5 Ideas for Carnival Gamer Peter Drakos’ New Hobby

Some people are born to sing. Others are born to dance. And others are born to win 220,000 stuffed animals.

Peter Drakos, a 64-year-old from Michigan, has dominated the craft of -- wait for it -- carnival gaming. Even as a part-time auto salesman, part-time magician and part-time gambling consultant, Drakos still makes time to show off at carnivals around the country. He prefers to be called “Peter Magic” because, guys, he’s just that good.

Winning approximately 5,000 stuffed animals a year, modesty doesn't exactly seem to come naturally to Drakos. He’s played carnival games until he’s wiped the inventory clean and forced the booth to shut down. He travels around the country attending contests with no prize other than bragging rights.

'American Way Mag' asked Drakos about one of those contests.

“Obviously I ended up being the best player,” Drakos matter-of-factly points out. To this day, people want to take a shot at him. “I had one guy from New York, and he considered himself the No. 1 player in the world,” he says. “We had a nice challenge match at Circus Circus, and I murdered him, 72 to 8.”

He also told CBS, “I don’t want to say it’s all because of me, but it’s all because of me.”

Drakos also claims that he can tell anyone in Michigan their 12-digit driver’s license number and the day of the week they were born based on their first, middle and last name and date of birth. Impressive, right? Except that it only took Drakos 17 years to research the Michigan coding system to be able to gain this “skill."

Um, 17 years? Let’s not forget that there are other people out there spending 17 years trying to cure cancer and protect our country. While Drakos’s arrogance is permissible to an extent based on the fact that he does donate his winnings to charity, maybe this guy needs a new hobby? Think of all the things you could do in 17 years! Here are some ideas:

1. Become a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' trivia expert. Quiz strangers on the street. Laugh maniacally in people’s faces when they ask what “a Watcher” is. Donate their looks of confusion to charity.
2. Learn the ukulele and become an unwanted contributor to campfires around the country. Donate your John Mayer cover songs to charity.
3. Learn to knit. Make the same hat and scarf for your family and friends every single holiday. Donate leftover yarn to charity.
4. Become a competitive eater. Donate early onset diabetes to charity.
5. Become a writer. Write snarky blog posts like this. Donate your sadness and useless liberal arts degree to charity.