How to Run a Pub Quiz Your Locals Will Talk About
A complete guide to running a successful pub quiz - format, rounds, marketing, prizes and the software to handle scoring for you.
A successful pub quiz is part product, part performance
The British pub quiz has a 50-year tradition of bringing locals back midweek. Done well it fills tables, drives food and drink sales, and turns occasional drinkers into Tuesday-night regulars. Done poorly it is just an awkward host shouting questions at a half-empty room.
This guide covers everything you need to plan, host and grow a weekly pub quiz - from picking a format and writing rounds to setting prizes and using free software to handle the scoring. Whether you are running your first quiz night or trying to revive an existing one, follow these seven steps and you have a proven blueprint.
Estimated time to plan your first night: 1-2 hours. Recurring weekly time after the first night: under 30 minutes per week when you use software like Quizado for scoring.
Step-by-step
Paso 1: Choose your format
The classic British pub quiz has six to eight rounds of ten questions each, run by a single host with paper answer sheets. That format still works, but modern pub quizzes are faster, more interactive and use phones instead of paper.
Pick the format that matches your room. Small pubs work best with six rounds and an hour run-time. Larger pubs and beer halls can support eight rounds and 90 minutes. A growing number of venues run two short 30-minute halves with a food break in the middle.
- Classic format: 6-8 rounds, 10 questions per round, one host, paper sheets
- Modern format: 4-6 rounds with mixed formats (buzzer, picture, music), phones as buzzers
- Hybrid: classic rounds + one or two novelty rounds (Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune)
- Length: 60-90 minutes is the sweet spot - long enough to fill a night, short enough that teams stay engaged
Paso 2: Write or generate your rounds
A great pub quiz balances accessible questions that get tables shouting answers with one or two hard questions that separate the winners. Mix categories - general knowledge, music, sport, geography, history, pop culture, picture rounds.
Writing 60+ questions a week by hand is exhausting. Most venues now use AI generation or pre-made packs. Quizado generates a complete round in seconds when you type a topic - "1990s pop music", "World Cup winners", "British sitcoms" - and you can edit anything before going live.
- Aim for 60-70% accessible questions and 30-40% harder questions
- Mix 6-8 categories so every team has at least one strong round
- Add a picture round - images of celebrities, landmarks or logos
- Include a music round - 10-second clips and "guess the song"
- Save your rounds so you can reuse them at another venue or next season
Paso 3: Set up your equipment
A modern pub quiz needs surprisingly little. The era of microphones, paper answer sheets and a clipboard is largely over. Most successful pub quizzes now use a single laptop or tablet plus the pub TV.
With Quizado you connect your laptop or tablet to the venue TV (HDMI or AirPlay), open the game and display the QR code. Players scan it and join from their phones - no app download. The big screen shows questions, scoring and a live leaderboard.
- Pub TV or projector connected to a laptop (HDMI or AirPlay)
- Laptop or tablet for hosting (any modern device works)
- Microphone if your venue is large or noisy
- Players bring their own phones - no extra hardware needed
- Stable wifi - test it on a quiet afternoon before the first night
Paso 4: Pick a host
The host makes or breaks the night. The best pub quiz hosts are warm, fast, and good at moving the night along without dragging. They do not need to be comedians, but they do need to handle two or three rowdy tables without losing the room.
Many venues have their bartender or floor manager host. That works fine for smaller pubs - the software does the heavy lifting and the host just reads questions and announces scores. For bigger nights, consider rotating between a few staff members.
- Internal staff: bartender, floor manager or duty manager
- External host: hire someone for the first few weeks, then bring it in-house
- Rotate hosts to give your team variety and reduce burnout
- Practice with one trial night before opening to the public
Paso 5: Promote the night
A great pub quiz with no audience is just sad. You need at least 6-8 teams for the night to feel like a competition. Most venues hit that within 2-3 weeks of consistent promotion if they pick a regular night and stick to it.
Use a mix of channels - social media, Google Business profile, posters in the pub, and word of mouth. The biggest amplifier is usually a small first-place prize that teams genuinely want.
- Pick a consistent night and time (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday work best)
- Post weekly on Instagram and Facebook with the prize and theme
- Update your Google Business profile with the recurring event
- A4 poster behind the bar at every shift
- Encourage your regulars to book tables for their friend groups
Paso 6: Set the prizes
Prizes do not need to be expensive but they do need to feel worth winning. A bar tab works perfectly for most pubs. Some venues add silly prizes for last place ("the wooden spoon") to keep the room laughing.
Build a recurring "league" if you want regular teams - track points over a season and crown a champion. Quizado tracks this automatically if you sign teams in consistently.
- First place: GBP25-50 bar tab or pub voucher
- Second place: a round of drinks or a free pizza
- Wooden spoon: a small joke prize for last place to keep things light
- Optional: monthly or seasonal league with a bigger end-of-season prize
Paso 7: Track and improve
After the first few nights, look at what is working and what is not. Are people staying for the food? Are the same teams winning every week (a sign the questions are too predictable)? Is the room engaged through the whole night or fading after round 4?
Tweak each week. Move difficulty around. Try novelty rounds. Run a special "Halloween" or "World Cup Final" theme night. Quizado saves all your past games so you can see what worked and reuse the best rounds.
- Track attendance week over week
- Vary difficulty to avoid the same team always winning
- Try one themed night per month
- Survey your top teams after a month for feedback
- Reuse the best rounds at sister venues or seasonal events
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to set up a pub quiz from scratch?
About 1-2 hours of planning for your first night - picking a format, writing or generating rounds, organising equipment and writing the first ad. Once running, ongoing weekly time is under 30 minutes if you use software like Quizado for scoring.
How much does it cost to run a pub quiz?
Software-wise Quizado is free to start. The main costs are the prize budget (GBP25-50 a week for a typical pub) and any external host fee if you hire one. Most pubs see the food and drink sales lift cover the prize budget many times over.
Do I need a microphone?
In a small pub with under 30 people, no. In a larger venue with 50+ people or a noisy room, a basic wireless mic makes a big difference. The pub already probably has one for events or live music.
Should I use paper answer sheets or phone-based scoring?
Phone-based scoring is faster, more accurate and creates a better player experience. Players see questions on their phone and answer instantly. You as host see scores update live on the big screen. Paper answer sheets are a 30-year-old tradition that mostly continues out of habit.
What is the best night to run a pub quiz?
Tuesday and Wednesday are the most common pub-quiz nights and they tend to be the slowest weeknight for most pubs - which is exactly why quiz nights work. Avoid Friday and Saturday unless you have a specific reason; weekend crowds are different.
How do I keep teams from cheating with their phones?
You cannot stop cheating with paper sheets either. The honest answer: most pub-quiz players do not cheat because the prizes are small and the social pressure is real. If it matters for your venue, post house rules at the start of the night and rely on the host to call out obvious phone-checking.
Can I run a pub quiz at a brewery or restaurant?
Yes. The same format works at breweries, gastropubs, restaurants and even sports bars. Quizado is used in all of these. The key thing is that you have seating arranged in tables and a clear sight line to a TV.
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