For ten weeks this summer we will keep track of your team's scores.  We drop the two lowest scores - add up the rest - to give your team a final score and see how you stack up against the other teams at your location.  In another words, for the 10 week tournament, we take your best/highest 8 scores, ignore the 2 worst.  The 3 Teams with the highest cumulative 10 week score advance to the Tournament Finale.

The 10 Week Tournament begins Sunday July 7th and concludes on Thursday September 12th.  Then we will contact the Top 3 Teams from each location to ensure they have all the details and are registered for the Tournament Finale which will be the weekend of Sept 28/29.

You'll find a list of participating locations just below this FAQ section.  They will be sorted by City/Town.

We will drop the 2 lowest scores your team has during the 10 week tournament.  So whether your entire team is absent (and your score is 0) or you just had an "off" week and didn't do so hot, no worries!  You're still in this thing until the the final moments.  Pro Tip:  In previous years a few teams thought they were out of the running due to some high scores above them, just for one of the leading teams to unfortunately miss the final two games, allowing teams below them to pull off a come from behind win/finish.

Hammered Trivia features two weekly games: Thunder and Lightning.  A list of locations and Thunder/Lightning designation can be found on our
homepage.  Some players like Hammered Trivia so much they participate in both a Thunder and Lightning game each week.  Your team is allowed to continue doing so, however, if you place Top 3 at the end of the 10 week tournament at both locations (a Thunder and a Lightning location) you may only represent 1 location/venue at the Tournament Finale, and the next team below the Top 3 will be moved up at one of the other locations at Hammered Trivia's discretion.  Your team DOES NOT have the option to "split into 2" and play as two teams in the Tournament Finale.

This is best explained with an example.  Team "Go Canes!" plays at Sneaky Penguin Brewing for 5 week's straight and has a pretty decent score.  Then during week 6, the majority of the team can't play trivia on Wednesday night so they go to a Tuesday game at My Way Tavern instead and try to talk the host into accepting that score as part of Sneaky Penguins Brewing Tournament score, because they don't want a 0 that week.  Sorry.  That's a no.  Only scores played at that location can be attributed to the venues tournament scores.  Don't forget, we drop your
2 lowest scores.

Yes. In order to make the finale as fair as possible and to ensure integrity of the game, here are some important rules to consider for the Tournament Finale.  Maximium team size at the tournament finale is 6.  If you have more than 6 team members, they are allowed to join as a spectator but can not participate / sit with the team.  At the Tournament Finale we go "old school".  Paper and pen for answers.  No
phones/QR codes.  Electronic devices are not allowed/visible at ANY time during the rounds.  Players who must use the restroom during the round are permitted to do so but can not rejoin their team until that round is over.  There will be approximately 1 Hammered Trivia host per 5 teams playing keeping a close eye and constantly monitoring.  Folks, there's no "sugar coating" it.  There's no cheating happening at the Tournament Finale.  And you can expect the questions to be significantly harder. Remember, the Finale is the "best of the best". Any team found not complying with the rules will be disqualified from winning the tournament finale.

There might be!  Should a venue choose to award the "Top 3" teams at the end of the 10 week tournament with anything beyond "sponsoring their trip to the tournament finale" that is at the discretion of the venue.

Any team that collect a cash prize at the Tournament Finale may be required to fill out appropriate tax documentation.

Glad you asked!  We are excited to announce that Tap Yard will be the site of the Tournament Finale.  We anticipate being able to fit approximately 30 teams inside,  15 Teams outside beneath their big tent, with the majority of the remaining teams having a picnic table with included sun protection.  But just like with previous years, we encourage teams to bring their own canopy/chairs/tables if they are able to.  There will be multiple food vendors on site.  No outside drinks allowed.

The scores for all the teams are accessible from a link at the bottom of this page. They will be sorted by location and updated each week.

Participation in the tournament is up to the venue/location. The planning and execution of this tournament is a 6 month long process from start to finish with many moving parts. In addition, there is quite a bit of cost associated with this "game within a game", even beyond the obvious huge prize money. This tournament is completely sponsored/funded by the locations that choose to participate. Hammered Trivia is incredibly proud that the majority of our partner venues choose to participate but understand that a venue may opt not to for various reasons.

Great question! Short answer:  We will only "drop" your one (1) lowest score over the 10 week period.
Long Answer:  These locations will likely only have 5 games during the 10 week qualifying tournament.  We will add up the scores for all the games that take place during the 10 week period (again, likely only 5 games) and drop your one lowest score.  So whether you miss one of the
games or just have a not-so-impressive score, that one lowest score gets dropped, the remainder is added up for your final total score.  The Top 3 Teams (3 highest cumulative scores) will advance to the Tournament Finale.