Trivia Nights

There are a number of trivia nights in and around Davis, sometimes there is a fee to get in and you can win a cash pot, usually the prize is a gift certificate, round of drinks or something similar. The California Aggie recently featured local pub quizzes in a Miles Duncan article titled "Passing the Bar Exam."

See also Bistro 33.

On September 26, 2011 Bistro 33 held its last pub quiz. In the California Aggie, representatives of Bistro 33 mentioned that something like it will be back someday in the future. For now, you will have to go to other davis bars for your Trivia needs.

See also KetMoRee

-All ages

-Every Wednesday Night

-Starts at 9:30 PM

-Starts during Happy Hour, so you can get discounted drinks and appetizers!

See also Sophia's.

10:00 on Tuesday nights. No fee to get in, but there is a 1 drink minimum. Drink stamping begins at 9 pm. Teams can have up to 6 members, with 3 points deducted in increasing increments of 3 for each member beyond the 6 person limit (ex: -3 for the 1st + -6 for the 2nd = -9 for an 8 person team). There are two rounds, each with 20 questions and combined for a total score. The prizes are as follows:

• 1st Place: $60 in gift certificates (sometimes more)
  

• 2nd Place: A round (one drink per listed member) of top shelf drinks (up to $8) that can be redeemed before the following week.
  

• 3rd Place: A round of beer or well drinks that can be redeemed before the following week.
  

• Median Score: To reward mediocrity (and to ensure that every team has something to play for), Sophia's gives out a round of drinks for the team with the median score.
  

• Best Team Name: A round of shots. (Teams that place in the top 3 and median are excluded.)
  

• Tiebreaker: The team that guesses closest to the tiebreaker answer that does not win the median or place in the top 3 gets the House's choice of a 6-pack of beer or a bottle of wine. This is regardless of score, so it's still possible for a team to walk away with something even if they're getting their asses kicked. The tiebreaker question usually involves a numerical quantity that is impossible to know exactly. (ex: "what is the female population of Madagascar?" or "What is the distance to the moon in furlongs")
  

• Stumper: Prizes are given out to "stumper answers", an instance where a team was the only team to correctly answer a particular question. There are usually 1 to 3 stumper prizes given out every night. Prizes range from gift certificates to bottles of wine to tickets to a baseball game.

Other known prizes have been given out for the most incorrect answer, funniest answer, and last place.

The bar keeps track of drinks purchased with a team drink card which gets stamped for every item purchased. Keep in mind that drink purchases before 9:00 do not count toward the drink minimum (though the bartenders can be lenient on stamping if you've tipped them well). One stamp per member qualifies the team for grading and a prize. Teams can get three bonus points if each member buys two drinks. No team has ever come in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd without earning the three bonus drink points.

Sophia's limits Trivia Night to 40 teams. This limit is reached almost every week by 9:15, the time when the answer sheets are handed out. Hence, even though the actual event doesn't start until 10:00, teams need to secure a spot much earlier. To get chairs/stools/tables, one must arrive around 8:15. To ensure you get an answer sheet, get there around 9:15. In most cases, you will not be able to participate if you arrive at 9:55. There is a "No Chair-Hording" policy where only one empty chair per present person can be saved before the event begins. This prevents one person from unfairly saving 5 chairs for his/her team while people who are present stand helplessly (if it's annoying in movie theaters, it's going to be annoying at Trivia Night.) Paying customers are also given priority for tables over non-paying customers, so a team saving a table that has not purchased an item risks forfeiting their table to people/teams who have purchased items.

There are many teams that can be consistently found week after week duking it out, most of which are comprised of graduate students from various departments around UCD. Canadian Softwood, a team from the agricultural and resource economics department, holds the record for most 1st Place finishes in a row (4). Regular competitors and winners include teams representing the psychology, philosophy, nutrition and mathematics (aka The Mathletes) departments, as well as the law, business, and vetmed schools. An undergraduate team, The Backdoor Babes (Their name changes weekly), have staked out the back porch weekly since February 2008, and rarely walk away without placing in the top 3.

