Despite the fact that this week was a ‘non-standings’ week, that did not stop many of our loyal teams to enjoy some fantastic trivia action at more than a dozen Wednesday games!

WEDNESDAY’S STATS AND FACTS (93 teams across 14 venues):

–> Highest Overall Score: Dusty Baker School of Management (Bennigan’s – Clarksburg) with 166

–> Highest Score after Round 4: Juju and Friends (Applebee’s) with 156

–> Highest First Half Score: Juju and Friends with 86

–> Perfect 21 (correct on all wagers and final): Dusty Baker School of Management and Juju and Friends.

–> Our halftime page played to an average score of 15.5, with about 14% of our teams scoring 20 points.

–> The 6-4-2 question played slightly easier, as 27% of our teams scored six points on the clue dealing with the constellation Orion.

TONIGHT’S FINAL QUESTION (26.7% success rate):

–> A 2004 review of this battle fought in 490 B.C. determined that it may not have taken place on the generally-accepted date of September 12, but rather during the warmer weather of early August, making its post-battle legend more credible.  What was this battle?  (you’ll find the answer later in this blog)

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Valley Grill in Middletown, MD

Another fine game of PHT on the books here at Valley Grill in Middletown, and although there was no patio action due to the weather, we still had fifteen teams in combat for prizes and kudos! The winner’s choice category was the toughest in the first round, and the answer “vanquished” all but two of the teams. We had a Ron Howard film…

A “wonder” of a woman…

… and to end the first round, the return of a classic comedic show.

Round two had a couple of locales featured, namely the colors of the national flag of France, and three clues for my home state of Texas. We quizzed players on the origins of this team…

… and then performed three different dances with our audio clue. Here’s one.

Third round was pretty straightforward, and contained a couple of tough questions. First was the correct spelling of the asian spice turmeric, the second was the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s description of this character, portrayed here by Leo.

We took a look at the origins of some nasty diseases, worked on our baseball scorecards, and identified the “personal assistant” of every Amazon Echo owner.

Final round featured these state flags…

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers from back in the day…

Bobby DeNiro’s portrayal of Wall Street bad boy Bernie Madoff and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek also made into the final round. Lastly was this comedy blockbuster from 2011.

Our “long distance” final question proved to be a tough one, and really had an effect on the final tallies. Here are the results:

First Place:  Fat Kids are Hard to Kidnap

Second Place:  Southpaw Fish

Third Place:  Fast Forward not Available

Best of luck at the World Series this weekend, and I’ll see you there.  Our first category for the first week of Summer Fling will the the Stanley Cup Playoffs

~ Ronnie

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The Tavern in Olney, MD

We had an AWESOME come-from-behind victory at our Wednesday game at The Tavern in Olney!  Thanks to another great turnout here, the competition was pretty fierce, and the teams did not disappoint with the battle they were putting up with each other.  Of course since almost every team knows each other, a few of them like to throw out some friendly trash talk back and forth.

The Bloom County Fan Club jumped out the early lead after posting the only perfect 20 on the halftime page.  The third round was a breeze for our teams, except for the literature question which stumped our entire field (I guess it has been a while since anyone has actually read “The Great Gatsby”).

After the final round, the Fan Club held an 11-point lead on our second place team, which is oh so close to a runaway victory!  Unfortunately, with the third and fourth place teams each just one and two points behind, anything could happen on the final question, which would prove to be the real game changer!  After the answers were turned in for the final, we had one BIG upset!  Dropping down to third place was If You’re Not First, You’re Last!  Dropping down to second place was Bloom County Fan Club!!  They were the only team to answer the final question correctly, which gave them a HUGE push from fourth place to become our winners, Moving Forward!

Great finish team, and when we come back for the first game of the Summer Fling, their winners choice pick will be “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” (the T.V. show, NOT the movie)!  Good luck to everyone representing us here at the World Series on Sunday, and I’ll see you next Wednesday at The Tavern!!

~ Jon J

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Belles’ Sports Bar in Frederick, MD

Coming soon…

Next week’s first category:  Three Clues / One Fictional Mustache

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Bennigan’s in Frederick, MD

It may be the off-season but that doesn’t mean we slow down our games of Pour House Trivia here at Bennigan’s in Frederick.  Tonight, we kept on trucking for what looked to be a very close game among the top teams.

Highlights of the Night:

In “I-Am-A-Benevolent-Host”: Tonight we had the rare question where I had to really think about some of the answers I received before deciding if I was going to accept them.  I won’t lie, it was hard for me to, essentially, decide the fates of half a dozen teams in the game.  But in the end, someone made an impassioned argument and I decided to show some mercy.  We’re in offseason after all, tonight is mostly for fun, practice, and bragging rights. So, a moments reprieve.

