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Airrack won 279 carnival prizes before operators cut him off

Mitchell Hooper and carnival pros helped; he matched the haul so more than 500 stuffed animals reached three charities.

Airrack and a crew of carnival pros won 279 stuffed animals in about 11 hours at an Indiana fair before operators stopped handing out prizes.

The fair owner let him cheat at rigged games until 11 p.m. Airrack said he wanted 500 prizes in one day for kids in need; the fair had pledged 500 over two weeks.

Mitchell Hooper, the reigning world's strongest man, joined for High Striker. The machine twice stopped at 149, and Hooper said the carnival was cheating. He found the sensitivity spot and cleared six prizes from one booth.

Operators added rules as the crew kept winning. One booth allowed only one play after a win; another stopped awarding prizes altogether. Airrack said they were getting thrown out again and moved on.

He brought in specialists for bottle rings, pitching, plates, and basketball games. Several left early, including Hooper, who said strength was not endurance after hours in the sun.

Airrack built a triple-powered water gun for a water-race booth and still lost to collaborator Doha, who won repeatedly in the final minutes.

He counted 279 prizes overnight and matched the number himself. More than 500 stuffed animals went to Ronald McDonald House, the Lions Club, and Amuse for Autism.

A Ronald McDonald House representative said the gifts gave families with seriously ill children a mental break they needed.

Source video: I "Cheated" Until The Carnival Banned Me