Ready for a new trivia experience here in Corvallis? Trivia Smackdown breaks from the usual formula of write it down, turn it in, and win (or lose). Here's how it works:

Teams sign up between 8:00-8:30pm. $5 per person, max of six per team. Cash only, please. This provides the money for the prizes; the host and DeMaggio's do not keep any. Once teams are signed up, play begins. During play, teams have three actions they can use:

ANSWER
Going around the room in turn, each team chooses a category and are given a question from that category. They can choose to answer it for standard points, or SMACK for a chance at double the points.

SMACK
Each team can SMACK once per round. To SMACK, they choose another team. That team is forced to answer the question that the smacking team was asked. If the smacked team answers the question incorrectly, the smacking team gets double the usual amount of points. If the smacked team answers correctly, they get the standard amount of points.

STEAL
If any team answers a question incorrectly, every other team has a chance to STEAL. After a question is missed, all teams have 30 seconds to write the correct answer on a small whiteboard at their table. Everyone holds up their boards when asked and teams with the correct answer on them receive half of the standard amount of points.

Play continues until the questions in all categories are exhausted. Categories will contain between 3-5 questions, depending on the number of teams. Once the questions are exhausted, Round 1 is over and there is a short break.

For Round 2, play is the same except the order is reversed and all points are doubled.

After Round 2 is finished, comes the Final Question. Teams are given a half sheet of paper and the category for the Final Question. They then have two minutes to decide how many of their current points they wish to wager.

Once all wagers are turned into the host, the Final Question is asked. The Final Question generally has multiple answers. For example, "Name 4 of the 5 largest US cities that have the letter K anywhere in their names." The teams have five minutes to write their answers down on the half sheet of paper and turn it in to the host. Final scores are then tabulated and the top three teams announced. First place takes home 65% of the entry fees, second takes 35%, and third nets a $25 Gift Card from DeMaggio's New York Pizza.

Rules / Notes:

1) No cellphones or tablets at the table. Keep them in your pockets, bags, etc during play.

2) No yelling out answers. If someone does, the spoiled question will be replaced.

3) One smack per round. Teams can be smacked an unlimited number of times.

4) Entry is $5 per person. Up to six persons per team. We're not sure how many teams we can hold yet; we'll see on January 9th!

5) Answers are final. Host's answer key is always correct; we can argue after the game is done, not during.

Join us on January 9th at 8pm for the inaugural Trivia Smackdown!