In “Unexpected-Doozy”: I won’t lie, it’s been a long time since I read The Great Gatsby, so I probably wouldn’t have been able to come up with the right answer on that one either, but I was still shocked when that one turned out to be one of the most missed of the night. Everyone’s read that one haven’t they?  I feel like more people should know it, myself included…Yikes!

In “Forget-Turmeric-Spell-This-One”: The turmeric question certainly did spice things up with only one team spelling it correctly, but what I should’ve asked for was my teams to spell Chiang Kai-Shek correctly.  Because the spellings I did get?  Outstanding.  My favorite was King Kai Chex, which as far off as it was, I had to give it to them because they clearly knew who I was talking about. Still, As for effort all around!

The final was a great question tonight that caused a last second shake up of the standings; how would it all go down?

In third place tonight, Momentary Lapse of Reason!

In second place tonight, Many Bothans!

In first place tonight, Poovey Farms!

Great game tonight guys, and good luck to all my teams playing in the world series this weekend! Next week when we get back we’re kicking off the Summer Fling with a question in the category of Steven Sondheim Musicals!

Study up and warm up your vocal chords, and we’ll see you next time!  Until then,

~ Ian

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Nido’s Ristorante in Frederick, MD

This week at Nido’s Ristorante in Frederick we opened up with a question about “The Handmaid’s Tale” which asked for the first name of The Commander, which is where the main protagonist gets her alias.  Several teams knew his name was Fred (her alias was Offred) and as a result jumped out to an early advantage.  The audio question for this week was songs with a dance in the title, with the songs being ‘The Twist’, ‘Mambo No. 5’, and ‘Waltzing Matilda’.  The hardest of the three was definitely the last one, and I have never heard that song personally so I never would have known it.

Halftime asked teams to identify TV shows with a particular theme (They all had commas in the title), as well as identifying what Political Party different Presidents were members of when they served as Commander-in-Chief.  I had a few teams accuse me of making up the show ‘Yes, Dear’, and a few of the Presidents were tough (Adams being a Federalist was a fun and somewhat tricky one).  In the second half the tough question was definitely the 20th century literature question. This one asked about a title character and described them as having a vast wealth but being haunted by their past (I’m paraphrasing here).  Only a few teams figured out it was ‘The Great Gatsby’ that we were asking for.

I loved the final question tonight, this one being about Ancient History.  The final asked about a battle that took place in 490 B.C. and according to a recent study supposedly took place in August, not September like originally thought.  That meant the post battle legend was more likely to be true; the legend being that Pheidippides collapsed after running the distance he ran.  The battle we were asking about was The Battle of Marathon, which a few teams managed to snipe.  After the final the standings ended like this:

First Place:  Witiots

Second place:  Donner Party

Third place: Late to the Game

Next week we kick off the Summer Season with a question about Classic Cocktails, so I’ll see you all then!  Thanks for playing and good luck in the World Series on Sunday!

Until next time,

~ Chad

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Top Golf in Alexandria, VA

Tonight was our post-season game at TopGolf Alexandria, that little awkward break between seasons where everyone plays for “fun” and standings points are not counted.  But, knowing the teams we have here, even if standings points don’t matter, they want to play simply for that self-satisfactory feeling of being better than everyone else.  And with our five teams tonight, that definitely was the case.  It was definitely competitive with lead changes and “missed it by that much” moments.  Let’s recap.

Round 1 started off with some Kubrick films that showed teams did not know any other Haley Joel Osment film other than “The Sixth Sense”, but new and old teams alike were off the mark with questions on the new “Wonder Woman” film and “The Gong Show”.  A bit of Biblical chemistry confused a lot of teams, but four of them still managed to figure out what elements 18 and 19 were.  In Round 2, teams were hesitant to answer a question on France’s tricolour, but it really was that simple.  Another question on song titles with dances in them had a few teams miss “Waltzing Matilda”, which almost became the national anthem of Australia, except the government thought a song where the swagman commits suicide at the end might be a bit inappropriate.

The halftime sheet had everyone scoring in the low and mid teens, apparently forgetting the Republican party did not exist until the mid-19th century and some forgetting all about the Whigs.  Nevertheless, teams, again picked up points on knowing diseases and their infectious agents and answering questions about quotations from “The Great Gatsby”.  He was surrounded by so much wealth, but he could never get the girl, Daisy.

