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How hard could it be to beat a bunch of clowns at Scrabble?

Rare is the opportunity in life to play Yahtzee with a bona fide clown.

But hundreds of kids got that chance at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont Tuesday when they joined clowns from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey cast.

In what was dubbed as a Game-a-Thon, clowns and kids faced off in such classic board games as Scrabble, Monopoly and Parcheesi.

The event was intended as a promotion for the current Ringling Bros. Zing Zang Zoom show at the Allstate Arena.

But it was also, organizers said, a way to promote old-fashioned games to a new generation of kids probably more accustomed to computer games than board games.

Some of the participants received free tickets to the circus, which runs through Sunday at the Allstate Arena before moving to the United Center in Chicago for a Nov. 17-29 run.

For show details, go to ringling.com.

Noah Condon, left, Jason Salazar and Liset Clavijo are seated with Randy the clown as students from Plainfield School in Des Plaines got to play board games with circus clowns at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont Thursday. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer

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