Detroit man wins thousands of carnival game prizes, donates them to charity

Thanks to one Detroit senior's special talent for winning carnival games, more than a quarter of a million toys have been donated to charity.

Peter Drakos, 64, "is a carnival huckster's worst nightmare," CBS reports.

The car salesman is so skilled at winning midway games that carnivals across the country now limit the number of prizes any one person can win.

"I don't want to say it's all because of me, but it's all because of me," Drakos said.

"I can go clean out a whole carnival, but they limit my play. One time there was 140 animals and I think I won them in 30 minutes," he told ABC News. "I used to wipe out a whole entire booth in 15 minutes but now they won't let me."

He gives every single toy away.

Drakos estimates, conservatively, that he's donated about 250,000 toys to more than 50 charities over the years.

Drakos started winning carnival games when he was 9. That year, he won enough stuffed toys to give one to every single kid in his school — about 200.

"They called me 'The Magic Kid,'" he said.

To this day, Drakos prefers the moniker Peter Magic.

He has since perfected his game, using his knowledge of geometry, physics and engineering to make him one of the most talented carnival-game players in the world.

"I just am fortunate that the guy above has given me these talents that no one else has," he told ABC News.

"There's no dollar value that you can put on a child's face when you give them a stuffed animal," Drakos said. "People tell me, 'My daughter slept with this bear for three years. My daughter slept with this doggie for two years.'"

"It is unbelievable to watch him," his wife, Veronica, told American Way. "I am in awe that something he is so talented at makes other people so happy."

He plays about 25 times a year.

"I've been doing this for 40 years. I do this because I want to do it, not for any acclaim," he told ABC News. "Recently it snowballed. It's a do-good story and maybe other people might be able to see this and do something, too."