The 6-4-2 question had one team decipher the clue that we were looking for a mythological hunter and picked up the six with Orion.  Round 4 was all about confusion as teams mistook the New Mexico state flag with Arizona’s as well as Florida’s state flag with Alabama’s.  And then a question on the Chinese republican leader Chiang Kai-Shek had many thinking about his opposition instead, Mao Zedong.  And with that, we had a 32-point margin going into the Final Question.

Our Final Question involved figuring out which ancient Greek battle may have taken place in August rather than September, lending credence to the famous legend after he battle.  Only one team figured out that a death was involved and it was the messenger running from Marathon to inform the Athenians the Greeks had won.  And because of this victory, one team jumped from second to first and claimed victory themselves.  Here’s our medal table for tonight:

First Place:  Hexa-Hotties (First time players as well!)

Second Place:  Jackie’s Team

Third Place:  Team Corgi (also first time players)

Seems our first timers are doing quite well at TopGolf Alexandria.  Hopefully, they’ll come back as well as our veteran teams for our Summer Fling 2017 and be the ones to draw first blood, starting next week!

Next week’s first category: Battles of the Pacific

Until next time,

~ Chris

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Greene Turtle in Leesburg, VA

Coming soon…

 

 

 

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Bennigan’s in Clarksburg, MD

Our last game before the World Series took place tonight at Bennigan’s in Clarksburg!  Once again, we were fully populated with veteran teams, everyone knowing what was at stake: bragging rights and that sweet, sweet prize money!  Dusty Baker has been on fire this whole season and they looked to take down another victory tonight.  A win tonight would give them some HUGE momentum going into Sunday, as if they weren’t already considered a favorite to win it all!

Wingardium Triviosa made the trip out to Bennigan’s tonight, getting in some last minute practice before the big game; they looked very good early as they kept within striking distance of Dusty Baker.  Dusty Baker had the only perfect halftime page which propelled them into a first half lead but WT was ready to make a run at the top in the 3rd round.  Unfortunately for them, it got a bit bumpy…

So, a Round 3 Literature question took out a big chunk of the field, only three teams coming up with “The Great Gatsby”.  The problem was that one of those teams was Wingardium Triviosa and they chose that as their five-point bonus…  That cost them eight points so they were fighting from behind the rest of the game. Wingardium Triviosa trailed Dusty Baker by five points going into the final round, not an insurmountable deficit to overcome.

Round 4 was kind to WT as they made up a bit more ground but still trailed Dusty Baker by three points going into the last question.  The bonus choice haunting them now, they’d need a miss from DB to have a chance to win tonight. Our category was Ancient History and it wasn’t a crowd favorite.  Less than half of the teams picking up points on this one. Strangers Have the Best Candy getting some luck to roll their way, they got the final correct and moved into the money to finish up in 3rd place!  Great finish for them!

First place tonight was either gonna be Dusty Baker or Wingardium Triviosa, depending on the results from this last question… WT got it right; they were hoping for a Dusty Baker miss. Tongiht was not that night.  Dusty Baker was among the teams to convert the final into points and they take down yet another victory here at Bennigan’s!  Such a strong crew, hope to see them make some noise on Sunday!  Until then guys, we’ll see ya soon! Good luck this weekend!!!

~ Bill

Next week’s first category: “Thundercats”

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Memories in Mount Airy, MD

This week saw the start of the offseason, and also the end of the offseason.  What is this, the NHL? *rimshot*  With the Pour House Trivia World Series blotting out the sun, this week’s game was a bit of a free-for-all, as teams switched up their names and played fast and loose into a close finish.

We saw some two-point bonus battles, let me tell you.  The new “Gong Show” host Mike Myers stumped some teams, while almost all failed to come up with Alexa’s favorite Billy Joel song.  A shout out to Satan’s School for Girls for being the only team to swipe a perfect 20 points on the halftime puzzle page.  In the third round, we proved once again why most teams do not enjoy literature questions at trivia night.  Still, teams persevered and stayed close enough to make the final a nail-biter. Strategic bets came in, and only two teams came up with the correct answer.

First Place: Los Tres Covfefe’s (Sexual Chocolate’s current name)

Second Place: Satan’s School for Girls (ready for a second semester with their team name)

Third Place: Cash Cab (also known as Polyamorous Virgins)

The boys took it down as a trio tonight, selecting Odd Coincidences as next week’s first category. That will kick off Summer Fling 2017, so study up and get ready to grab those valuable points for winning!

To my World Series-bound teams: Good luck, study hard… and the answer to question #4 is “Slappin’ Bears” 😉

~ Nick

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Furnace Bar and Grill in Thurmont, MD

Tonight at the Furnace Bar in Thurmont, it was a very competitive bye week, as two teams were saving up for the World Series this Sunday!  Breakfast for Dinner was trying to claim that top spot for the first time since We Need an Adult shattered their eight-game winning streak.  Since then, We Need an Adult has started a winning streak of their own, winning each of the last nine weeks.

