Now that trivia night season is ramping up again, and the list of upcoming events over there on the right is getting longer, I think this is a good time to write about a part of trivia nights that seems to be getting more and more common every year. As I write this post, there are ten events on the list – six of those events will be selling Mulligans. If you love Mulligans at trivia night, please don’t take offense. This is just one person’s opinion. I don’t like Mulligans.
There. I said it.
Mulligans, for those unfamiliar, are essentially purchased answers. For $1 each teams can make up for a lack of knowledge to overtake other teams who aren’t willing to spend the money. What kind of message does this send? Think of the children.
And they aren’t even properly named. In golf, a Mulligan is an extra shot taken in a non-sanctioned game when a not-so-scratch duffer shanks one into the woods. Following trivia night logic, golfers would just approach the tee, yell “Mulligan!” and be awarded a hole-in-one.
It’s time to phase out the Mulligan, or at the very least adapt it to mirror its golf namesake more than it currently does. I could live with a Mulligan that would allow a team to give two different answers for the same question, and hope that one of them finds the fairway. At least that way, they still have to provide some brain power on the answer sheet, not just a sticker.
I understand the motivation behind selling Mulligans at trivia nights. Every extra dollar raised is gravy for the event organizers. It requires no extra work, and can actually generate an extra couple hundred bucks for the night. But there are plenty of ways to make a little extra money from your players – 50/50 drawings, silent auctions, food & drink sales, and bonus games like the “Up or Down” games that have been catching on around here lately. If you are planning a trivia night and need help coming up with ideas for raising extra money without affecting the game itself, email me! I’ve seen lots of good money-makers that don’t involve selling extra points.
It’s not too late to slow down the Mulligan craze and get trivia nights back to contests of knowledge, rather than contests of wallets. What say you?
EDIT: For more on this scourge, see Dan Naumovich’s column: http://www.sj-r.com/features/x108122965/Dan-Naumovich-Trivia-night-tragedy
I also despise mulligans. They have been around south of Springfield and in the Metro East area for some time, and I think they are awful. I understand the financial aspect that it’s easy money, but if a team doesn’t buy them, you’ve lost 10 points to the competition. For those places that require you use only 1 each round, you may have a perfect 10 in a round and not need a mulligan, so you’ve wasted that point. Invariably, the next round will be something your team has no clue on, and you could have used 2 (or more) in that round! DOWN WITH MULLIGANS!
Couldn’t agree more. Mulligans are the root of trivia night evil. Right up there with the team at the last trivia night I went to that used their iPhone on the entire geography round. (They did not finish in the money anyway, but still.)
R.I.P. mulligans.
Although I agree that we shouldn’t be able to “purchase” answers, that’s not the way I look at mulligans. The way I see it, you’re taking something that is worthless, like a sticker, and putting value to it. And in a fundraiser, buying 100 stickers for 99 cents, charging a buck apiece, you’re getting to raise a good chunk of money for the cause. If you have 20 teams, charge them ten bucks for mulligans, you’re getting an extra 200 bucks to put towards helping people. But that’s just my humble opinion.
Hi Adam,
Like I said in the next-to-last paragraph, I don’t fault organizers at all for trying to come up with extra ways to make free money on their events. But there are countless ways to do that (some of which I listed in the same paragraph) without affecting the integrity of the game or selling free points.
I have no doubt that there are casual players who go to one or two trivia nights a year, only to support a cause – and they probably love Mulligans. But for the players you see at 2-3 trivia nights every month, who don’t necessarily care what the event is raising money for, Mulligans are a pain.
Thanks for your input. I think with feedback and sharing ideas, these events can be made better for everyone.
I realized that you addressed it. The more money for the cause the better in my opinion! Great article, too. Someone needed to say it.
Russ, I think you are preaching to the choir here. Most of your readers on this site are trivia enthusiasts and thus can effectively compete without needing a crutch. The extra fundraising argument is ridiculous considering the other options that are available. Unfortunately, those who love trivia contests and are willing to travel outside their own organizations or schools are too few to make a big impact by boycotting the contests that offer mulligans. I guess we will just have to settle for winning by one point as opposed to five or six.
Russ, maybe you could address something of a trivia-night ethics nature that’s been bugging me for a while. Or maybe you already have and I’ve missed it.
Trivia nights are largely fundraisers. I understand that. Hence, your explanation of why some organizers will sell mulligans as free money raised- though, as you pointed out, there are numerous other ways to raise extra money. MY concern, however, is with the issue of prize money, and more specifically, the giving back thereof.
I have been to several trivia nights at which at least one of the “in the money” tables have given back all or part of their winnings to the organizers- again, that’s all well and good. My question is, does that obligate the other winners to follow suit?
One trivia night I attended, my table came in second place. The first-place winners gave back their prize money, a gesture which was rewarded by a gushing announcement, and then suddenly all eyes were upon my table and the third-place winners to do the same. I was even at one trivia night, at a certain Catholic church in Springfield, at which the priest, before the contest even started, made an announcement saying that “any winners wishing to give their prize money back is encouraged to do so”. Talk about guilt trips.
My question is this: Am I a horrible person for believing that if I win a prize, I should be allowed to keep it with no obligation to return it lest I be persecuted and ridiculed in the proverbial town square?
On second thought, don’t answer that. I guess my question is THIS: if the organizers want (or expect) the prize money to be returned, why do they even offer the prizes in the first place? Why even do a 50-50 drawing? As M.B. mentioned above, most of the readers here, anyway, are trivia enthusiasts who [presumably] are more in it for the competition than the prize money. Speaking for myself, I would still very gladly and regularly attend trivia nights even if they were simply for fun (i.e. bragging rights)–so long as the organizers are up front about it. $10-20 an event is a small price to pay for an enjoyable night of trivia, even without “prizes” at stake. If they made no pretense about the prizes from the get-go, then [my belief is that] there would be essentially the same amount of participants, the same amount (if not more) of money received for the people to whom the money will go, and no sort of guilt or ill will transferred to prize winners that have the nerve to think they should get to keep the prize they won.
Any thoughts? Anyone?
Johann – I started to write a reply, then realized I had WAY too many thoughts on the matter. It will require a post on it’s own. I’ll just say that I agree wholeheartedly. These little peeves (Mulligans, Prize Guilt, smaller prizes) have made me consider the idea of starting a series of sanctioned events that would have no Mulligans, huge cash prizes, and no expectation of giving the money back….maybe even a travelling trophy. It would really be nice to get back to the way these nights were back in the 90s.
I am SO glad I’m not the only one that feels that way. I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts on this subject in the future.
Waste of money,waste of time ,no brain needed. Lose them.I didn’t know Buddy Hackett died?
Johann,
I couldn’t agree with you more. In fact if you attend the St. Joseph’s Parish/School triva night on October 23rd I will make sure and have the MC announce that there is no guilt in keeping the prize money.
I just read this… I agree with you somewhat. When we first played with Mulligan's in the game, you had a chance to give two answers… if one of those answers were correct then you got a point. You were also only allowed one per round max and only three per team for the whole game, so it only gave you a possible 3 point help and that is only if you played it well and had some knowledge of the answer. It has morphed into something else since. I believe 50/50 drawings require a permit with a licence to do them legally. http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Charitable-Gaming/Illinois/Raffle-Act.htm
I do believe in letting the organization do whatever it needs to to earn extra dollars, food and drink sales, silent auctions etc. I fully support them.