Oklahoma State Fair visitors take a shot at winning carnival prizes

Last year she spent $300 on the game and won two Pokemon toys, she said.

“Now I'm an expert at it,” she said. “I'll add this one to my collection.”

Across the way, adjacent to the children's carnival rides and under a large vinyl tent — teal-colored and spotted with white and pink stars — Edmond sisters Alyssa Baker, 18, and Briana White, 16, shrieked with frustration at “Balloon Bust,” a game where contestants throw darts to pop balloons stapled to the wall.

“Look sweetheart, all you got to do is hit two more and you're a winner,” said the man running the booth. Baker, who already took several free shots, gave him $5 more and threw three more — pop, miss, miss. Enough is enough.

“Look, don't tell nobody, just take it,” the man said, glancing sideways at his boss and then dancing a stuffed elephant in front of Baker's face. “I tell you, I love it when pretty ladies win.”

And at “Goblet Toss,” Susan Goodman, of Oklahoma City, was quite possibly more excited about tossing perforated plastic balls into open cups on a table than was her son, Andrew, 7. Just when it seemed they might leave empty-handed, Andrew bounced a ball into a yellow cup for a prize.

He picked a small stuffed snake and said he will name the animal “Slimy.”

“We come out for this once a year,” Goodman said, holding up a stuffed giraffe won at another game.

“I spent $20 and got this, five to get that, and his cousin spent five to get a dolphin. To splurge one day out of the year, why not? It's a lot of fun.”