Pub quiz

It is up to the quizzers to form teams, which are generally based on tables, though if one table has a large group around it they may decide to split up. Some pubs insist on a maximum team size (usually between six and ten). The team members decide on a team name, often a supposedly humorous phrase or pun, which must be written on all papers handed in.

There is often a small buy-in for the quiz that contributes to the winning pot at the end of the night. Many pub quizzes require no payment at all, as the event is simply a way to get paying customers into the venue, typically on less busy nights of the week.

The person asking the questions is known as the quizmaster or quiz host. Quiz hosts often also mark and score answers submitted by teams, although sometimes teams will mark each other's answer sheets.

The questions can be set by the bar staff or landlord, by a third-party who may also supply the host, or by volunteers from amongst the contestants. In the latter case, the quiz setter may be remunerated with drinks or a small amount of money.

Often questions may be drawn from the realm of 'everybody knows' trivia, sometimes leading to controversies when the answers are false or unverifiable. Generally, specialist companies will have proof read and verified answers prior to supply, avoiding such issues. In addition, as the quizzes are not formal affairs, slight errors in wording may lead to confusion and have led to a 2005 court case[5] in the UK.

There are typically between 1-6 rounds of questions, ranging from 10 to upwards of 80 questions. Rounds may include the following themes (in order of popularity):

• Factual rounds – these are usually spoken, either over a public address system or just called out. Common topics include:
  • General knowledge – covering topics such as history, geography and science and nature. There may well be more than one of these rounds.
  • Sport – comprising the statistics and minutiae of both well-known and obscure sports.
  • Entertainment – general pop culture, including movies, TV shows and music (see also below).
  • True or False – questions to which the answer is True or False.
• Picture round – these use printed hand-outs or televised images consisting of pictures to be identified. These rounds may use photos of famous people (possibly snapped out of context or else partially obscured), logos of companies (without tell-tale lettering), famous places or objects captured from a strange angle. Usually these rounds are completed across the duration of the quiz with a hive of activity at the start, to keep guests entertained during breaks between rounds; and are marked halfway through.
• Who Am I? – A series of clues to the identity of a famous person (or thing). Clues are given in order of descending difficulty. The earlier a team can identify the correct answer, the more points they are awarded.
• Music round – these consist of excerpts (often only the intro or other non-vocal segment) of songs played over the PA system. Usually the teams must identify the song, artist, and/or the year the song was released. Variations include the use of film and TV soundtracks, or classical music rounds (requiring the composer, title, and/or style). This round may be dependent on proper licensing from performers rights organizations.
• Audio round – similar to music rounds, but sound clips are played from movies, television shows, YouTube videos, etc.
• Year rounds — these rounds list important, historic events and offer points for correctly identifying the year in which they took place.
• Puzzle rounds – generally on a hand-out sheet. These may consist of crossword puzzles, anagrams, Ditloids, Dingbats and basic mathematics problems.
• Novelty rounds – themed round a specific word or name (e.g. all the questions relate to a famous Norman); 'connections', where the last answer in the round provides a link to all the previous answers; true or false; and various others to break up the general stream of questions.

Beyond these standard rounds, themes and variety are only limited by the quizmaster’s creativity. Rounds can involve any number of bizarre and random topics, varying in difficulty and subject matter.

In some quizzes teams are able to select one or two rounds as "jokers", in which their points will be doubled (or otherwise multiplied). Teams usually select their joker rounds before the start of the quiz, although some rounds may be excluded. Teams who consider themselves to be particularly strong on certain subjects can improve their chances with a good joker round, but risk wasting the joker if the questions are unexpectedly difficult. The idea of using a joker in a game may come from the BBC television programme It's a Knockout.

Some quizzes include a bonus question, in which a single answer is required with one or more clues given each round making the answer progressively easier to solve. In some variants, the first team to hand in the correct answer wins either a spot prize or additional points to their total score. In others, the questions continue until all teams have the correct answer with each team been given progressively fewer additional points the longer it takes them to submit the correct answer.

Some quizzes add a small, separate round of questions to the end of a regular quiz, with the chance to win a jackpot. Each week an amount of money is added to the jackpot, and if no team answers the questions correctly, the money rolls over to the next quiz. The maximum amount of the jackpot may be limited by local gaming regulations.

Cash jackpots may be won by a variety of methods including one-off questions and dance-offs.

In many cases, the papers are marked by the quiz host. An alternative method is to have teams swap papers before marking, though this is typically employed for larger numbers of teams. Generally, teams will not mark their own answers to avoid accusations of cheating.

Typically, each correct answer awards one point, though some questions may offer multiple points for their respective answers. Certain quizzes allow half marks for "nearly right" answers (such as a celebrity's surname when their full name was required), or there may be additional points for particularly difficult questions.

With the mass use of mobile phones and mobile internet access, cheating has become a problem for some pub quizzes — covert calls and texts made in the toilets, recent newspapers and magazines brought along especially for the event, ringers and so on. Some quizzes now ban the use of mobiles and nullify the score of any team found to be cheating. While this issue is more prevalent where large sums of money are concerned, cheating can still be observed for relatively low stakes. Another form of cheating is seen in large groups posing as multiple teams. Most quizzes set a limit on team members to prevent large numbers of people collaborating but this problem is difficult to regulate. Some quizzes also now ban re-entry to the pub after the quiz has started, in order to prevent team members from using public internet stations, public telephones and mobile devices out of sight of the quizmaster.

Prizes are awarded to the highest scoring team, and often to runners-up. Prizes are usually one of the following:

• Alcoholic drinks: a case of beer or some money on a bar tab to spend at that pub are common.
• Cash: if there is an entry fee for the quiz, this is often pooled to form prize money. This may all go to the winning team or contribute toward the ‘jackpot’ (see above).
• Vouchers: such as cinema discount-coupons, food discounts, or drink vouchers for use at the bar holding the quiz.
• Promotional items from a brewery: merchandise such as t-shirts or beer glasses advertising the establishment.
• Miscellaneous or novelty prizes: possibilities include chocolate or cheap toys. The winning team may get first choice to pick a prize from a range on offer.

Occasionally after the main rounds a low-stakes raffle is brought around, for which players pay a small additional fee, to fill time whilst scores are totted up.

In Philadelphia many bars specifically those owned Irish-American will have "Quizzo" nights.[15]

Trivia nights are sometimes used as fundraisers for nonprofit organizations, and these are very common in the Greater St. Louis area.[16]