There is a list of common categories used in Sophia's Trivia Night.

And then, of course, there are The Rules.

See also Woodstock's Pizza.

Starting in February 2009, Woodstock's has been holding a weekly Trivia Night on Thursdays. The event is free to play and starts at 9pm, and while "signup" is encouraged at 8:30, the reality is that you just need to physically be seated at a table in the bar-side of the restaurant (or even at the bar itself) by 9:00 to take part. The MC's do their best to accomodate as many players as possible, and you will only be turned away if there is truly NOWHERE left to sit or stand in the whole room (along with consideration of maximum occupancy for fire codes!). Starting in winter of 2010, attendance started rising to the extent that all the tables may be taken by 8:30, so it is now recommended that you arrive before 8:30 to guarantee yourself a spot.

Questions are separated into 4 themed rounds (themes change from week to week, and are sometimes based on current events and relevant topics; i.e., a round about Ireland around St. Patty's Day or a round about basketball at the beginning of March Madness). Questions are considered to be slightly easier than at some of the other Trivia Nights, particularly at Sophia's, which may disappoint those who are hoping for a huge intellectual challenge but may be welcome to those who like the feeling of getting a majority of the questions right; this isn't to say that the questions aren't at all challenging, but they are aimed more at the Davis locals and undergrads, rather than at the grad student crowd.

Like all Woodstock's events, Trivia Night is all ages. Obviously you have to be of age to buy beer, but even the freshman are welcome to come play and enjoy some pizza - so no complaining that there is nothing to do in Davis if you're under 21! Prizes range from free slices for winning one of the themed rounds, to Woodstock's shirts or gift certificates for winning the whole game. Other prizes for an overall winner have included: pint glasses (with beer company logos), liter glasses (with Woodstock's logo), movie passes for local theaters, and occasionally gift certificates to other downtown businesses.

The MC's, Alex and Bobby, are known to be friendly and fun during the event, often joking around with each other and the audience. Bonus point are sometimes awarded for particularly funny wrong answers, but more likely your clever guess will be shared with the audience for the enjoyment of all. There are ~10-15 minute breaks between rounds while they count up answers, during which they play upbeat music (which usually relates somehow to the previous round) and give you a chance to buy some beer, use the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, make a phone call...or whatever else you might need to do. The event is usually over by 11:00 (11:30 at the absolute latest), giving you the opportunity to capitalize on the rest of your Thursday night downtown (Woodstock's is located within 2 blocks of almost every other bar in Davis). For a 2-3 hour committment and no monetary committment (you aren't pressured into buying a round of drinks for extra points), you can enjoy a fun event in a bar full of people and, if you're 21, have a great place to pre-game for your night out at the bars.

See also The Graduate.

The Grad hosts a trivia night (called "The Grad Pub Quiz") every Sunday Night. Play begins at 7pm, except during football season, when it begins at 9pm to accomodate Sunday Night Football. The Pub Quiz is unique in that it incorporates visual clues (via PowerPoint) for all questions. Some questions are, in fact, entirely visual, such as the "Name That Toon" and "Celebrity Mug Shots" categories. The event is free to play, and winners get a $50 Grad Gift Card. $25 Cards are given for second and third place teams. The Pub Quiz also rewards the team with the highest monthly total as the champion of the month. Teams are limited to eight players.

The Grad Pub Quiz celebrated its one-year anniversary on July 31, 2011.

See also Streets of London Pub.

Sunday Night. Questions have a British slant and random prizes given through out the night for best team name and worst score. First prize is something good, but the other prizes are random things such as B-movies on DVD and British amateur porn.