The game started out smoothly, as we went into halftime with the entire field within 17 points of each other, with Breakfast for Dinner holding a slim lead!  Member Berries was still trying to notch their first victory at the Furnace, and they were on the right track as they were the only team to earn the two-point bonus for our audio question.  They were able to identify the third song: “Waltzing Matilda”!  Also, the newcomer Super Synapses played a very impressive game as they were the only team to identify Chiang Kai-shek based on the nickname “Cash by Check”, due to him frequently requesting Western financial aid!

For the top two teams, the turning point in the game really came down to wagering on the final question.  We Need an Adult decided to bet it all when they heard the category was Ancient History.  However, Breakfast for Dinner decided to wager strategically by only wagering three points, in hopes that We Need an Adult answered the final question incorrectly.  Not only did We Need an Adult answer the final question incorrectly, but no one was able to come up with the correct answer, which gave Breakfast for Dinner their first win in two months, and redemption by snapping the nine-game winning streak for We Need an Adult!  So here is how we finished tonight:

First Place:  Breakfast for Dinner

Second Place:  We Need an Adult

Third Place:  Member Berries

Next week’s first category:  Jimmy Buffett (AUDIO)

~ Devan

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Barefoot Bernie’s in Hagerstown, MD

Wednesday night at Barefoot Bernie’s presented with a rather unique situation for our trivia game, but our regular players handled it in stride as they get ready for Sunday’s massive World Series!

Brian lead early on, but took a dive in the second round and fell to fourth. Dave was the only person to know that the Lakers were originally from Minnesota. The halftime puzzle page’s high score was 14 by Maureen which helped her get into a tie with David for first. But Maureen was on a roll tonight! She was the only one to get the cause of all three diseases. Her tactical wagering gave her an 11 point lead going into the final question.

With a final in Ancient History, only one person guessed correctly. Ben was able to crack 100 points going into the final, but dropped just below that for third place. David took second. And only Queen Maureen correctly guessed the Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BCE. Brian may have come in last, but he’s got a very happy wife tonight.

I did have to convince her that we could choose ‘my cats’ as the category for next week, so we’re just going with plain old ‘cats‘.  Next week trivia will be back in full swing and teams can start thinking about new names for season 16. See you then!

~ Sean

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Applebee’s in Waynesboro, PA

We had a great game tonight at Applebee’s in Waynesboro.  We had some familiar faces and welcomed back some teams that haven’t been around for a little while.  JuJu and Friends bounced back from a tough week last week to turn in a very strong performance on what was a rather tough set.  Here are some highlights:

We started off Round One with a “Doctor Who” question, asking about the mysterious Ood and the animal they resemble.  That was followed by a question about a talent show that is going to be revived and hosted by Mike Myers (The Gong Show).  In Round 2 we opened up with an audio clue about dancing music, and also learned that the L.A. Lakers won five championships while located in Minneapolis.  The halftime puzzle page was a tough one, with teams being asked to identify the political party of past presidents; JuJu and Friends nailed it though, and turned in our top score of the night.

In Round Three we asked teams to spell Turmeric, which was tough because that first ‘R’ is silent (apparently I’ve been mispronouncing it all along).  Us + Maggie  = Happyface was the only team to get the 6-4-2 on the six point clue, so props to them.  In Round Four we asked about state flags that didn’t have the color blue; thanks to a last minute edit JuJu and Friends was able to get all three and get the bonus as well.  They pulled that off again for the final, being the only team to get it correct and bring home the victory.  Here are your top three:

First Place:  JuJu and Friends

Second Place:  Wingin’ It

Next week’s first category:  (Non-Sports) History of Pittsburgh (so… not these guys)

~ Kyle

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Cafe Nola in Frederick, MD

Another great night of trivia here at Cafe Nola in downtown Frederick.  Our roster of teams included some great names, such as Jerry Lewis Romperthon, Malort, and returning champs Mr. Jackpots, who all traded spots in the top three throughout the game.  However, it was Mr. Jackpots who ultimately came out on top.  (In an ironic twist, while Jackpots was the only team to correctly answer the final question, no teams earned points, as they wagered nothing.)

Good luck to all of my teams who are participating in Sunday’s World Series.  If it’s your first time experiencing this grand event, I assure you that you will NOT be disappointed.  After that, I’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone again next week, where we’ll kick things off with a Winner’s Choice question about the movie “The Room”.  You’ve probably never heard of it, and there’s a good reason for that!

Cheers!

~ Allison

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