TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

State Officials Inspect Fair Games - But Not For Fairness

ADVERTISEMENT

By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

TAMPA - Before fair fans flock to bust balloons with darts, encircle bottlenecks with rings or toss a basketball through a hoop, members of the sheriff's office and state attorney's office check the games to be sure they meet regulations.

"The games don't have to be fair, but they do have to be legal," said Pam Bondi, assistant state attorney.

Under state law, the midway games at the Florida State Fair cannot open until the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office certifies the games meet the rules.

It's the same for the Florida Strawberry Festival.

And you can be sure there are regulations.

For instance, in the game that calls for you to toss a ring around a bottleneck, the ring must be three-sixteenths of an inch larger than the lip of the bottle.

And feathers of the darts you use to bust balloons can't be frayed or missing.

This morning, the crew checking the midway made one operator replace the feathered darts with ones having plastic fletching.

Bondi told the operator of the pond toss to get rid of cracked and dented pingpong balls that are tossed into shallow, floating cups.

The inspection resembles a visitor's quest through the midway for a giant stuffed prize.

Deputies and prosecutors tossed basketballs, squirted water through openings, hurled baseballs at bottles and tried to shoot the star from the center of a piece of paper with pellets.

They also make sure signs clearly show the price, prize and feat you must achieve to win.

"They've improved a lot. The operators do a good job with the games here," Bondi said.

After the inspection, she said no games were shut down.

One change this year is that the game where you try to sink a foul shot uses regulation basketball hoops. Before this year's fair, the hoops were bent into ovals that had to be 3.25 inches larger than the ball.

Bondi said undercover deputies will prowl the fair during its 11-day run to be sure game operators don't change the games as soon as inspectors turned their backs.

The state fair and Strawberry Festival are the only two midways in Hillsborough County requiring the local state attorney's office to conduct inspections of games.

Local police and sheriff's offices are responsible for inspecting county fairs and other festivals, usually with help from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Game operator Kimberly Oren approves of the inspections.

"I think it's a very good idea so the public knows when they come here the games are honest," she said. "They're games of skill, not chance."

This is Oren's first year working the Florida State Fair, but she said rules in other states are generally the same.

"We want patrons to win. I've got four trailer loads of prizes and don't want to haul them all back," she said.

The fair runs through Feb. 18. Gates open at 9 a.m. and the midway opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. on weekends. Closing times vary.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT