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Here's how to win at arcade games

By BRANDI BARHITE
brandibarhite@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - If anyone ever needed a guide on how to win an amusement park game, I was it.

Unlike my dad, who wins a stuffed animal every time he opens his wallet, I lack the patience and precision needed for such games.

I also have a really hard time parting with money without a guaranteed return.

And frankly, I rather just ride the roller coasters.

Sandusky Register reporter Brandi Barhite tries her basketball skills at one of the games at Cedar Point . Register photo/JASON WERLING

But then I got a free copy of "The Secrets of Amusement Park Games Revealed," and to be honest, I had a perfect spot on my bed for one of those huge plush Care Bears.

So after reading Brian Richardson's common sense-based guide, I went to Cedar Point with an arsenal of advice from the Texas-based game connoisseur.

I am going to be honest, it helped, to an extent. Fortunately for me, Cedar Point let me play for free, under the condition I wasn't competing for prizes.

I started out good enough when I played the bushel baskets. Following Richardson's advice, I aimed for the inside lip of the basket. Out of three, I actually got two in. If I had been a paying customer, I would have had my choice of prizes.

Next, was the guessing game. Following Richardson's simple advice, I didn't ask for my age to be guessed because, "These guys are good," he said.

Against Richardson's advice, and at the urging of my colleague, I asked for my weight to be guessed. The guesser had to be within three pounds. He was.

"Unless you are wearing a hefty bag to hide your body frame, it's pretty difficult to cover up those tell-tale signs on how much you weigh," Richardson wrote. "They will look at a lot of things: Stomach, thighs, buttocks, body frame, cheek bones."

I then went to a second booth and asked her to guess the month of my birthday. Richardson didn't write anything about this.

The guesser had to be within in two months. She guessed May. I was born in February. Another prize, if I had been paying.

My next stop was the ring toss, which turned out to be the most difficult. Richardson advised to throw the ring in a Frisbee-like manner coupled with a level-to-the-bottle release. Dropping the rings on the bottles would cause too much force to ever get one on the bottles, he wrote.

I quickly went through a bucket of rings without success.

In hindsight, I kept forgetting to throw at bottle-level.

The half-court basketball tosses was the last game on my test.

Richardson's advice was pretty simple: Throw underhand, if they let you. Well, Cedar Point doesn't let you. So, under the advice of park employees, I aimed high and with an arch.

It didn't work -- at least for me. An 11-year-old girl next to me made a basket.

But I wasn't really that disappointed. I knew what Richardson's guide was missing: My dad. I'll be prepared next time.

FunCoast.com is your online guide to summer fun for Cedar Point, the LakeErie Islands and Sandusky area. Our site offers up-to-date information on area attractions, restaurants, hotels, gasoline prices, ferry schedules, swimming, birding and fishing, along with a complete listing of events happening in the Sandusky/Cedar Point area. To use our Webcam and zoom in on Cedar Point's rollercoasters, go to http://funcam.funcoast.com