Online trivia nights at Mr. Mikes still popular

Trivia nights at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse Casual’s Estevan location have been a blast for over half a year now, and they continue to be a popular event even during the times when the restaurant is shut down due to COVID-19. 

The game night last Thursday had many participants joining online and offline from the comfort of their homes. The activity attracted teams from Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and B.C., in addition to Saskatchewan.  

In an interview with Southeast Lifestyles, John Murray, the general manager for Mr. Mikes Steakhouse Casual in Estevan, said that all the game nights they’ve had since the beginning of quarantine went really well.

“All (trivia nights) have been really good, well-received. We’ve had over 100 players each of the nights playing between Facebook live or watch parties playing from other regions of the country, which is amazing,” said Murray. “The engagement is great. It’s lots of fun.”

With help of technologically skilled friends, Murray was able to switch to the online format and keep going with the popular in Estevan activity, which is now working as well as it did during the good old on-location times. 

“It’s just Facebook live, there is no registration. You compete against your family and friends… You comment on the Facebook live feed, and that’s how we see who commented and that’s how you have a chance to win. We have an after-round bounce question, where you have to call into the restaurant, we are looking for a caller number four for the answer to this question, for example. And it’s really fun.”

It takes about eight hours of work between researching songs and questions and organizing it all for each game night, and it keeps them busy since the restaurant completely shut down about three weeks ago. 

“It’s worth the fun,” said Murray. “Our guests wanted it. We had trivias in our lodge every Thursday night for the last six months, and our guests basically asked if there was any way we could try to continue this on even with the closure. And we came up with this idea.” 

The game might be virtual now, but the prizes are real and quite good, thanks to other local businesses. 

“We had local companies stepping up to give us gift cards, to donate first prizes, like Walmart, Tim Hortons, A Loving Touch Florist, for example. It’s very good that a lot of local companies are stepping up to contribute,” said Murray. 

Some prizes are sent through the mail and others are curb-side delivered. 

Mr. Mikes in Estevan will continue with online trivia nights every Monday and Thursday at 8 p.m. until they reopen and are able to get back to the traditional format.