Hundreds convene at Agganis for nation’s largest trivia event

Boston University’s Agganis Arena hosted Geek Bowl XII, the 12th edition of the nation’s largest live trivia event, on Saturday night. Hundreds of teams gathered at the arena to drink beer and compete for cash prizes, all while helping to support a local organization.

Geeks Who Drink, the nation’s largest independently-owned pub quiz company, regularly hosts about 900 trivia events a week across 47 states, according to Ken Brill, director of PR and marketing.

While these events are a scaled-down version of Geek Bowl, participants can still gather at their local bars and pubs with friends and win prizes, such as gift cards.

Geek Bowl XII consisted of eight rounds of trivia, including “random knowledge,” a musical round and an MBTA-themed round. More than 200 teams of six players each and approximately 300 spectators attended.

“It’s what we do in your local bar, but amped to a level that requires that we put it in a hockey arena,” Brill said.

For the first time since Geek Bowl I, the event ended in a tie. The last two teams standing, “Last House on the Jeff” and “More Than Appealing,” then entered a final tie-breaking round that led “Last House on the Jeff” to victory.

Teams representing 23 states, as well as one team from Canada, competed for about $20,000 in cash prizes, Brill said. The top four teams, along with the best performing team from New England and the best amateur team, were awarded prizes.

This year was the first time Geek Bowl gave out a prize specifically for an amateur team, or a team that doesn’t include a previous TV game show winner, Brill said.

“Obviously with the large prize pool, we tend to attract some pretty smart folks and some folks who had runs on ‘Jeopardy’ or maybe won a chunk of cash on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,’” Brill said.

This year, Geek Bowl was set up to benefit Artists for Humanity, a South Boston-based organization that employs teens in the fields of fine arts and design.

“We were just so happy that they reached out to us,” said AFH Development Officer Paola Ozuna. “A lot of the proceeds from tonight are … going to benefit our work and our expansion right now. We’re trying to double the amount of employment … for teens in the city.”

When searching for a charity partner, Brill said his team identified with AFH’s mission statement and its objective of employing teens in the arts.

AFH representatives went onstage at the event to deliver a round of questions for the players and to explain their mission to the crowd.

Brill said the event was held at Agganis Area due to its large capacity, adding that being on the BU campus was a plus, as Geek Bowl is designed for “smart people.”

Elizabeth Caldwell, 29, and her team “I’m Not Ah Cahph!!!” made the trip to Boston from Houston, Texas for their sixth Geek Bowl.

“Every year we go to whatever city it’s in, and this year it’s in Boston — I think it’s the farthest we’ve traveled,” Caldwell said. “They’ve been a lot of fun, so we keep coming back. We’ve really enjoyed Boston.”

Brittany Korbel, 24, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, said she attended Geek Bowl XII as a fun event to enjoy with friends.

“We all like to do trivia so this was just a great event for us to go to,” Korbel said. “It’s actually crazy how big of a trivia community there is. We never really realized that there’s die-hard trivia people.”

John Laadt, 26, from Allston, said he plays trivia every Monday night at Harry’s Bar and Grill. He has been attending trivia events with his friends for the past three years and attended Seattle’s Geek Bowl last year as a member of one of the only two Boston-based teams.

“We’re really happy that [Geek Bowl] came to the East Coast, that they came east of the Mississippi, and I just think everyone who can play trivia should play trivia,” Laadt said.

Next year’s Geek Bowl participants and quizmasters will be headed to Las Vegas for Geek Bowl XIII.