How to Run a Trivia Night at Your Pub or Club

To run a trivia night at your pub or club you need four things: a screen, a laptop, a host from your own team, and a quiz. Pick your quietest weeknight, play five rounds of ten questions over about two hours, take a break in the middle, and finish with a Bonus Game before you announce the winners. This guide covers each step, from setup to scoring.

Why Trivia Nights Work for Pubs and Clubs

Trivia solves the two hardest problems a venue has on a weeknight: getting people through the door, and keeping them there.

Teams arrive early to get a good table. They stay for the whole night, about two hours, because nobody leaves halfway through a competition. Across that time the average guest orders 3.5 drinks. And because trivia is a team game, people come in groups of two to eight, not one at a time.

Trivia also builds a habit. Once a team has a name and a rival, the same night every week goes in their calendar. That predictability is worth a lot to a pub, an RSL or a bowlo. For more on the numbers, read how trivia lifts weeknight revenue.

How to Set Up a Trivia Night

Pick the night and start time

Choose the night you most want to fill, usually a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Then pick a start time and keep it. Same night, same time, every week is how a crowd forms. A 7 or 7:30 pm start suits most after-work crowds.

Check the footy fixture before you lock it in. During footy season, a night that clashes with a big AFL or NRL game on the TVs will split your room.

Get the equipment together

You almost certainly own most of this already:

• A screen. A 40-inch TV is plenty for most rooms. Larger venues and club function rooms use a projector or a couple of screens so every team can read the questions.
• A laptop to run the PowerPoint, connected to the screen and to your sound system.
• A microphone. Highly recommended in a large or loud room, but not mandatory.
• A printer for the Host Q & A Sheet and the Answer Booklets.
• Pens, and plenty of them.
• The quiz itself. This is where most owners get stuck. Writing fair, fun, well-balanced questions every week is a real job, and it is the part On-Tap Trivia does for you.

Print before the night

Print the Host Q & A Sheet for your host, and one Answer Booklet for each team you expect, plus a few spares. Set up a scoresheet, on paper or in a spreadsheet, with a row for each team and a column for each round.

Set up the screen

Plug the laptop into the TV or projector, open the PowerPoint and start the slideshow. Check the sound, and check that the slides are readable from the back of the room. Do this before the first team walks in, not at start time.

Want to see a real pack first? Get two trivia nights free, with no credit card. Run one at your venue this week.

The Trivia Night Format

The format that works in almost any pub or club is simple:

• Five rounds of ten questions. That is 50 questions across the night. On-Tap Trivia packs use this format, with Bonus Baffler clues at the end of each round.
• A mix of categories. General knowledge, geography, history, sport, music, movies and more, so every person at the table can contribute. Need inspiration? See our trivia night ideas and themes, or try some sample pub trivia questions with answers.
• A picture round or music round now and then to change the pace.
• A break in the middle. Teams stretch their legs and head to the bar.
• A Bonus Game at the end. Something light that everyone can play while the final scores are added up.
• Pen and paper. Each team writes its answers in an Answer Booklet. No phones, no apps.

A Two-Hour Run Sheet

The pack does not set timings, so treat this as a starting point and adjust it to your room. It assumes a 7 pm start.

• 6:30 pm. Doors. Teams arrive and grab tables. Hand out an Answer Booklet and pens to each team and ask for their team name.
• 7:00 pm. Welcome and rules. Five minutes at most. Explain the rounds, the rules, the prizes and when the break is.
• 7:05 pm. Round 1. The host reads each question while it is on the screen, then moves on.
• 7:20 pm. Round 2.
• 7:35 pm. Round 3. Keep the pace up.
• 7:50 pm. Break and scores so far. Mark the first three rounds, read out the standings, then give teams 15 minutes. Have enough bar staff on for it, because everyone orders at once.
• 8:05 pm. Round 4.
• 8:20 pm. Round 5.
• 8:35 pm. Bonus Game. Everyone plays while the last round is marked and the totals are checked.
• 8:50 pm. Results and prizes. Read the scores from last place up, crown the winners, and tell everyone the date of next week's quiz.

That is about two hours from welcome to winners, and teams order drinks and food all the way through.

What Happens at a Pub Trivia Night

At a pub trivia night, teams of two to eight sit at tables, a host reads questions that are also shown on a TV, and each team writes its answers in an Answer Booklet. Here is how it looks from a player's seat:

1. Teams arrive, choose a team name and get an Answer Booklet and pens.
2. The host welcomes everyone and explains the rules.
3. The host reads each question while it is on the screen. Teams talk it over quietly and write down their best answer.
4. Answers are marked through the night and points are added up.
5. Halfway through there is a break, and the host reads out the scores so far.
6. After the last round there is a Bonus Game that everyone can join in.
7. The host announces the final scores, hands out prizes and reminds everyone about next week.

