New Hampshire man spends life savings on carnival game

NEW HAMPSHIRE (WITI) -- A New Hampshire man says his trip to the carnival was a horror show where he ended up losing his life savings. He claims he was conned at a carnival game.

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.

"You're expecting the kids to win a few things, let the kids have a good time. It just didn't turn out that way," Gribbohm said.

Gribbohm says he attended a Manchester carnival run by 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 and the balls kept popping out.

"It's not possible that it wasn't rigged," Gribbohm said.

Gribbohm 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 that as well.

Fiesta Shows says the game is run by an independent contractor who has worked for Fiesta for years. It is interviewing the contractor to see what happened.

Reporter: "Are there any scams at all with any of the games?"

"Not that I'm aware of. We've had a lot of these game operators with us for years," John Flynn, Fiesta Vice President said.

The traveling carnival is now setting up in Derry, New Hampshire without Tubs of Fun. Fiesta says the independent contractor that runs the game is not allowed to set up, while an investigation is taking place.

"Because you get caught up in the whole double or nothing - I've got to win my money back," Gribbohm said.

Gribbohm says he went back the next day to complain, and the man running the game gave him back $600. Gribbohm split with the banana and the cash and filed a report with Manchester PD.

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

Police say they're investigating to determine whether there was any fraud. Gribbohm says he is considering a lawsuit.