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CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Are midway games rigged? They certainly aren't easy, say players
Emerson Cook believed she had a chance at winning the big prize at the Calgary Stampede. At the age of 8, she felt confident she could hang from a chin-up bar for two minutes. Her parents had a bar just like it at home, and she had spent the last year practicing, so how hard could it be? Plus, she could win a big stuffed animal. But when she grabbed onto the metal bar, all set for her two minutes of glory, she came to the startling realization that the rules had changed. The bars spun. And after 15 seconds, she fell. "I was like, 'It spun, I didn't know it spun,'" said Emerson, who is now 12. "I was, like, crying. I was really upset. Cause it was like, everybody was watching, everybody is staring at you." Cook was the victim of a midway game that was more challenging than it appeared. And with the Calgary Stampede underway, and many more fairs set for the next few months across Canada, she likely won't be the last. And while many people say these games are rigged, or at least, not as fair as they might seem, operators argue all games are winnable, and there are some tricks to put your best foot forward. Difficult or fraudulent? There are three types of carnival games. There are games of chance, games of skill, and games that mix the two. For example, Cook's Hang Time challenge is a game of skill — and a deceptively hard one at that. The pick-a-duck race game or the claw game are games of chance. The ring toss game, where you have to get a ring on top of a bottle, is a bit of both. And Matt Magnone has played a lot of them. He runs a YouTube channel called Arcade Matt out of Ambridge, Pa., where he makes videos playing everything from arcade games to midway competitions. But he says there's no question that operators tilt the odds in their favour. For example, he says, in a game that involves shooting a basketball through a hoop, you might need more skills than an NBA star. Oftentimes, he says, the actual hoop is smaller than regulation, and the basketballs are given extra air so they bounce everywhere. A park near his home actually does have a sign letting people know it isn't a regulation basketball hoop. "It's more of like an oval than a circle. So it's just designed to where the average person isn't gonna be able to figure it out the first time or even maybe the 10th time," said Magnone. Then there's the game where you have to knock over a stack of bottles. There, he says, the bottom bottle will often be weighted to make sure they don't easily fall over. "So in theory, you can win every time. Now the games are designed to where, you know, I guess it's more of kind of like a casino, right?" said Magnone. "The games are set up to a certain difficulty to where the average person isn't gonna be able to win it every time." That's how Cook felt about the hanging bar challenge. There were no signs telling her that it moved, and it wasn't clear from watching the challengers ahead of her. "It said just, 'Bar, hold on for two minutes.' It didn't say, like, if it was spinning or not. Like, you couldn't tell," said Cook. Lots of stuffies These games are money makers for midway companies. Six Flags, which owns 42 amusement parks, such as Canada's Wonderland in Ontario and La Ronde in Quebec, brought in around $900 million in revenue last year from food, merchandise, and games. And while there is no doubt these games are designed with the intention to make money, Greg "Scooter" Korek says they are certainly winnable. Korek is the vice president of client services for North American Midway Entertainment, which puts on the Calgary Stampede along with many other fairs and festivals across North America. He says nearly 1.4 million people visited the Calgary Stampede last year, and Korek says games are an important part of that operation. "Are our games winnable? You bet," said Korek. "Our games do make money for us, but we're giving away a lot of prizes as we go along." He says that at the Calgary Stampede, they expect to give away 35 tractor-trailer loads of stuffed animals. "We could fill out this Saddledome with stuffed animals for 16 games," said Korek. And he says that while some games are harder to win, there is a reward for that: bigger prizes. Parade kicks off 113th Calgary Stampede Tips and tricks Magnone says there are ways you can tip the odds back in your favour. In the game where you have to knock over the bottom bottles, for instance, always go for the bottom row, he says. You can watch how-to videos for specific popular games to learn how they work before you play them, and you can also stand by a game at a fair to see how those who win are successful. Practicing, however, means that —unless you build the game at home — you have to spend money at the midway. But even with those strategies, don't expect to dominate. "They are set up so difficult to where, yeah, you might get one person that might see a tip and trick, but still, it's gonna take a lot of practise to get it dialled in and get the technique," said Magnone. Even if you do get really good, you likely won't win unlimited giant stuffies. Magnone says many places will put a limit on how many times you can win before you get cut off. But Emerson Cook hasn't reached that point yet. After her disappointing first attempt, she started training correctly. She made it so her bar at home moved like the one at the fair, and she practiced and practiced. "I still haven't won it yet," said Cook, reflecting on her 2024 attempt. "It's pretty tricky to do. Like, it's not that simple." Cook went back to the Stampede this year for another attempt, but were unable to find the game. But Cook hopes to go back next year and continue her quest to be Hang Time champion and walk away with one of those giant stuffies.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Atlético Ottawa in 'Superman' form heading into big weekend clash
