How to run a pub quiz night (that fills tables)
A good quiz night turns your quietest evening into your busiest. This is the practical, no-nonsense guide to starting and running a pub quiz at your venue — the night, the format, the questions, scoring, prizes and how to pull a crowd. Nick what's useful.
STEP 1
Pick your night
Tuesday or Wednesday are the classic quiz nights — and that's the point. They're the slowest weeknights for most pubs, so a quiz fills a gap rather than competing with a busy Friday. Pick one night, keep it the same every week, and let your regulars build it into their routine.
STEP 2
Decide the format
The tried-and-tested shape: six to eight rounds of eight to ten questions, running about two hours with a break in the middle. Mix easy questions in with hard ones so every team scores something and nobody feels daft. A good spread of categories — general knowledge, music, sport, telly and film, history, geography — keeps the whole table involved.
- Open with an easy round to warm the room up.
- Put a picture or music round in the middle to break things up.
- Keep a running leaderboard so there's something to chase.
STEP 3
Get your questions (the hard bit)
This is where quiz nights live or die — and where they eat your week. You need questions that are fair, fresh and actually correct, a sensible difficulty curve, and something new every single week so regulars don't see repeats. Writing them yourself means a few hours of research and fact-checking every week; getting them wrong on the night is worse than not running one at all.
Or skip the writing entirely
Quiztache gives you a fresh, hand-written and fact-checked quiz every week — you just open it on your phone and run it live. No Sunday-night prep, no dodgy answers, no repeats.
Start your free trial →STEP 4
Sort teams and scoring
Teams of four to six works best — big enough to cover the categories, small enough to feel involved. Traditionally teams write answers on a sheet, hand it in at the end of each round, and you mark it while the next round plays. It's fiddly and eats your evening. The modern way is paperless: teams answer on their phones and scoring is instant, so you're never stuck marking sheets at the bar.
STEP 5
Set a prize worth turning up for
A bar tab is the classic — it costs you little and comes straight back over the bar. £20–£40 for the winning team is plenty. A silly booby prize for last place keeps the room laughing, and a rollover jackpot gives teams a reason to come back next week.
STEP 6
Promote it properly
- Put it on your socials every week — same day, same time, a reminder on the morning of.
- A chalkboard by the door and a poster by the bar catch passing trade.
- Tell your regulars in person — word of mouth fills more tables than anything.
- Post the winning team each week; people love seeing their name up.
STEP 7
Host it well on the night
- Speak clearly and read each question twice — give teams time to think and scribble.
- Keep the pace up between questions so it never drags.
- Announce the scores at the halfway point to build a bit of drama.
- Have a laugh with the room — the host sets the mood.
The easy way to run all of this
Quiztache handles the hard parts — a fresh quiz written and fact-checked every week, live scoring, a leaderboard on every phone — and you run the whole thing from your phone. The screen even tells you what to tap next, so anyone can host.
Start free trial →Pub quiz FAQ
What night is best for a pub quiz?
Tuesday and Wednesday are the most popular, because they're the quietest weeknights — a quiz fills them without competing with your busy weekend trade. Whatever you pick, keep it consistent every week.
How many rounds and questions should a pub quiz have?
Six to eight rounds of eight to ten questions each is the sweet spot — around two hours with a break. Mix easy and hard so every team scores something.
Where do I get pub quiz questions?
You can write them yourself (a few hours of research and fact-checking a week), buy one-off quiz packs, or use a service like Quiztache that delivers a fresh, fact-checked quiz every week you run live on phones.
Do I need a TV or any equipment?
No. With a phone-based quiz, everything — questions, timer and leaderboard — runs on your customers' own phones. A big screen is a nice extra, not a requirement.
How do I keep score without spending the night marking?
Go paperless. When teams answer on their phones, scoring is instant and the leaderboard updates itself — no sheets to collect and mark between rounds.