Okay. Here’s how this works. The eight teams that showed up were fully fortified and ready to go. $2,500 was on the line – $2,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and dat’s it.
Each question was worth a varying level of points, the harder the question, the more points you can earn. You lose points if you miss a question. You are allowed two skips, and you can use a “double chance” option on one question – write down two answers, if you’re right, you get the points, but if you’re wrong, you lose twice as many points. There are also double-bonus, triple-bonus and quadruple-bonus questions, where each answer correct can earn multiple points.
After every five questions, teams have an opportunity to bet as many points as they hold for a bonus question.
Wanna play along?
Here are the questions, along with point values, in the 2010 Elbo Room Trivia Tournament.
- 2 pts – Who is older, Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
- 4 pts – What NFL team plays its home games at QWest Arena?
- 6 pts – Geoffrey Rush won an best actor Oscar for what film?
- 8 pts (double bonus, two answers, get ’em right, win 16 points) What was Mickey Rourke’s character’s stage name in “The Wrestler,” and what was his character’s given name?
- 10 pts – What state would have been ceded to Canada had it not been for the 1814 Treaty of Ghent?
- BONUS BETTING TIME – What famous chef wrote a biography called My Life in France?
- 2 pts – What Ivy League school shares its name with the town in which it is located?
- 4 pts – What James Joyce novel takes place entirely on June 16, 1904?
- 6 pts – Who hosted the Academy Awards last year?
- 8 pts (triple bonusS) – What three countries medaled in ice hockey in the 2006 Olympics?
- 10 pts – What cable tv personality played a guidance counselor in the 2006 film Strangers with Candy?
- BONUS BETTING TIME – What hospital drama lasted only eight weeks on CBS in the fall of 2009?
- 2 pts – The El Gordo lottery is played in what country?
- 4 pts – What internet company now owns YouTube?
- 6 pts – In what decade did Henry Ford establish the assembly line?
- 8 pts (quadruple bonus) What four Presidents were born in New York?
- 10 pts – What basketball coach got his start coaching Army in the 1960’s?
- BONUS BETTING TIME – What NFL team scored the most points in a Super Bowl – in the 21st century?
- 4 pts – In what country were 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Olympics?
- 6 pts – Who wrote a series of novels about detective Kinsey Millhone?
- 8 pts (double bonus) – What two Presidents are said to have run for election unopposed?
- 10 pts – Who is the only person to play in a Super Bowl and in a World Series?
- FINAL QUESTION – After the original 13 states ratified the Constitution, Vermont became the 14th state admitted into the Union, what state was next?
Okay. I fortified my Street Academy team from all ways possible. My wife Vicki played, as did Dan Smith from Tres Hombres. Jeremy and Alexis, my teammates at Revolution Hall, also joined up.
We really only missed one question – the team that scored the most points in a 21st century Super Bowl, we wrote down Indianapolis, it was Tampa Bay. GRR We really only bet a conservative amount, so we didn’t lose the farm – some teams did bet it all and finished the third quarter with ZERO points.
That miss, however, actually put Street Academy in third place, behind Mayhem and Woo Hoo a Go Go. Try as I might, I could not gain any ground on them, and when the final question came around, the top three teams each got it right. So Mayhem won the $2,000, and Woo Hoo a Go Go won the $500. Congratulations to both of them. Everybody played a fair and solid game, and although I did finish third, I got solid correct answers from every one of my teammates.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about the answers, they were –
- Jennifer Aniston is older
- Seattle Seahawks
- Shine
- Randy the Ram, also known as Robin
- Michigan
- Julia Child
- Princeton
- Ulysses
- Hugh Jackman
- Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic
- Stephen Colbert
- 3 Rivers
- Spain
- 1910’s
- Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Millard Fillmore
- Bob Knight
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- West Germany
- Sue Grafton
- George Washington and James Monroe
- Deion Sanders
- Kentucky
Good game. Thanks to my teammates, and congrats to all teams that participated. Thanks to General James as host, and thanks to the bartenders, waitstaff and owners of Elbo Room.
