Go to the fairground, get taken for a ride. Yep, those sneaky Real Hustlers are at it again. This time they've been uncovering the basic tricks and cons performed by your friendly neighborhood fairground staff.

I looked these up before going to a fair (just doing my homework, as any good Wisebread reader should) and was quite glad I did. Of course, I'm not implying ALL carnivals rip you off. No no no. That would be a terrible thing to imply (wink). But take a look at some of the 'oldest tricks in the book' and then decide for yourself whether you want to give your money away next time you fancy winning a giant teddy bear for the love of your life.

Note: All of these videos were filmed in my home country, good old England, but the same rules apply around the world. Where there's a carnival or a fairground, there's a con just waiting for a 'punter.' Here we go...

1: The Steadfast Stack of Cans
Looks easy for any eagle-eyed ball thrower. Just knock 'em down with three balls. No problem. Until you find out that three of the cans are light and three are heavy. And the way they are stacked makes all the difference. Check it out.

2: One Dart, Many Balloons...No Chance.
I can play darts. No shock there, I spent many years after work in many a public house in London. But I challenge even the sharpest of sharp shooters to pop one of these balloons. The reason...they're really underinflated, making the skin thicker, and the dart is as blunt as a butter knife.

3: Bottle Bowling BS
They were doing this trick hundreds of years ago on the streets of old London town, and it's still working today. The reason is that it looks very very easy to win, but it is in fact almost impossibe. Knocking down two bottles with one ball is simple if the bottles are set-up evenly. Bt if you offset them, one bottle takes all the energy out of the shot and the other bottle will almost always be left standing.

4: Hoops Hoopla
I'll be honest. I've tried this one a few times. Most of the time, I didn't even get close. Once I got so close I almost cheered. But it was still a failure. And that's because the way the trick is set up makes the chances of winning almost zero. The secret lies in the base...an offset bunch of blocks covered in velvet that grab the hoop and stop it from sliding down. Sneaky? You bet.