TAMPA, Fla. — Each year people visiting the Florida State Fair spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on games of chance all in hopes of winning a stuffed animal or some other souvenir.
This year, the cost of playing some of those games has also gone up.
That’s why Hillsborough County inspectors were out in force on the fair’s opening day - making sure that those games of chance are working the way they're supposed to.
“From separation to height to making sure that the hoops aren't caved into much in the oval. There's a lot that goes into it. And every game has different specifications,” Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “They have to meet the state standard to be able to open up to the public.”
The annual inspections are necessary, they say, to make sure people plunking down their hard-earned dollars have a real shot at actually winning.
Several stickers and sign adjustments show that could be an even pricier prospect this year than in the past as the cost to play many of the games has increased.
“We would like to have a strict, honest, good reputation with the games and this inspection just swallows up what we've been trying to do,” said Jon Ketchman with the fair’s producer Wade Shows. “And it keeps the public, I think, happy.”
Each year, inspectors say they find something, and this year was no exception.
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Several air guns had to be tethered for safety. Some basketball hoops needed adjustment, the sheriff said. And several ballon-popping darts needed repair in order to fly straight.
“I don't think anyone does it intentionally,” Sheriff Chronister said. “I think because they're put back together and taken apart and moved around around the whole entire country. I think sometimes when they're putting it together. They're in a hurry and we're just there to make sure that that compliance is there. Again, to protect the community.”
Clearly, it’s not easy to win some of the games of chance, but as Matthew Moschella – who was carrying an enormous stuffed animal across the midway – can tell you, it’s not impossible.
“It's good. It doesn't feel like it's rigged or a waste of my money even though, the first couple of tries, I did miss,” Moschella said. “But hey, I didn't give up and then I got this beautiful sloth right here.”
By the time the gates opened, deputies conducting the inspections said the issues they had come across had been addressed and the games were good to go.