Chuck The Writer 
Guess who the winner of the $2,000 was last night? Team Mayhem? It was the bouncer, an employee of the bar, who sits in the corner and quietly looks up every answer on his cell phone where no one can see him. We know this because a couple weeks ago that’s where we were and could clearly see him. In fact it was no secret, even the bartender was laughing about it and we assumed he was ineligible to win. So last night we asked the trivia guy who team Mayhem was, hoping it was not the bouncer. First, he said “I don’t know where that team sits.” Then later he admitted yes it was the bouncer. “But usually he has other teammates.” Well last night he didn’t and he still got every answer right, isn’t that funny? Then later, the trivia guy was outside smoking a cigarette and admitted to being approached about the bouncer winning the competition.
It’s really not about the money. We had very little chance of winning it. Although for the teams that did, I would be even more mad. It’s really about the fun of the competition and thinking you are playing for something because that’s whats advertised. So you show up every week and buy their drinks and food and naively think that some lucky team is going to win some nice money for their participation. So maybe the Elbow room isn’t the only bar just suckering people like this, but now that we KNOW for sure it is, I would suggest going elsewhere. Really annoying to waste every Thursday. Really sad to see how excited all the teams were about it, and how naive that excitement really was.
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I need to address this.
First off, it’s not like Mayhem has won the Elbo Room tournament every time. I believe Brown Van Experience and Woo Hoo a Go Go have picked up the money in the past. Besides, I’ve seen other people at trivia use cell phones – not for getting answers, but to check on their kids at home, to take messages from their bosses, to check the ball scores. Usually they’re either doing it during halftime breaks, or after they’ve handed in their answer slips.
Let’s put it this way. I personally never saw Mayhem use a cell phone to get an answer. And I’ve also seen Mayhem finish at the bottom of the trivia pile during certain weeks. Hey, there was $2.5 grand on the table, yeah if your team doesn’t win the money you’re going to claim anything – oh yeah, the Skidmarks won because they brought 25 people to the bar, Street Academy won because he supersized his team with his Revolution Hall buddies and that guy from Tres Hombres, Brown Van Experience won because they’re all schoolteachers, yada yada yada.
One other thing – if someone WERE to use a cell phone, they would use it on every question they didn’t know. At the end of the first round, out of a possible 38 points available, three teams finished the first round with 20 points – Street Academy, Clay Aiken’s Skid Marks and Mayhem. The fact of the matter is, the momentum swung towards Mayhem when they got the third bonus question right and I didn’t. It happens. Next time I might get it right and they might crash and burn.
But for anybody who DOES rely on the T-Mobile trivia crutch, I do know that when Trivia Bowl VI rolls around, Baker will have his auxiliary trivia hosts proctoring the teams like professors checking over the last written tests.
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It happens everywhere, believe me. Too bad that’s its not really enforceable, but if you get caught, you should be dismissed from the prizes.
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Most of the time, nobody really cares or enforces it because (a) it’s really tough to enforce when everyone’s spread out throughout a bar/restaurant, and (b) you’re really only playing for a $25 gift card or something comparable (or, for most of the teams like Granny’s when we show up someplace, we’re just happy to be out and have a night to ourselves). It sucks for the other teams playing if that truly was the case last night, though.
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The real story of the night is that, despite not winning a single game, Woo Hoo A Go Go still walked away with more prize money this season than Street Academy!
Triv8127, if what you say is true, this should immediately be brought to the attention of General James and/or Kevin Baker, our benevolent dictator of Albany Team Trivia. The truth will come out at Trivia Bowl VI next week, if Mayhem shows up. Baker runs a tight ship and doesn’t put up with any form of cheating whatsoever; he’s ejected teams from Hooters in the past for doing it. It’s bad for business too. I don’t think the Elbo Room would be too keen on losing the substantial amount of customers that come in each Thursday because of a staff team cheating. Our table alone is regularly good for $100 each night.
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I think what I should have added to my comment, is that it is not even the cheating on the cell phone that bothers me so much. I am fully aware that teams do it, and it can’t be policed. It’s the fact that an employee of the bar(who happened to be cheating) won, with the knowledge of other employees and the trivia host – who at first tried to conceal, but then fully admitted this to us AND that he was approached about letting this employee win. Why is an employee even eligible to begin with? It makes the whole thing seem corrupt.
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Thanks to all who came and played the game last night!
I hope you enjoyed yourselves and the competition. It was quite a large game with a large prize. Congratulations again to Mayhem the grand prize winning team and to second place prize winners Woo Hoo A Go Go! My condolences to those teams that were not able to place in the cut for the competition. Thank you always for coming to play our little game at The Elbo Room and your constant support.