Most of the night is talk, laughter and arguing over answers, which is exactly why people come back.

How to Score a Trivia Night

• One point per correct answer. Five rounds of ten gives a maximum of 50.
• Mark as you go. Have a staff member mark answers during the night, at the break and during the Bonus Game, so there is no long wait at the end.
• Keep a running total. Update the scoresheet after every round and read the standings at the break. It keeps trailing teams interested.
• Decide on half points and spelling now. Will you accept a surname without a first name, or a close misspelling? Decide before the night and apply it the same way to every team.
• Have a tiebreaker ready. A single number question works well: closest answer wins.

Trivia Night Rules

Keep the rules short and read them out at the start of every night:

1. No phones. Any team caught looking up an answer loses its points for that round.
2. Teams of up to eight. Bigger groups split into two teams.
3. No shouting out answers. Whisper. The team next to you is listening.
4. Write it in the booklet. Only answers written in the Answer Booklet count.
5. The host's decision is final. If an answer is disputed, the host decides and the night moves on.
6. Late teams are welcome. They can join at any round, but get no points for rounds they missed.

Hosting Tips

You do not need a professional quizmaster. Someone from your bar staff, a duty manager, the owner or an outgoing regular can run a great room. With On-Tap Trivia they work from the Host Q & A Sheet, which has every question and answer, extra detail to share, helpful hints and the Bonus Game.

• Read the Host Q & A Sheet before the night, so nothing catches you out.
• Read each question twice, clearly.
• Learn the team names and use them. People come back for the host as much as the questions.
• Keep the energy up and keep it moving. A friendly host who never lets the room go flat beats a comedian.

How to Market Your Trivia Night

A great quiz with nobody in the room is a missed opportunity. Promote it like this:

• In-venue: put up posters before launch and place table talkers on every table. People already in your pub or club are your easiest sell. Every On-Tap Trivia pack includes a poster you can add your venue name, night and start time to.
• Social media: build interest about three weeks before your first quiz. Create a recurring event on Facebook and post about your trivia night on the same day every week. Share photos of winning teams (with permission).
• Your regulars and members: tell them directly. Clubs can use the member newsletter. Regulars are the ones most likely to form a team and recruit friends.
• Local listings: add your night to trivia directories and local event listings, such as Quiz Finder, so new teams can find you.

Consistency beats reach. A modest weekly post on the same day outperforms one big push followed by silence.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• Questions that are too hard. If teams score badly every week, they stop coming. Aim for a mix where the average team gets a satisfying number right.
• Inconsistent scheduling. Moving the night around kills the habit. Pick a night and protect it.
• No host energy. A flat delivery dampens the room. A simple, friendly host who keeps things moving is enough.
• Forgetting prizes. A bar tab, a round of drinks or a meal voucher keeps spend in-house and gives teams something to play for.
• Running out of fresh content. Reusing old questions is the fastest way to lose regulars. A weekly pack solves this for good.

How to Build a Regular Crowd

• Keep the night, time and format the same so it becomes a habit.
• Welcome returning teams by name each week.
• Offer a small loyalty prize, such as a prize for the highest total score over a month.
• Keep the content fresh and fair so every team feels it has a real shot.

Within a few weeks of consistent nights you will start to see the same faces, and those faces will bring others. Some venues draw a crowd from the first night, others build over a few months. Run it anyway, even when only two or three teams turn up early on.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to run a trivia night?

Very little if you host it yourself. If you already have a screen and a laptop, your main ongoing cost is the quiz and the prizes. Weekly trivia packs from On-Tap Trivia are A$49 a week, or A$69 for a single pack, with no GST added. A hosted trivia company charges per night for its quizmaster, and most do not publish their rates. See how the options stack up in our guide to pub trivia companies.

Do I need a professional host?

No. With a Host Q & A Sheet that includes every question and answer, extra detail and helpful hints, anyone on your team can run the night confidently.

What night should I run trivia?

Pick your quietest weeknight, often a Tuesday or Wednesday, so trivia fills seats you would otherwise lose.

How long does a trivia night take?

About two hours, including a break, which keeps teams in the venue ordering throughout.

What happens at a pub trivia night?

Teams of two to eight play five rounds of questions read by a host and shown on a screen, write their answers in an Answer Booklet, and compete for prizes. There is a break halfway, a Bonus Game at the end, and then the winners are announced.

How quickly will I build a crowd?

Many venues see a steady crowd within a few weeks of running a consistent weekly night with fresh, fair content. Sometimes it takes longer, and the more you promote it, the better your chances of a big turnout.

Ready to run your first night? Get two complete trivia nights free, or read more about trivia for pubs and clubs.