Carnival games carry a certain level of excitement. You see the prizes before you and think, “I really need that stuffed gorilla with a top hat,” even though it will end up in a dusty corner of your house in a matter of minutes. New Hampshire resident Henry Gribbohm got caught up in a carnival game recently, and he ended up spending his life savings with nothing to show for it but a stuffed banana with dreadlocks.

Gribbohm first plunked down $300 on a Tubs of Fun game in an effort to win an Xbox Kinect. When his efforts failed, he left the carnival, went home, grabbed his remaining $2,300, and went back to try again. He says he was caught up in the idea of “double or nothing,” which kept him going, but in the end he wasn’t able to win the prize.

The following day he returned and talked to the man running the booth, and did have some luck getting some of his cash back. That’s when he was awarded the banana and was given $600 of his money back. Gribbohm then filed a report with the Manchester Police Department, which sparked an investigation.

The issue at hand is whether or not the game he was playing is rigged. The contractor running the game isn’t allowed to set up his game during the investigation (convenient), and the man running Fiesta Shows, the carnival where the incident took place, claims that he isn’t aware of any games being rigged.

My personal thoughts: Regardless of whether or not the game is rigged, is anyone else thinking what I am? Gribbohm could have gone out and bought a brand new Xbox Kinect for less than $300. I understand getting caught up in a game, but when he returned home to grab another $2,300 to continue playing a game he was already losing at, it might have occurred to him at that point that he should stop. He was clearly ready to spend it all, otherwise he would have left some of his money at home where it belonged. Do you think he should take some personal responsibility in this entire mess, or does all of the blame rest on the shoulders of the man who took his money?

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