I understand that many people have voiced a measure of displeasure as to the outcome of the championship game and the method(s) of securing said outcome. St the beginning of every game I host, I announce to not shout out the answers and no cell phones. It’s mostly common sense amongst folks in general, yet on occasion one finds that folks don’t understand or want to listen to those rules. This unfortunate and not always enforceable. It’s a tight, thin line to walk as the host some nights, trying to be an entertainer, enforcer, and adding machine all at the same times. It’s a busy act on my end to keep the game on time, the scores correct, and the house “hopping.”
Shouters are told to shut it and suspected cell phone cheaters are told to stop it.
I can’t enforce what I don’t see or hear. So make it known just as “Ed” has said in this comment thread and I’ll make mention to those suspected parties. One can’t possibly know these days who is checking on the kids, taking an emergency call, texting their friends, or out and out scanning the web for answers in this game. That is why I say stay off the cell phones period. You wouldn’t begin to confiscate each and every cell phone in the establishment! Imagine what “mayhem” that might cause!
In closing I would once again like to thank all those who have attended Elbo Room past, present, and future. Please voice your opinions to the bar owners and managers of your like/dislike of your experiences at their establishments. If you find your particular situation unfavorable, Trivia Night Live operates at many other establishments around the area. Find us online at http://www.trivianightslive.com and find a location near you.
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Mayhem’s team normally consists of 2-5 members on a regular basis. Said member of team that is an employee was not always and has recently attained that status. Mayhem consisted of at least two members at the final game. Players of Trivia Night Live and/or establishment staff does not have prior knowledge of questions. Unless they may have heard them before. Woo!
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We didn’t qualify for the finals so there’s no sour grapes here about being screwed out of money but I can assure everyone that we have sat near Mayhem a couple times and have seen them blatantly cheat on their cell phone for 8-10 questions a night. I wish I knew it was Mayhem, we thought they were just some crappy team that didn’t win anyways and starting a fight with the bouncer is never a good plan so we just let it go. Now knowing that they cheated their way to $2,000 I will have no problems ratting them out if they try and cheat again.
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All I know is I sat and watched during week 17 as Mayhem (who I didn’t know was Mayhem at the time) looked up at least 6-8 answers. He hid his phone below the table, would look around to see if anyone was looking and look up answers and tell his teammate. I’ve seen that teams look up answers one or two weeks before too. Problem was that it was the bouncer, so we figured they were just doing it for fun and were not an eligible team.
When the final score was announced last night and they high fived, that’s when we realized that they were team Mayhem. So that’s when we realized they completely cheated in week 17 to win a gift card to a place 1 of them works at.
I would have to disagree with you Chuck that they would cheat on every question they didn’t know or that they would finish top 3 every week. If you are going to cheat you would be foolish to cheat like that. You don’t want to stick out like that, you would cheat just enough to win and you wouldn‘t win every single week.
As for last night, I have no idea if they cheated cause I did not sit near them. But given the precedent I can’t say I’d be shocked.
We told General James that we have seen this team cheat on a few occasions. But at that point what could he do. He can’t exactly DQ a team when 5 random people he doesn’t know comes up to him and him they say the team cheat the last few weeks. So I have no problem with him in this.
Either way, really poor policy for Team Nights Team and the Elbo Room to allow working employees participate in cash prize games. There is a reason most places would never allow it, and its situations like this.
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So who’s gonna be leading the league in getting booed at Trivia Bowl? Mayhem 3g or Street Academy?
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@D357
I think Street Academy should be applauded at Trivia Bowl for hosting this blog where trivia patrons can voice their concerns over the integrity of competitive trivia.
Then again…I’m not one to buck tradition.
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The very way the Elbow Room is constructed makes it impossible for any one man, General James, to monitor every team. Half of the teams are in the bar area and half are in the dining room. However, when big bucks are involved some additional security measures should be taken. All of the teams should have been in the dining room area and there should not have been a pool league going on.
I also agree with the previous comment that an employee of the bar should never be allowed to participate. If they want to play trivia they should play in another venue.
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Wow, this is sad. Takes the fun out of the entire thing. It’s not really about the money, it’s about having fun, finding out how much you know and learning more. Yes, it’s a competition, but all in good fun. The $2,000 is a bonus. But to cheat, that’s sad. Based on what I’m reading, I think the Elbo Room should pay the team that came in 2nd the $2,000.