• The California Aggie article about Trivia Nights
  

• Spotlight on Sophia's in the Sacramento Business Journal: Not So Trivial Pursuits

Comments:

Note: You must be logged in to add comments

2007-01-28 15:02:34   Sophia's trivia has all sorts of non-trivia ways of getting points. There is a myspace question that you can only get with a myspace account and being friend's with Sophia's. Also if your entire team orders a second round of drinks, you get an extra 3 points. I totally agree with the one drink minimum, people who sit in a bar for two hours but don't even order a coke are lame, lame, lame. But I hate the second drink thing, two beers on a tuesday night is getting into sketchy territory for those with 8 am classes and it's a slippery slop of trivia being about things other than trivia. —AmyGoogenspa

• They've also added a welcome new policy about chair hoarding. You can have a maximum of 2 empty seats at a table, which is still pretty generous for such a busy night. Also, to expand Amy's comment, they've been totally cool with you ordering non-alcoholic drinks for that 2nd (or 1st) round. Just remember to tip. —CraigBrozinsky
  

2007-01-30 19:02:07   Yeah, I just feel so lame. I'm going to feel even lamer next week when I have to buy TWO non-alcoholic drinks so my team doesn't lose on account of my cheapness. —AmyGoogenspa

2007-03-11 10:48:33   do any of these let under-21s participate at all? —AllisonEriksen

• Sophia's cards at the door, so not them. Potentially Bistro, but doubtfully streets of london because they are primarily a bar. —CraigBrozinsky
  

2007-03-15 16:05:11   Just went to Sophia's trivia for the first time last Tuesday after being a longtime Bistro 33 player. I have to say, Sophia's trivia night is far, far better. There are more teams (a lot more), it's rowdy, but strange as it sounds, it seems more intimate. I attribute that to the fact that Sophia's feels more like a "Pub Quiz" than Bistro does. You're in a bar, you can get to the actual bar, people are actually drinking and talking while they're playing. It feels more like a group activity. At Bistro, the event takes place in a back room which makes the whole thing feel more like a classroom than a bar (especially with all the A/V stuff going on). Sophia's quiz is definitely way more challenging, but in a good way I guess (in that you should know the answer and feel like an idiot once you hear it.) Bistro's questions are either really easy (especially the true/false questions) or stupidly impossible. The respective hosts are a stark contrast. The Quiz Mistress at Bistro is definitely more showy and polished, but she can often be obnoxious. Sophia's Quiz Master (who I'm told is the owner, but I'm not sure if that's true.) is less polished and a lot drier, but he's funny and has an ironic, self-depricating hosting style. When the crowd heckles him (which happened several times last Tuesday), he talks shit back, which I find pretty funny. At Bistro, she seems to get agitated when people complain. Lighten up Sarah! As for the drink minimum at Sophia's, I think it's legit on their part. That they don't give drink stamps for food is bullshit in my opinion, but other than that, I bought 2 Bud Lights which cost me $6.50 (+$2 tip). The way I see it, it's cheaper than a movie and more interactive. —BriannaBetancourt

2007-05-15 13:31:22   Bistro 33 recently moved the quiz from the function room to the main bar area. Whilst I can understand their reasons for doing so (less staff needed to serve drinks) I think it is not so much fun as before. Now you can spend the evening sharing the room with people who aren't there for the quiz, and you don't get to really see everyone around you (depending on where you are sitting). For the last two weeks there have been no powerpoints either (presumably because of the NBA playoff games being on). I'm still coming to terms with this change, but I think it is a change for the worse. And they seem to have stopped the pub quiz drinks and food promotions too. —KeithBradnam

2008-03-16   I'm curious about the Thursday trivia night at the Silo Pub. I've seen several posters and its mentioned even on their website, I would love it if someone can share their experience.

—scrizer

2008-06-01 07:58:59   Gosh, I didn't realize trivia nights in St. Louis were quite so big (or involved free beer, for that matter). I used to do some there back in the day but thought they were relatively isolated (or only as common as anywhere else). I'll have to hit up some trivia when I'm back that way. _ _
franzche
I challenge you to a game of trivia! Click here to battle against me online at ConQUIZtador. Let's see who's the winner...
https://www.conquiztador.com/?a=26041 —franzche

2010-09-13 15:19:36   Went by Agave last Wednesday and they weren't having trivia. The guy didn't seem to know anything about it either. Maybe it's only when school is in session? —KevinWilliams