Week 13 of the Elbo Room Trivia Tournament

For all intents and purposes, I have qualified for the finals of the Elbo Room Trivia Tournament, and the big money prize in the final game.  However, there are still several weeks of tournament play left to go, and I find myself now in a very desirable situation.

See, there are several teams that are barely above the “cut line” – only the top eight teams get into the final money week – while several other teams are only a victory away from climbing above the “cut line” and pushing another team down below.  And there’s still time for a new team to come in, win one week, and make the top 8, as each first-place team wins five playoff points.  A second-place win gets 3 playoff points, and a third-place win gets 1 playoff point.  Playoff points are divided in case of ties.

Here’s where strategy comes into play.

In the final round, let’s say I’ve finished with 100 points and the second-place team has 80.  The final question’s coming up, and you can bet as much or as little as you like.  So if the team behind me has 80, and they bet it all, they would finish with 160.  I could choose to bet 61 of my 100 points (which, if I’m right, would give me 161 and 5 playoff points), or I could bet only 60 (which would tie me with the other team, both would get 4 playoff points, splitting the sum of the 5 points for first place and 3 points for second).  That’s of course assuming we both get it right – my strategy goes out the window if I mess up the question and the other team gets it right.

Of course, that would entail me actually being IN the lead before the final question.  And tonight, it got a little dicey.

Before the game, I chatted with Tyler of the team Clay Aiken’s Skid Marks.  He told me that they were preparing for tonight by bringing in a ringer, a guy named Chris who had appeared on Jeopardy a few years ago and had won a few times in a row.  Hey, whatever works for you – I just remember the last guy who played competitive team trivia in this area, a guy named Rich from a team called the Wild Agbyanis, actually GOT on Jeopardy and came in third place.

I was able to pull out some tough questions to start out, nailing such things as the TV show that takes place in Lynwood, New York (Everybody Loves Raymond), the fish used to make Gravlax (salmon), and the film in which Robert Duvall, Glen Campbell and Dennis Hopper all appeared with John Wayne (one of my favorite Westerns of all time, True Grit).  But the night’s 18th and 19th questions were no help.  When asked what do the letters “END” in the Black Eyed Peas’ album “The E.N.D.” stand for, I had no clue and was out of skips.  I wrote “Every Nation Dance,” it was “Energy Never Dies.”  I lose 8 points, another team picks up 24 points.

The 19th question was “In what year did the Drew Carey Show last air on network TV?”  I guessed 2005, it was 2004.  And suddenly I found myself in fourth place, looking up at Mayhem, Touched by an Uncle and – of all teams – Clay Aiken’s Skid Marks.  The Skid Marks had actually nailed the triple and, as one of their team members came over to chat with me and check on my score, he celebrated their nailing the Drew Carey question.  So I had 70 points – and they had 92.

Remember that strategy I was talking about at the beginning of the post?

Out the window.  Now it’s just bet it all, try to get the question right, and hope three other teams fall flat.

The category was “First Families.”

I bet the farm.

“What was the last President to not have fathered a daughter?”

Okay, time for deductive reasoning.  Obama’s got two daughters in the White House now, George W Bush had twin daughters, Bill Clinton had Chelsea, George HW Bush had several kids, one of them had to be a girl, Ronald Reagan had Maureen Reagan, Jimmy Carter had Amy, Gerald Ford had Susan, Richard Nixon had Julie and Tricia, LBJ had some daughters, JFK had Caroline… I couldn’t remember if Eisenhower had a daughter, I know he had a son (the son married Julie Nixon), so I wrote Eisenhower and hoped for the best.

Two teams above me – Mayhem and Touched by an Uncle – went with George HW Bush.  Oh crap, I thought.  Maybe George HW Bush’s offspring were all sons.  Clay Aiken’s Skid Marks and another team, Woo Hoo a Go Go, wrote down Ford, which I knew was wrong.  The only other team with positive points that night, a team called The Wrong Guy, bet a single point and gave a goof answer.  I guess their strategy was to hope everyone else fell flat on their faces.

The answer – believe it or not – was Dwight David Eisenhower.

WINNER!!!  5 PLAYOFF POINTS FOR STREET ACADEMY!!!

As I celebrated and picked up my $25 gift card from Elbo Room, I looked over at the Clay Aiken’s Skid Marks table to see if there were any unfamiliar players, perhaps that Jeopardy ringer they had brought.

Meanwhile, the team was second-guessing themselves like an OCD patient wondering if the stove had been turned off.  One guy said they should have only bet one point and they would have at least gotten some playoff markers.  Another guy grumbled, “I told you it was Eisenhower,” before pulling money out of his wallet to contribute to the meal.

“So where’s the guy from Jeopardy?” I asked.

“There’s no guy from Jeopardy here,” one of the Skid Marks said.  “Tyler was just stringing you along, if there was a guy from Jeopardy here we would have known it.”

Yeah.  You wouldn’t have bet the farm and forgotten about Susan Ford.

As for the playoff points, while Street Academy nailed its second consecutive 5-point win, Mayhem picked up three points to finish in a playoff tie with the absent Big Red Machine, and The Wrong Guy – by virtue of betting a single point – earned a playoff point and edged closer to climbing above the cut line.

So after thirteen weeks, here are the standings, and remember – only the top eight squads get into the final round. Teams listed in green have guaranteed themselves a spot in the final “money week” round.

Elbo Room Trivia Standings – Week 13

	Trivia Team	Points	Totals
T-1	Mayhem	3	22.3
T-1	Big Red Machine		22.3
3	Stern Fans		20
4	Street Academy	5	18.5
5	Touched by an Uncle		7
T-6	Brown Van Experience		5
T-6	Clay Aiken’s Skid Marks		5
8	Woo Hoo a Go Go		4.5
THE CUT LINE
T-9	The Wrong Guy	1	3
T-9	The Third Wheel		3
11	Monkey Knife Fights		2.3
12	Dr. Occam’s Razor		2
T-13	Nasty Nate		1
T-13	Overqualified and Unemployed		1

After next week, the tournament takes a two-week holiday break.