Bet, many people won’t be returning to play at the Elbo Room again if this is the case. I don’t think I will. As General James said, there are other venues to play.
Mayhem won’t get a warm welcome at the Trivia Bowl that’s for sure. Maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to play in the Trivia Bowl……
On that note, one team “Boos” Street Academy every time his name is mentioned, I personally think that is a little too much and shouldn’t be allowed to continue. It might have been funny once, but not continuously. Points should be deducted from them for doing so.
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@Steve…booing Street Academy is all in good fun! My team has done it and we talk to him before and after the game. It doesn’t seem to bother Chuck…actually I think he quite enjoys the attention!
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Oh and I on the topic at hand…I too think it is pretty sad if it was an employee that was cheating and who won. If employees are working, then they shouldn’t be playing trivia. Even radio stations don’t allow their employees to enter contests, etc. They even go as far as not allow relatives or family members of those employees to enter the contests as well. I am not saying take it that far. But if an employee is on the clock then they should be working…not looking up the answer on their cell phone and playing trivia.
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Yes, booing Chuck is ALWAYS funny.
On the topic at hand…why do you think that even with $2500 in prize money so few teams showed up to try and qualify?
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D357, are you saying others are aware that cheating has been going on all along? Wow, that really too bad. For the teams that want to play fairly and the Elbo Room.
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I have not personally seen anything that I would 100% swear is cheating…and Mayhem did not have the $2000 locked up…they bet big on the third bonus question and got it right, other teams didn’t…and it wasn’t an impossible question to get right. Mayhem could have easily been beaten by several other teams betting more on that one question and getting it right.
That being said, I have played there enough and seen enough that I consider “questionable” that I prefer playing elsewhere. I don’t bring a cellphone to trivia and I don’t hover around the host with an answer slip and pen as other teams turn in their answers. There’s more…but avoiding even the appearance of cheating is as important as not cheating. That’s for everyone…but especially if you want to be considered one of the top teams.
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this is all pretty crazy…
i have a good friend who periodically joins up with mayhem and also knows all the guys on that team. he hasnt been there for several weeks but he told me they have one player (not the guy who works there) that is really smart and is basically the “street academy” of the team. i have no reason not to believe him nor have i or any of my teammates seen mayhem cheat. therefore im not going to pile on but i have to admit reading this has turned me skeptical.
i can say for sure that we, the skidmarks, although are fans of the food and atmosphere of the elbo room, we simply wouldnt be going there probably at all, let alone every week if it werent for general james and trivia. we drop more than $200 every thursday as a table and from what it sounds like here we wouldnt be the only revenue the elbo room would be losing if these allegations were indeed proven true. it sounds to me like this needs to be addressed by someone at the elbo room.
on a side note, to whoever it was that called us out (obviously its us that you were referring to) for booing street academy…come on dude, really? we started the craze back in hooters days (we’re talking a good 5 years now) but have all along remained friendly with chuck and talk to him every week. our intentions are not malicious and there is nothing wrong with a little conpetitive banter and ribbing. sounds like some people need to relax.
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Bottom line…a $2500 game should have had proctors…I was really surprised it didn’t and said so that night. And the final question was a rerun from 2 months ago…lame. It’s a big game…how about a NEW question?
I have no problem with a total ban on cellphones at big games, go out to your car and tweet…if you’re waiting for a kidney transplant stay home.
Employees can play…it just doesn’t count. That’s the way it works at McGeary’s.
Let’s keep the game clean and above suspicion so we can all get back to heckling Chuck…as it should be.
@Skidmarks: There’s nothing wrong with friendly banter…and I hope you’re bringing your Good Luck Charm mommy to Trivia Bowl.
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have no fear hombre, she will be there. as far as the cell phone thing, i dont agree with just not allowing them at all, as you never know when something really important might happen that needs your immediate attention.
having proctors isnt a bad idea, but who is going to do it? its not like theyre going to hire outsiders to come in and police team trivia. and whoever it is that may be hosting at that particular night cant keep track of everyone. even if murray, baker, or whoever else come to hang out…theyre not going to want to just troll around and keep an eye out for losers that need to cheat to win trivia.
maybe someone smarter than me (shut up) can come up with a viable solution.
