When the Chips Are Down Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charles Darwin

In this episode John Neville played Newton and Jim Norton portrayed Einstein. Stephen Hawking made a highly anticipated guest appearance as himself. Data explained that he wanted to understand how three of the greatest minds in history might have interacted with each other.

Answer: Worf

Worf claims the game that Troi proposes is a "woman's game" since it allows a "weak" hand to win the game. Admittedly I haven't sat in many poker games where that many cards were wild. As I recall, however, Worf didn't have much luck winning hands of poker, did he? Could this just be some preemptive sour grapes?

Answer: Nog

A subplot of "ST:DSN" episodes often involved Jake and Nog and their adventures on the station. In this episode, for instance, Jake and Nog hear about an unwanted item and use it in a series of ever more bizarre trades. Jake spent far less time with Rom or Quark. I can't even recall if Jake ever shared a scene with the Grand Nagus.

Answer: McCoy

"Love to teach it to you," McCoy says to Spock. In the episode, the Enterprise faces off against a mysterious cube that is piloted by an alien named Balok, played by Clint Howard. Would Spock enjoy poker since bluffing/lying is a key part of the game? Maybe not.

Answer: Hoshi Sato

Hoshi explained that she was running a poker game that involved new recruits and staff members that was broken up by her company commander. She was angry enough that she used her skill in Akido to break the commander's arm. She was dismissed from Starfleet at the time and only later re-admitted because the need for language specialists was so great. Remember this is set in a time when the universal translator is still undeveloped.

Answer: Darts

Darts, says O'Brien, are "like poker, but with pointy tips." In this episode, Worf throws a dart halfway through the dartboard. During his time at Quark's, Worf also meets Jadzia Dax for the first time, which sets off some plot lines for the later part of the show's run.

Answer: A duty-free morning

The game takes place while they are on an away mission on the Delta Flyer. The game is never concluded as they encounter a Borg cube first. Presumably since there are only the four of them, all of them would be needed to deal with the emergency. Tom Paris is rather unhappy, claiming "And I had a Full House."

Answer: They feel like they are playing the same hand over and over.

In "Cause and Effect," the Enterprise is caught in a "temporal causality loop." They are literally living the same day over and over again. As the episode progresses, more and more characters--at the poker table and in other situations--feel a sense of deja vu.

By the last play, the number 3 appears both in the cards dealt and in a variety of other situations to inform Data that Commander Riker (with 3 uniform pips) has the right solution to the problem.

Answer: Fizzbin

This episode is the one where the Enterprise visits a planet that looks like 1920s Chicago and is populated by gangster-types. Kirk purposely describes as complicated a game as possible to distract the guards, allowing he and Spock to escape. Tongo is a Ferengi card game. Dabo is a Ferengi roulette-like game.

The "Dabo Girl" Leeta was a recurring character in "ST:DSN". Kal-Toh is a Vulcan logic game.

Answer: All Good Things (Part Two)

The captain has had a standing invitation for several years to visit the weekly poker game, but it took the events of "All Good Things" (parts 1 and 2) to convince him to accept. Part 2 and "ST:TNG" ends with Picard explaining he played quite a lot of poker when he was younger.

He then lays out the rules for the game they are going to play, concluding with "the sky's the limit" as the shot changes from Riker's cabin to an exterior shot of the Enterprise-D travelling through space.