting anything less than 5 don't know who you are.

mnk posted...

People voting anything less than 5 don't know who you are.

Maybe we need history before 2019 then..!

2 years off is nothing to sneeze at it. I think he's lost it

I think 0,1 and 5 are all plausible answers.

Going to go with 0 on the combo bet of the game isn't available or the game changed in a way that makes you not win

MarkS2222222222 posted...

What's your game?

Nanis23 posted...

Maybe we need history before 2019 then..!

https://fb.watch/fuVf1aauHB/

mnk posted...

People voting anything less than 5 don't know who you are.

I believe they limit you to 1 per day. And there are 5 days left.

One prize per person per day is the usual norm, yes.

What do you do with all the prizes?

Obellisk posted...

What do you do with all the prizes?

He donated the ones in the picture (but kept one, I think?) to kids in need.

And the answer is 5 if your "hook the bottle" game is there. 0 or 1 if it isn't. If it's not there, they may have retired it because of you. They want to make money, not break even, and people seeing you ace it meant they could, too - with practice. And then the fair loses money.

I give away all of them, yeah. One went to my grandma for her birthday and one went to a previous landlord that I know then gives these prizes to kids she knows, but otherwise I tend to give them directly to kids and non-profits.

I'm banking on game being gone or you being rusty

I did get a little nervous yesterday...been a long time since I played it, so I practiced awhile. Hand's more nervous around a bottle on the edge of disaster than it used to be.

HaRRicH posted...

https://fb.watch/fuVf1aauHB/

lol that was great, I enjoyed it

I voted 5

I cant believe its been 3 years since the 2019 topic, jeez

Nanis23 posted...

lol that was great, I enjoyed it

Thank you! It was fun.

Okay, on my way, wish me luck. This is a date-night at the fair for the first time in like a decade in a half (she doesn't know about this game skill), so, like...no pressure.....

BRB changing from 5 to 4

Okay that was a great laugh.

=)

HaRRicH posted...

=)

Have fun!

HaRRicH posted...

=)

@Harrich got lucky

by which I mean they had the game and he won a prize.

I won a dog-bear!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/9/AABgm0AADqzf.jpg

Nice job!

So, girlfriend and I went to the fair tonight. She's only been to a fair once and it was somewhere else, so I assured her I'd show her a good time.

You see the picture above. Mission accomplished, right, BUT HOW

We spent a few hours there riding rides, eating food, and playing the occasional non-dominant game. Along the way, she's talking about how you can't win against the carnival because they're all stacked against you.

She was right, as she often is...and also it made winning the prize all the sweeter.

So, we eventually get to the game, and, like...here's the main takeaway about the story I'm about to tell as an experienced stuffed animal rescuer: they planned for me. They fucking planned for me.

Let me tell you about the changes.

wallmasterz posted...

by which I mean they had the game and he won a prize.

I interpreted that =) as "they have the game."

HaRRicH posted...

the story I'm about to tell as an experienced stuffed animal rescuer: they planned for me. They fucking planned for me.

Knowing that they see you as a rival just the same has to be validating, which will only make the story all the more sweeter when you pass it on to your kids (as you mentioned in your video).

*eagerly awaits more info*

You hear me joke about how I'm why the game was taken out from the fair, haw haw, easy joke, whatever...

...listen to me. They changed the game and tried to make sure 2019 never happened again.

Reminder:. 10/10 prizes in 2019...no fair at all (fine, it was about COVID-19, I concede the point)...and no game to be found at the 2021 fair when they returned.

2022, the game is back, and it has specific changes.

First change was at the bottom of the rules.

HaRRicH posted...

One prize per person per day is the usual norm, yes.

^ oh, those were the days! Now the rule is "1 PRIZE.". That is it -- win, and then don't come back you dirty bottle-standing stick-wielder. They want to celebrate you so others will play, but also the next players who come from the advertisement of your win are standing on the grave of your Bottle Up career. The game-runners do not want to see you any more. Go home.

So, now there's a prize cap, but what else? Let's charge more too! The price has gone up. I believe it used to be one try for three dollars and two tries for five. Now it is one try for five dollars. More money up-front, presumably to make up on lost funds from 2019. Prices tend to waiver year to year anyway, but I'm just noting it has gone up.

