August 7th, 1980. Geraldo Rivera for 20/20 news takes a trip to that summertime American tradition, the carnival, an industry worth 10s of millions that has touched all of our lives.
“…these rides in fact, are just a lure. The real purpose of this place is gambling. Well that’s not exactly accurate because when you legitimately gamble, you expect to have at least a chance of winning…”
In the language of the carnies a flat store is a store where the game is totally rigged with no chance of winning. Do carnival owners target ghetto neighborhoods with games that no one could possibly win?
We meet at the carnivals visitors and personnel, those whom were willing to talk, throughout this segment.
The continuing investigation into carnival activities looks at bribes to public officials, called ‘the patch’, interviews with police officers and investigators who have worked related cases and even speaks to safety inspectors about how things work.
This day, Geraldo’s television history.