Carnival Games will be the Majority of Vendors at Card Conventions in the Future

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This is concerning to say the least but it makes sense as this market keeps moving in this direction.

Last month I was at Card Party. I was excited to go to another convention to off load some highly appreciated cards and to spend time with people I only see around conventions! Especially when I don’t know who all were in my section that I would be around the entire weekend. When I arrived, I did not know anyone around me except for Banana-Man (if you know you know). I got to know some of the people around me when we were setting up.

Where they came from, how long was the trip, yatta yatta. I was setting up my display and started to notice the other people around me setting up a different type of display. I was a little confused and started to look over.

To my left of my display, it was some sort of pokemon matching carnival game which for $20 you try to match two pokemon together from a randomly inserted popsicle sticks that had the Pokemon hidden. If you matched them, you got the chance to pull a PSA 10 graded card from my mystery bag. If you didn’t win, you got a randomly inserted raw card which the chase cards were a bubble mew or Charizard ex from 151.

Very creative and very cute design. Then I looked over to the right of my display. It was another carnival game but a very very complicated one, I will not go into detail, but the guy had Wakka Flakka and another photo of Chum from PS playing his game calling it “The best game ever created”. He was maybe in his 40’s and he worked really well with kids. Everyone seemed to really like the game. The main prizes were Korean and Chinese packs that people won.

Then besides the Pokemon matching game there was a guy who had about 500-600 mystery packs covering 4 tables, that’s it, that’s all he brought…

To say the least, it was a bit of a culture shock to me. After asking and digesting what was becoming a very real reality, is seems like at these conventions, vendors will quickly turn to carnival games rather then selling actual Pokemon cards due to the lucrative profits one can make by selling crap or unsellable items to kids and adults through means of gambling.

I could see in the future (or very soon) if these carnival games become too much of a thing, conventions will step in and limit or ban carnival games from conventions all together. If not, these conventions will be one big carnival with big hype cards as the “prizes” with very little probability of them being won.

Picture of me at Card Party in said section [Try to Find me ;)]:

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For those uninformed and don’t know about these carnival games, here is just one game I stumbled upon while scrolling YT at Chicago CAC:

Video Here

I understand the vendor’s job is to make profit at these events, but there has to be some sort of limitations to these types of things. What is stopping a bad actor from just scamming people with these carnival games? Who to say that person in the video isn’t using loaded dice?

Even if played fairly, 6 1’s in a row someone pointed out in the comments is like 1 to 46,660 chance… Oh brother…

I would think most people come to card conventions to see cards the normal collector would not be able to afford, sell their collections, or trying to trade + cash into a bigger card for their collection.

It was very disappointing being in-between a bunch of carnival game people with my items I was trying to sell. Maybe I am just bitching but I would have rather been in a section of just all vendors selling cards to people instead of gambling games…

Kind of disappointing if you ask me.

Anyone else feeling the same?

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This seems like the natural evolution of the increased role gambling plays in the Pokemon hobby. It’s been coming for awhile, but with the jump in in-person card shows I’m not surprised that most vendors are simply doing slot machines as opposed to actual cards. There’s a reason why actual gambling is as heavily regulated as it is.

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man if I went out to any card show and there was a bunch of people doing that I’d probably tell the event organizers that I would not pay the time or money to come out to their show again just to have a bunch of the vendor spaces taken up with that kind of junk.

I guess its an easy way to upsell stuff nobody wants to actually buy. Here, have korean obsidian flames for the low price of a $10 spin!

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That’s interesting, I haven’t seen this at all at the shows I vend at. The closest I see is a few stalls doing blind bags essentially but almost every single vendor is simply buying and selling cards.

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Until the conventions crack down and limit the ways these vendors can operate their unregulated gambling, it’ll get worse. The push back is when it starts becoming too much of liability for the organizers, gaming commissions, cheating the odds, vendor pushback (like yourself), safety, etc. Organizers arent going to want to deal with getting the correct permits for running raffles once it becomes known that they need one, currently they operate on a dont ask dont tell mindset.

I dont mind a simple pull a winner and get a slightly better prize kind of game but that should be secondary to the actual vending happening. I understand the want to make a booth a big draw with entertainment (I went to SDCC for 10 years when it was all about big booths and swag) but it eventually feels terrible for the convention goer when every booth wants to gamble with your money, all optimized to extract as much money as quickly as possible. A booth should be able to stand on its own merits of its product.

