Back in February, 2018, me and three other players went to a trivia semifinal game at a local dive bar, which was quite a “cozy” environment – it was a small bar, with mostly bar seating, and maybe just a few random tables – in addition to a pool table. You can read about that game in this blog here: https://hebontheweb.blog/2018/02/03/trivia-recap-feb-3-2018-powells-pub-mtl-semifinals/?preview=true I was actually concerned about how viable of a trivia semifinal spot it would because of its size. Which makes me think of one of Yoda’s signature quotes:

As it turned out, the trivia venue’s small size proved to be to our advantage!

When this incident first occurred, my husband ordered me to be silent about the details. Now that nearly four years have passed, he has given me permission to talk about how he bamboozled nearly every other team in the bar – allowing us to advance to a trivia finals – all because of his bullshitting and bluffing skills! Boy would his dad be proud of him (he’s a skilled bullshitter himself)!

All of this went down during the final question wagering (NOTE – in this particular trivia league, teams placed their wagers AFTER hearing final questions, not before). Here was our question:

What coin, minted in 1794 and 1795, was the first dollar coin minted by the U.S. government, with one of them recently fetching $10 million at a 2013 auction?

Final question ffrom 2018 semifinal game

While all of the teams (maybe nine or so) were pondering what to wager, my husband kept his eyes – and ears – open. And he told me later that he could just tell that this question was going to be a doozy (meaning nobody might get it right). So he decided to have a little fun – and make sure that he was overheard!

Just imagine Mel Gibson in the 1994 movie Maverick, only with longer hair and glasses:

He saw that no teams were rushing to hand in their slips. Then – he used his best stage whisper that everyone in the bar could probably hear (which was totally on purpose) – and said “Oh my god, I know this one, my dad told me all about this.” He also wrote down on his paper as a note to our teammate Brad – whom is terrible at keeping secrets – “JUST PLAY ALONG.” Our other teammate Archie (RIP, he died in 2019), was more than happy to play along. Maybe he was a poker player? So we created this whole ruse – that the other teams could see and hear – that we were going to wager it all on this final question. Only…we didn’t. But they did wind up wagering on it – and failing. We were not in a very good place going into the final question, so we were playing a risky game indeed!

So we wound up going to the trivia tournament finals a week later, did not win any money (maybe we deserved that – karma’s a bitch)! We also had to drive through a snowstorm to get there. Then about a year later, that teammate Archie – whom was deceased at the time – helped me get a tiebreaker correct which allowed us to win trivia prize money! I still think he was helping me from beyond the grave on that (we still miss you so much, Archie)! You can read about that game here: https://hebontheweb.blog/2019/12/15/trivia-recap-december-15-2019-my-trivia-live-finals-library-pub-novi-mi/?preview_id=26156&preview_nonce=86527862ff&preview=true

Some strange things that happen in trivia games are not done on purpose! Has anyone else played in a haunted trivia spot and has been poked in the ribs by a ghostly presence? Asking for a friend!