DC Trawler

Man loses $2,600 in carnival game, wins stuffed banana; will appeal

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Are you feeling bad about yourself this morning? Does it seem like the deck is stacked against you and you just can’t win?

Hey, at least you’re not this guy.

CBS Boston:

Henry Gribbohm says he lost his life savings, $2,600, on a carnival game and all he has to show for it is a stuffed banana with dreadlocks…

Gribbohm says he attended a Manchester carnival run by New Hampshire-based Fiesta Shows and wanted to win an Xbox Kinect at a game called Tubs of Fun where contestants toss balls into a tub. When he practiced he says it was easy, but something changed when he started playing for the prize and the balls kept popping out…

The 30-year-old from Epsom says he kept trying to win back his money by going double or nothing. He dropped $300 in just a few minutes, then says he went home to get $2,300 more and soon lost all of that as well.

“You just get caught up in the whole ‘I’ve got to win my money back.’”

No, actually, I don’t. You do. Which is your problem.

How much is an Xbox Kinect, anyway? $300, something like that? So, once you blow that much on a carnival game like an idiot, you don’t go back home and get even more money to throw away. You go to Target or Wal-Mart or wherever, and you buy the damn game if you really want it so badly.

This guy’s actually threatening legal action. Against the carnival, not the doctor who dropped him on his head as a baby.

But here’s the kicker:

“For once in my life I happened to become that sucker,” said Gribbohm.

Yeah, guy. Just this once. This is where things are really gonna start to turn around for you.