The joy of a convention is not spending money, it is finding a deal and having an experience with like minded individuals. Carnival games makes it an experience for sure, but not everyone is a winner and losing can leave a bitter aftertaste.

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patrick-star-starfish
where you been?

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All of this stuff is here to stay…

These sold out in 6 hours. If it was pokemon instead of basketball it probably would have sold out in 1

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Thanks I hate it

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These types of carnival/gambling games are enjoyed by children and young people, which is why they exist in the first place. I remember playing a dice gambling game at my LGS back in 2014 for packs.

In some ways, carnival/gambling games are a natural progression of the explosion of junk slabs and junk product. Vendors need to move their hard-to-sell product, and gambling games are a perfect way. They almost always assure profit, and they let you provide some level of entertainment to build rapport with customers.

I hate it as an adult, but I think I would love it if I was a kid in 2025. Unfortunately, I think they are here to stay.

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The depths people will go to make a dollar in this hobby never cease to amaze me.

I’m also very uncomfortable with the unregulated gambling that seems to be gaining in popularity. From whatnot stream, to raffles, to mystery packs. There seems to be a “get away with it while you can mentality” that exists not just in our Pokemon world but in society as a whole.

I’m not sure if it’s because more and more people are trying to make Pokemon their actual job but surely this isn’t sustainable. Either a crackdown occurs or people run out of disposable income

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You were located so close to Jason Paige as well. Just a question, the table to the right of you “Extreme TCG” is the one with the mystery packs yes? Just the black bags? That is a lot of mystery packs. I hope you had fun at the event though. Every year seems to be a great crowd puller.

Cheers!

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I also think the games are pretty stupid. From the handful of shows I’ve been to (smaller, <50 vendors), I’ve seen these kinds of games and other questionable things being sold. I don’t mind buying some bulk cards here and there, but I want to know im buying it. Who wants a “mystery pack” of straight garbage. Unfortunately, I think kids and newer collectors at large are drawn to this “mystery” like aspect. If a vendor has their own mystery packs (or something equally stupid like carnival games), I dont even bother.

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I feel like the grouchy old man but I see this stuff online and at shows and I’m like… dude you’re a grown ass adult knowingly ripping off children. Just rubs me the wrong way.

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I went to CaC NJ a few weeks back and though the majority was vendors I did see these kinds of games, along with tables just selling mystery boxes, that I avoided like the plague. I only have so much money for Pokemon and I don’t intend to waste it gambling like this

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I’m also very uncomfortable with the unregulated gambling that seems to be gaining in popularity. From whatnot stream, to raffles, to mystery packs. There seems to be a “get away with it while you can mentality” that exists not just in our Pokemon world but in society as a whole.

Buying a pack of Pokemon/Baseball/Football/whatever cards is unregulated gambling. It’s the same as these carnival games and mystery packs

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it would be if the pokemon company and charizardballer69 were equally trustworthy

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I hear what you’re saying but I disagree with the spirit of it. Opening packs directly from TCPI and mystery boxes from a convention seller are both forms of gambling.

However I think the important distinction is that with opening packs, TPCI is regulated a bit more than a random convention game seller. They have a multi-billion dollar brand image to manage which includes balancing the consumer experience of pulling cards out of packs. The pack odds are printed on each pack. They have much more at stake if a lawsuit is brought against them and they lose.

In my opinion a fly-by-night carnival game seller has a stronger incentive to weigh the odds heavier in their favor. I doubt that proper disclosure is posted on many of these games and that even if they are, the posted odds are accurate. It is likely a major source of their income, which adds to the incentive. Additionally I have no trust that if these sellers were to be caught being less than truthful they wouldn’t just rebrand or attend different shows and continue on their way. There’s a reason that carnivals only stick around an area for so long.

For what it’s worth, I don’t actually buy packs for the cards inside as I don’t like to gamble. Any sealed items I own are to own the item itself. I also do not purchase mystery boxes

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Nah not even close. These vendors/streamers fill mystery packs with absolute garbage where you are guaranteed to lose money and take advantage of hype, kids, new/inexperienced collectors, etc.

At least if you’re ripping packs there is a possibility (even if it’s low) you might pull something good or a card you want. These mystery packs straight up rip people off.

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At least if you’re ripping packs there is a possibility (even if it’s low) you might pull something good or a card you want.

You’re pretty much confirming my point with this statement. Opening packs is gambling. Now it might be less shady gambling, but it is still gambling.

Edit: I don’t disagree trading card carnival games are scummy and and a rip off, FYI

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