NH Man Files Police Report After He Loses $2600 Playing Basket Toss At Manchester Carnival

MANCHESTER – An Epsom man says all he wanted to do was win his kids a prize at a carnival on Saturday. Instead, he ended up embarrassed, angry and out $2,600.  Gribohm attended a Kids Carnival, operated by Fiesta Shows, at the JFK Coliseum on Beech Street Saturday afternoon, when he decided to try to win his kids a prize at a $5 game called “Tubs of Fun.” The goal is to toss two softballs into a large tub – also known as the Bushel Basket Toss. Gribohm said he came close to winning a prize, but fell just short. That’s when he started receiving encouragement from the two carnival workers to keep playing. “They said they would double my money if I could get 10 balls in the bucket,” said Gribohm. “I was loud and into it, and they said I was helping to draw a crowd over to the booth. They said I would win my kids an X-Box Connect, which are like $400 I think. So I gave it a try.” Before long, he said he had racked up $2,600 in charges. Gribohm said he returned to the carnival Sunday and complained to management. He said a manager gave him $600 and an oversized, dread-locked stuffed banana for his troubles, but was told that was “all they could do” for him.

Gribohm filed a report with Manchester police. Gribohm said he hopes by getting his story out there, he may help someone avoid being swindled. “Since Saturday, I’ve seen stories on the internet about this,” said Gribohm. “It’s happened to a lot of people.” In the book “Carnival Fraud 101,” author Bill Howard writes that the “Tubs of Fun” game features plastic “muck” buckets from home improvement stores so that the ball gets extra bounce.

I absolutely can’t believe the Carnival refunded this dope 600 bucks AND gave him a humongous dreadlocked banana when he came back to complain. What is that all about? This guy doesn’t deserve shit. He lost fair and square. Yeah I know the game is rigged. Everybody knows that game is rigged. Have you ever been to a carnival before buddy? Nobody wins at basket toss. Nobody. It shouldn’t take you $2600 bucks to figure that out. You only play games where somebody has to win. Like squirt gun horse racing. That’s my joint. You might as well just go home when I sit down at that game. But ring toss and bucket toss and all that other shit? Yeah it’s fucking rigged. How else to you think Carnies make a living? Somebody has to pay for those stuffed animals. More importantly what are you doing walking around with $2600 in cash a kids carnival? Who are you? Jay Z?