Here's the kicker: they changed the game in a way where you can't even fully practice it at home anymore. I can't believe it and am genuinely impressed.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/1/AABgm0AADqz_.jpg

The plexiglass you see at the bottom? They're flatter than Earth my friends. I've never seen that before, and that is super tricky because you want an incline to help catch the bottle on the stand -- otherwise the bottle almost always has too much momentum not to fall over.

So then how do you do it?

I got scared, ya'll.

Here's the new trick. At first I thought plexiglass was loose and wobbly where it wasn't staying in place...but no, what's actually happening is when you have the weight of the bottle move from the center to the bottom edge of the plexiglass, it tilts the plexiglass up just enough for the incline you need, and then it catches itself so you don't just have the plexiglass fall off. It has two settings -- flat and incline -- and you gotta maneuver the bottle's weight to manipulate that.

So...now I can't just practice this on my floor too much because my floor doesn't tilt, and I can't make my practice board flat because it is four blocks of wood from the '80s. They've added a simple and dangerous new element to the game for people who know what's happening, and it's a sneaky deception for those who don't know.

AND THEN, to top it off, the barrier you can't cross is closer to the game now. Usually this would be seen as something to make it easier, but no! Now that the bottle is to the very dangerous front edge of the plexiglass to get it to tilt, you are now needing to stand almost directly over the bottle to play the rest of your turn safely -- which is a good way for the ring to fall off the lip of the bottle and cost you five dollars. If you try stepping back, the barrier's blocking your vision or even your string so good luck there too. I had to hold the stick differently in a way I never did before to adjust tonight.

Carnival people are brilliant people and don't you ever doubt that.

And they were intent on stopping me this year.

But even brilliant people have limits.

HaRRicH posted...

^ oh, those were the days! Now the rule is "1 PRIZE.". That is it -- win, and then don't come back you dirty bottle-standing stick-wielder. They want to celebrate you so others will play, but also the next players who come from the advertisement of your win are standing on the grave of your Bottle Up career. The game-runners do not want to see you any more. Go home.

Yikes. I expect this to change when they lose money. This + the rise in costs will make it so nobody even gives it a shot except for the professionals. Maybe they just want to recoup all the money you cost them last time, sure, but... we'll see if that even works.

I'd guess you can go back and win something else tomorrow, so long as that's not one of the big expensive stuffed animals - that's what the small doggie in your hands in the pic with your girlfriend is, yes?

Dang your girlfriend is beautiful. Idk how a guy with an entire room of stuffed animals snagged that but congrats.

With the new flat plexiglass and the pressure of choking in front of a girlfriend in the past before, I almost just walked us past the game. I didn't wanna deal with that again.

There were three motivating factors happening in the moment though that made me push forward:

1) There was another couple there tonight who was already playing, and the guy kept paying turn after turn to try again and kept losing money. There was a chance of seeing me as that guy again -- and I did, I know that story -- but I also remembered I have worked on myself and am not that man anymore. I saw a mirror with a less trained man than I knew I was today.

2) I didn't like the person running the game. That's harsh really and he was nice when we won, right...but he said "aaaawwww" a few times when people missed...and it sounded less supporting and more condescending, like "AAAaaawwwWWW-wuh." It felt like it was mocking that guy losing his money and I didn't like that.

3) Same guy couldn't stand the bottle very well. I got to watch him a few times and that helped solidify the new strategy.

So, with those in-the-moment thoughts running wilder than Hulkamania, I gave him a twenty and told him to give me fifteen dollars back.

This enters the haggling portion of the evening. This dude on the referee's shirt says he's give me five tries for twenty dollars, trying to keep my money. I bet on myself instead and say no, but I'll do three for ten. He resists, then gives me three fives back. No deal -- by the books.

I try and I messed up. I didn't really get how much I needed to adjust the bottle to get the tilt.

I tell him I want to play again, with the girlfriend asking if I'm sure I wanna play again -- yes ma'am, I do. Ref-man offers the same deal -- five tries for $20. I push back again -- three tries for $10. He declined again, then talks that shit about how it could be $4 a try instead of $5 if I'd just invest up front. I paid him $5 for a second try.

Ya know what, go ahead and add #4: he treated players like already-losers just itching to lose their money instead of about-to-be-winners thinking they were about to win a gamble. I don't respect it.

I learned today it is very hard to both move the bottle close to the edge of the platform and trust the the platform tilt doesn't the make it fall off. I work on this part for about three minutes, feeling very silly about it...but eventually it tilts kinda-sorta-enough and I decided to go for it.

I got it. Second try.

