The Barking Dog quiz dishonest: BBC visits pub

Huddled round their tables, locals poured into The Barking Dog every week to tackle a pub quiz – however one factor was amiss.

The similar workforce saved profitable the prize of a £30 bar tab, leaving regulars scratching their heads and a few stopped turning up in protest.

Then, a twist. Bosses on the pub in Urmston, Greater Manchester, mentioned they obtained an nameless tip-off and caught the workforce “cheating red-handed” when gamers have been noticed whispering into their smartwatches to get solutions.

They revealed the curious goings-on in an Instagram put up final week – and it swiftly went viral, attracting curiosity from individuals all over the world.

Here on the Barking Dog on a humid, darkish Wednesday night time this week, BBC News has come alongside to witness the primary version of the quiz for the reason that scandal emerged.

And regulars have made a packed return, with 17 groups collaborating, although the virtually Traitors-like story of alleged dishonest looms giant.

The suspect workforce, which managers are refusing to call, have been banned from the quiz – however are welcome to nonetheless attend the pub – but some regulars say the furore has left them “too scared” to put on their smartwatches.

One of the groups, comprising of Grace, Beth, Olivia, Ellie and Jack, has been coming into the quiz for about three years.

They say they’re happy the dishonest workforce has lastly been rumbled, as different groups had stopped coming. “It’s brought people back and it’s nice to see familiar faces back in the pub,” says Grace.

Olivia says the newest quiz has an electrical ambiance whereas Beth says the “drama” attributable to the alleged dishonest saga has been “insane”, with their teammate Ellie’s sister even speaking about it in Australia.

They say they knew the dishonest workforce had been as much as no good for “ages”.

“It was so obvious,” Grace says, including that on the music around the workforce would know all of the solutions and who featured on every observe performed on each style, from 90s Hip Hop to Rock n Roll.

“We just thought at first they were incredibly intelligent,” she tells us.

However, she says it quickly transpired “they weren’t quite the eggheads we thought they were”.

Jack is taking further precautions tonight, although. “I didn’t wear my smartwatch because I didn’t want to be done,” he admits.

Try 5 questions from The Barking Dog’s pub quizzes in latest weeks.

Over on one other desk, Nia – who was collaborating within the quiz along with her buddies Callum and Anastasia – says the latest media consideration about their native pub quiz has been “crazy”.

She, too, says she has seen individuals “on their phones and smartphones” just lately, however has not recognized for certain in the event that they have been dishonest.

Rather than feeling robbed of a money prize when he came upon concerning the scandal, Callum says he really discovered it “quite funny”.

Nia provides: “We never do well enough to come in the top three to be mad enough.”

As nicely as luring again regulars, the shenanigans have attracted new groups to the quiz, like John and Carole Kelly, who’re coming into for the primary time.

Carole says she and John are determined “to find out who it is, as everybody is”.

She says they’ve had an awesome night time however they, too, will not be daring to make use of their cell phones even to test the time.

“I won’t even get my phone out of my bag,” Carole confesses.

Rob Hardie, co-director of the Barking Dog, says the dishonest workforce was typically getting the solutions “pretty much 100% correct, which no one really does so it was a tell-tale sign that something was amiss”.

He says managers obtained an nameless tip-off from a buyer stating that the identical workforce saved profitable with near-perfect scores, prompting an investigation.

So how have been the cheaters lastly rumbled by the pub employees?

Bobby Bruen, assistant supervisor and quizmaster, says he devised some questions for a music spherical to make it extremely unlikely anybody would get all of them right.

He says the workforce was then rumbled by Mr Hardie when he went outdoors and noticed the gamers by a window taking a look at solutions on their smartwatches, utilizing the Shazam app to establish the songs.

Mr Hardie let his mom, Lynda, and sister, Lydia, have the desk the place the dishonest workforce used to take a seat.

Lydia says the exposé has been “hilarious” though her mom feels it’s a “shame people will resort to that in a local pub quiz”.

“It spoiled it for everyone, all the regulars stopped coming.”

Mr Bruen says he has been interviewed by radio stations as far-off as New Zealand and Canada on the “massive whodunnit”.

As the night time attracts to an in depth right here on the pub, the losers of the newest quiz – a workforce known as Short, Bark and Sides – get a pack of Jammie Dodgers biscuits.

The winners of the £30 bar tab have a becoming title – Agatha Quiztie.