How to Start a Pub Trivia Team and Pick a Name

Most bar trivia nights cap teams somewhere between four and eight people, and six is a common limit. Some charge per player and some don't cap at all, so ask before you recruit.

• Keep a roster of eight to ten for a six-person cap. On a normal week, five or six of them come.
• Four sharp people often beat eight loud ones. Big teams spend the round arguing.
• If you're over the cap, split into two teams. A friendly rivalry keeps both coming back.

A good team covers the categories that come up every week rather than knowing one of them perfectly.

• Someone who follows sports, and someone who follows music from more than one decade.
• A movie and TV person, ideally one who remembers the actors' names.
• Somebody for history, geography and flags.
• A science or word-nerd type for the rounds nobody else wants.
• One person with legible handwriting, because a stranger grades the answer sheet.

Age range helps more than any one expert. The questions reach back decades, and so should the table.

Joinue lists trivia nights by city, which is a quick way to see what runs on which night near you. Before you commit to one, go once and check:

• How long it runs, and whether it starts on time.
• Whether the host is audible from every table.
• The format: general knowledge, themed nights, picture and music rounds.
• The prize. A bar tab is common, and it's enough.
• How early the good tables go. At a busy night it's half an hour before the start.

The host reads the name out loud, sometimes into a microphone, so pick one you're willing to hear in a crowded bar.

• A pun on a subject you're bad at is a reliable genre.
• A joke about the bar, the neighborhood or the host usually lands with the room.
• Keep it short enough to say in one breath and to fit on the answer sheet.
• Some teams keep one name for years. Others change it weekly to match the news, which is half the fun.

Teams rarely break up over losing. They fade when nobody knows who's coming and two people show up to a table for six.

• Ask who's in a day ahead, not an hour before.
• Keep a short list of subs who are happy to be called last minute.
• Write down where you finished. A season of results gives the team something to beat.
• Celebrate the first win properly. It might be a while until the next one.

Joinue is free, with no paid plan and no ads. A trivia team Space starts private, and the trivia nights Joinue knows about near you are one tap from your schedule. A night that isn't listed can be typed in.

• The day before, teammates who haven't answered get asked whether they're in.
• Set a team-size limit and anyone past it waits on a list.
• Set how many players you need and hear on the day if you're short.
• The morning after, Joinue asks how it went, with the bar and the lineup filled in.
• The log keeps each finish, the name you played under, and your record at each bar.