I scream, she screams, and the game-runner's in disbelief before celebrating. He probably forgot I was still playing after how long it was taking me.

She picks the prize and names it after a friend of hers who passed away a few years ago. Dude tells us I'm the first person to win in two days and sixth since the fair started I think three days ago.

She carries it as best as she can but it blocks her vision and accidentally bumped into people. She had been play-guilting me earlier that night because I had been talking about a friend who wanted me to win his dog a chew-toy, so she had been saying things like "So, are you gonna win me a prize?" Now she's accidentally colliding into people with her prize while kids passing by are shouting about how huge her dragon is. It was great.

As we were leaving, we came across the couple who were trying to win the game before we got there who lost a lot of money. Their eyes widens and asked if we won it at the bottle game -- yep. They shared their disappointment and closest efforts and asked how I did it.

I gave him the one-minute version. tl;dr - family tradition, decade+ in the making for me personally. He said he was going to recreate the game at home and I cheered that man on as best as I could saying that was what my dad and I did. He was still sore he didn't win, but maybe that'll lead to a new bottle conquerer in due time.

It was a great night.

To finish, congratulations to the one vote out of sixty-four who said I would only win one prize this year. That is correct.

I don't count that six-inch dog-bear as a prize...sorry to the one vote who said I would win two prizes.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Knowing that they see you as a rival just the same has to be validating, which will only make the story all the more sweeter when you pass it on to your kids (as you mentioned in your video).

Oh yeah, I'll be laughing about it way down the line. I'd love to win more prizes in the meanwhile, but for now the story will have to do. =)

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I'd guess you can go back and win something else tomorrow, so long as that's not one of the big expensive stuffed animals - that's what the small doggie in your hands in the pic with your girlfriend is, yes?

Specifically the 1 PRIZE rule is about the bottle game. I can win the biggest prize at any other booth if I want to. The ref saying "aaaawwww" annoyingly just will not allow me to play the bottle-game anymore while they're in town.

Carnival bottle game story is literally one of board 8's best recurring topics.

HaRRicH posted...

Specifically the 1 PRIZE rule is about the bottle game. I can win the biggest prize at any other booth if I want to. The ref saying "aaaawwww" annoyingly just will not allow me to play the bottle-game anymore while they're in town.

Hmmmm... what if there's a different ref earlier in the day? Think you could get away with that?

And since very few people are winning now, they're gonna have to make an adjustment before word starts spreading that the game's impossible without practice. Game will start to lose money that way.

Corrik7 posted...

Dang your girlfriend is beautiful. Idk how a guy with an entire room of stuffed animals snagged that but congrats.

The Robin Hood of stuffed animals knows how to work a big stick.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Hmmmm... what if there's a different ref earlier in the day? Think you could get away with that?

I've wondered, but there's also parking/admission/time on top of the rule they've set and the gamble of the situation. I don't wanna.

Now, I do have a fat suit that I think would be hilarious to try sneaking by...but even if I ever tried that, I would probably let security know up-front just so they had awareness of the situation. I would be less interested in the prize than seeing if I was recognized in a fat suit by a stranger working a job. Just not gonna try it.

red13n posted...

Carnival bottle game story is literally one of board 8's best recurring topics.

#1 is MMX ranking the users.

That new setup looks ridiculous. Like the plexiglass is one thing but being so close to the barrier is just inane. I've never seen a carnival game like that.

Congrats on your win!

This is an amazing thread. Congrats on the win!

HaRRicH posted...

I gave him the one-minute version. tl;dr - family tradition, decade+ in the making for me personally. He said he was going to recreate the game at home and I cheered that man on as best as I could saying that was what my dad and I did. He was still sore he didn't win, but maybe that'll lead to a new bottle conquerer in due time.

and thus the legend continues

Great job!

How does one fry ice cream? We have a Mexican restaurant next door that serves it, but Im always full from the meal and I dont get dessert.

Corrik7 posted...

Dang your girlfriend is beautiful. Idk how a guy with an entire room of stuffed animals snagged that but congrats.

She's 17

foolm0r0n posted...

She's 17

What

Corrik7 posted...

What

He's being hilarious.

Try doubling that.

(no not two 17 year olds)

Uglyface2 posted...

How does one fry ice cream? We have a Mexican restaurant next door that serves it, but Im always full from the meal and I dont get dessert.

I have understood the frying process happens so fast to the outer shell of frozen food that it doesn't melt much at all.