Atlético Ottawa is currently the team to beat in Canadian soccer, sitting atop the nation's premier league (CPL) table with only one loss in 14 games. The Ottawa side is also riding a seven-game unbeaten streak across all competitions. Atlético's most recent win came in thrilling fashion on Tuesday when Samuel Salter, the club's leading striker, salvaged an underwhelming team performance with a breathtaking goal in the dying minutes of the match. His bullet-like volley fired York United out of the Canadian Championship and sealed what will be Atlético's first appearance in the domestic cup semi-finals when they take on Vancouver FC in August. Goalkeeping coach Romuald Peiser, who previously played for the Ottawea Fury before that club folded, describes this week's victory as a "milestone." A Superman-themed match against rivals The club's true test of character and craftsmanship is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. in a Justice League-like showdown comparable to Superman vs. Batman when Atlético takes on rivals Forge FC of Hamilton. The Superman-themed match at TD Place will see Atlético unveil special edition jerseys inspired by the DC character during warm-up. A limited but unspecified number will be sold to the public, according to a news release. Meanwhile, a four-time league champion is nipping at Atlético's heels: Forge is undefeated this season but trails Atlético by a single point. The Hamilton side is also coming off a big win in the Canadian Championship quarterfinal, defeating CF Montreal earlier this week. Unlike Forge and Atlético, Montreal plays in Major League Soccer (MLS) competition. That league holds a talent pool of professionals with playing experience in the world's top leagues, including legendary Argentine Lionel Messi who now wears the pink and black kit for Inter Miami. Peiser said Saturday's match is an opportunity for the young Ottawa team to grow. The average age of Atlético's roster is 25 years and 102 days, according to the available ages listed on the team's website. That includes 40-year-old Alberto Zapater, without whom the average age drops to 24 years and 241 days. Peiser says the best way to develop those young player is through playing time and technical development. "We want to develop young Canadian players. How do you do that? It's with the ball," Peiser said. New year, new dawn, new playing style for Atlético Past matches between the Ontario teams have led to a growing rivalry. Forge previously defeated Atlético 2-0 in front of 15,000 people at TD Place to lift the North Star Shield in 2023. Forge has bested Atlético more than a dozen times since the Ottawa team's inauguration, far more than the handful of wins the Ottawa side has enjoyed over its provincial rivals. Atlético's playing style has changed this season under new management. A team previously focused on maintaining a compact, defensive shape now demands possession of the ball in an attack-focused model. "We want the ball, but we want the ball with purpose," Peiser said. "[The players] want to win, they want to get better. They enjoy the system, they enjoy the game model. It's very demanding, but they enjoy it so much." Peiser added that it's a team goal to transmit that enjoyment to the fans and give them a "show" "Anyone who came into TD [Place] this year had a lot of fun at the game," Peiser said. "We want a lot of people in the stands having fun with us, [to] really create that union."
National Post
3 hours ago
- National Post
Roughriders' president Reynolds speaks after game postponement due to smoke
Due to poor air quality from wildfire smoke in Regina, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were forced to postpone Friday night's CFL game against the Calgary Stampeders to Saturday. Article content Originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, the two teams will now meet at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Week 6 of the CFL season. Under the CFL's weather protocol, games cannot be played when the air quality index is higher than eight, which was the case on Friday night. Models are forecasting lower levels on Saturday, which would allow the teams to play. Article content Article content Article content On Friday night, thousands of fans made their way into Mosaic Stadium ahead of the 7 p.m. start only to learn at 5:30 p.m. the game was going to be delayed by 45 minutes. After that deadline passed, another announcement was issued at 7:30 p.m. saying that the delay was being extended with no timeline attached to it. At 10 p.m., the club then said it was going to wait until 10:45 p.m. to make the official call to play at 11:15 p.m. on Friday night or move the game to Saturday at 2 p.m., which was ultimately the decision that was made. Article content Following the announcement, Roughriders president Craig Reynolds met with the media to share his thoughts on how the day played out from the team's perspective, while offering a message to the fans who stuck it out on Friday night and those who can't make it back on Saturday. Article content 'We have a meteorologist that works with us, and we start getting reports on the weather early on in the week, and early on the week, it was looking like a beautiful summer, summer night. Article content Article content 'And it was really kind of (Thursday) where we started getting alert that there was potential for smoke concerns. So when that happens, the protocol kicks in and we start meetings; joint meetings with the CFL, the visiting team, obviously members of my team and the (CFL Players' Association). And we meet regularly, starting really in the early afternoon, when we get a good sense of the models. Article content 'We have an excellent meteorologist team that actually guides us on that and looks at the models of the weather. We dealt with this in the pre-season game (and) their models are really accurate, very accurate. So much so in the pre-season game, we knew exactly when the smoke was going to clear. We set a start time at 8 p.m., we were able to start the game on time at 8 p.m. and it turned to be a beautiful evening.
