Playin with Fire

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Rating

1479

peak 1479 · rated over 4 contests ⓘ

Contests

in the data

First seen

2013-10-25

latest 2022-04-29

Best ToY finish

#1207

Master 2022

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

2 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 6 contests

Avg finish

top 79%

overall standings

Best overall

658.1372 / 720

Master · Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival

Perfect 180s

Current form

616.10

last 5 Master vs avg 616.10 (+0.00)

Walk rate

17%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

174.8800

Pork Ribs · I Grill Because I CARE (Competitor's Series)

Consistency

±30.10

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 158.83 · weakest Pork Ribs (153.68)

Road miles

1,289

mi across 6 mapped stops · furthest 710 mi

Schedule strength

28%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1538)

Purse competed for

$3K

listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

GCs in 4 state-championship entries

Master avg

616.10 / 720

5 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (2 found in this team's record)

Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.

The weak link

−5.2 points behind their best meat

Pork Ribs is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 5.15 points below their pork, and turns into a call 17% of the time against 0%.

Pork Ribs avg 153.68
Pork avg 158.83
1 calls in 6 entries

The comeback

3.3 yrs off the trail, then back

Off the trail for 3.3 years, then back at Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival (2019-10-18).

last seen 2016-06-24
back 2019-10-18

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.

Playin with Fire has 4 rated contests — short of the five it takes to earn a power ranking — so this rating has barely moved off the 1500 every team starts on and 145 rated teams sit within a point of it. Read the list as the nearest company at a number nobody here has moved far from, not as a verdict on who this team belongs with.

Parrothead BBQ

#4167 of the rated field

1479 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1479

0–2 in 2 shared contests (0% to Playin with Fire)

2 contests in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Playin with Fire has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2024-06-21

⚔ Head-to-head

None-the-Weiser

#4170 of the rated field

1479 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 8
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1501

0–2 in 2 shared contests (0% to Playin with Fire)

Careers of much the same size, 8 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 8 contests
last seen 2022-06-24

⚔ Head-to-head

Smokin' Blind

#4175 of the rated field

1479 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 15
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1479

0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Playin with Fire)

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 15 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 15 contests
last seen 2026-06-26

⚔ Head-to-head

Silva Back BBQ

#4166 of the rated field

1479 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1479

No shared contest yet.

They turned up 12 years after Playin with Fire did, first appearing in 2025.

rated over 5 contests
last seen 2026-07-18

⚔ Head-to-head

Bowling Bro's BBQ

#4205 of the rated field

1479 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1511

No shared contest yet.

Level with Playin with Fire on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 5 contests
last seen 2026-05-23

⚔ Head-to-head

Bad Ash BBQ

#4169 of the rated field

1479 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 5
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 20%
Peak: 1479

No shared contest yet.

Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 5 contests
last seen 2022-06-24

⚔ Head-to-head

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	6	1	1	173.2344	141.7028	155.52	top 73%
Pork Ribs	6	1	1	174.8800	134.2172	153.68	top 71%
Pork	5	0	0	170.8800	134.2056	158.83	top 55%
Brisket	5	0	0	162.8228	151.3828	155.86	top 68%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By state / province

Where	Contests	Avg finish
OH	2	top 68%
KS	2	top 79%
TN	1	top 99%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	2	0	top 68%
Large (40+)	3	0	top 86%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	GCs	Avg finish	Last visit
Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship	2	137	0	top 79%	2016-06-24

The story so far (17 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 8.5 yrs 2013-10-25 → 2022-04-29

Busiest season 2013 2 contests

Contests a season 1.2 across 5 seasons in the data

Cooks most in OH 2 of 6 contests · 4 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 4 1 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 6 entries · 0 wins · 1 calls

Strongest meat Pork averages 158.83 · weakest Pork Ribs (153.68)

Walk rate 17% a top-10 call in 1 of 6 contests

Overall top-10 rate 0% 0 of 6 contests

Master average 616.10 out of 720 · 5 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 359 94–417 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 1,289 6 mapped stops · furthest 710 mi

Schedule strength 1538 average field rating faced — tougher than 28% of rated contests

Purse competed for $3,000 listed at 1 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships 0 from 4 state-championship entries

Longest layoff 3.3 yrs 2016-06-24 → 2019-10-18

Power rating 1479 peak 1479 · #null of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2013
Aug 17 First tracked contest I Grill Because I CARE (Competitor's Series)
Aug 17 First call I Grill Because I CARE (Competitor's Series)
Aug 17 Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)174.8800 I Grill Because I CARE (Competitor's Series)
2015
Jun 26 Peak power rating (1490) Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship
2019
Oct 18 First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.1372 Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival
Oct 18 Career-best overall score658.1372 Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival
2022
Apr 29 Most recent contest Marietta River City BBQ

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-10.3	Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship	2015-06-26
-7.1	Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship	2016-06-24
-3.5	Marietta River City BBQ	2022-04-29
-0.3	Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival	2019-10-18

Category scores over time

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Team of the Year rank by season

Season by season

Season	Contests	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2022	1	0%	top 72%	87.8%	87.8%
2019	1	0%	top 64%	91.4%	91.4%
2016	1	0%	top 75%	85.3%	85.3%
2015	1	0%	top 84%	84.6%	84.6%
2013	2	50%	top 99%	78.7%	78.7%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2022-04-29	Marietta River City BBQ 🏅 Marietta, OH	18 / 25 (632.4116)	25 (151.3828)	16 (163.9544)	14 (163.9772)	20 (153.0972)
2019-10-18	Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival 🏅 Nelsonville, OH	18 / 28 (658.1372)	19 (165.6800)	18 (165.0972)	19 (164.5372)	20 (162.8228)
2016-06-24	Great Lenexa BBQ Battle-Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS	137 / 183 (614.1252)	123 (154.2628)	167 (143.3828)	90 (160.5484)	106 (155.9312)
2015-06-26	Great Lenexa BBQ Battle - Kansas State Championship 🏅 Lenexa, KS	153 / 183 (609.1656)	172 (141.7028)	178 (140.5372)	12 (170.8800)	97 (156.0456)
2013-10-25	Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (JUDGES BY INVITATION ONLY) unrated Lynchburg, TN	96 / 97 (566.6400)	93 (146.8344)	96 (134.2172)	94 (134.2056)	77 (151.3828)
2013-08-17	I Grill Because I CARE (Competitor's Series) New Hope, AL	—	3 (173.2344)	2 (174.8800)	—	—

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2022 ↗	Master	#1207 (85 pts)	#1699 (50 pts)	#1270 (95 pts)	#1170 (105 pts)	#1263 (75 pts)
2019 ↗	Master	#1772 (88 pts)	#1907 (83 pts)	#1861 (88 pts)	#1888 (83 pts)	#1884 (78 pts)