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Last thing I’ll say about it then I’ll move on. I have no idea if they cheated in the finals and I can’t accuse someone of something i have no evidence of. What I do I know is that the last week of the “regular season” one of them sat and looked up answers and read them off the phone a bunch of times. If its true he had a “street academy” on his team, for all I know week 17 he wasn’t there so he felt the need to look up answers cause he didn’t have his ace. While I have seen them use the phone before, nothing as blatant as that week, and the other times could have been just checking a score or texting. Week 17 was absurd but thats the only one I have direct evidence of. No sour grapes cause I wouldn’t have won anything either way, just left a bad impression. I do think that there should be better monitoring of the final round if its for that much money just in case, and employees shouldn’t be allowed to play so that there isn’t this problem.
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Wireless mics and have the hosts wander to ask the questions, then have someone else whos not playing in a stionary location to hand your answers to.
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@Capt. Skid
re: cellphones,,,by big games I mean Trivia Bowl, $2500 prize money games…not every game. We’ve all survived without them but if someone keeps it in their pocket that’s fine, too. If you get an emergency call, get up, go outside and talk all you want. If you were on a baseball team, basketball team, etc. instead of a trivia team you’d have to put it down to play.
Proctors aren’t needed every week, either. But for the 1 or 2 big games it’s a good idea. It keeps teams from cheating and it keeps teams from being falsely accused of cheating.
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also @Skidmarks: $200 tab? Judging by your score that’s mostly a bar bill, not food. Right?
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oh its like that? you know i cant help but notice tres hombres stopped coming to mcgeary’s on tuesday nights. perhaps theyve gone somewhere they actually have a shot at winning, hmm?
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I have known of bars that have employees “win” the big cash prizes so that none will be payed out. So actually, there never was a cash prize. This is why I think letting an employee play is such poor policy. Granted, in the past the Elbow Room did deliver cash prizes so I’ve heard, but given their admission of financial hard times, I wouldnt be surprised if they decided to let the bouncer take this one. Either way they shouldn’t let employees win, as it gives the appearance they are suckering teams to come drop $200 every Thursday.
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Hey there, you guys haven’t been there in a while either, Mr. Skidmark.
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That’s because we are like ninjas…spreading fear and checking for cellphones throughout the land.
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First off, one has to wonder if the Skidmarks have some dirt on Murray. If I was Murray, I would give one of my Trivia Bowl invitations to a team that actually shows up more than once every three months. Teams like The Blues Brothers or Send It In Jerome are more deserving than who received the invitation.
Secondly, cheering and booing are perfectly acceptable forms of good natured competitiveness. Calling members of another team a derogatory term because they had the same final question as you did, is however quite unacceptable and downright crass.
Try a little less brew and a lot more sportsmanship.
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The Skidmarks get in because, in the immortal words of Baker, they come in “representing every single trivia night” in greater Albany. Dedication counts for a lot. Not necessarily victory, but at least recognition.
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J…
dude, is there that much sand up there? what is your problem?
for the record, i believe its baker that gives the final ok for teams to get in, if im not mistaking (which i might be) and we were invited because we’ve been doing this for about 6 or 7 years now, and have been to pretty much every trivia game they’ve had at one time or another. we like to switch up where we go for trivia throughout the weeks. and in those 6 or 7 years we’ve developed some pretty solid friendships with baker and the guys, as well as several other trivia teams, regardless of whether we cheer them or boo them. like i said, its all in good fun. as far as calling others “derogatory terms,” if us yelling “you suck” falls under a “derogatory term” then string us up and lynch us. but to my knowledge, no one from the skidmarks has ever taken it to name calling, because like i said yet again, its all in good fun and we have a tremendous amount of respect and get along pretty well with every single trivia team we’ve competed against, including the ones we boo (stern fans we’ve never actually talked to so they probably think we’re total assholes but if one of them is reading this, i promise its all in good fun).
if someone feels offended by any of this or us as a team, then, well, bite me.
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The Skidmarks do have compromising pics of Murray…they’re very disturbing…but it explains why the Skidmarks drink so much…just trying to drown the horror. Oddly enough, when they showed the General compromising pics they have of him, he just asked for copies.
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I’m still waiting for those copies. Oh well it’s not a secret anymore. Shhh!
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