How to Win at Trivia Nights
Ranked #2,560 in Sports & Recreation, #69,529 overall | Donates to Squidoo Charity Fund
Tips and Tricks to Take Home the Prize at Your Next Trivia Night Challenge.
It all started out, innocently enough, as a way for organizations to raise funds to send kids to camp, raise money to buy athletic or playground equipment or make a contribution to a charitable fund of some kind. Trivia Challenges, however, while still for a good cause, have evolved into a massive hobby and social exercise that tens of thousands of teams of fanatic people participate in every Saturday night.
I wait by the phone for the call to determine if my wife and I have made the cut for the competition that week. We have a local group of friends that consists of about eight couples and a captain that determines the team for each event. The decision is based on a complex formula that takes into consideration the subject matter of the questions, each participant's educational background and field of expertise, and whether or not they have a baby-sitter available.
If we are accepted, the evening is usually a lot of fun as long as we follow the list of trivia etiquette, correctly answer our quota of questions, and respectfully honor the house rules set forth by the team Secretary. The team, more often than not, finishes in the top two or three and takes home the top prize several times a year.
This lens is a primer for how you too can assemble your team and become trivia night pros.
I wait by the phone for the call to determine if my wife and I have made the cut for the competition that week. We have a local group of friends that consists of about eight couples and a captain that determines the team for each event. The decision is based on a complex formula that takes into consideration the subject matter of the questions, each participant's educational background and field of expertise, and whether or not they have a baby-sitter available.
If we are accepted, the evening is usually a lot of fun as long as we follow the list of trivia etiquette, correctly answer our quota of questions, and respectfully honor the house rules set forth by the team Secretary. The team, more often than not, finishes in the top two or three and takes home the top prize several times a year.
This lens is a primer for how you too can assemble your team and become trivia night pros.
How to Win at Trivia
Tips and Tricks to take home top prize
- Decide before you go if you are even trying to win- There is nothing wrong with just going to the event and having fun but if you really want to win you must pay attention and keep socializing to a minimum.
- What are your demographics- Most teams consist of 8-12 people. It is important to get as much variety out of these people as possible. Teams with a wide range of ages, backgrounds and interests with their members are going to have a better chance of knowing the answers.
- Cheat Sheet- I would not at all suggest that you should cheat by bringing any materials that could help in answering the questions, but there is nothing wrong with memorizing common helpful list so they may be rattled off and written down in case they are needed. Lists like presidential terms and State capitals often come in handy.
- Know when to give up- there are some challenges that were just not meant to be won because, either you caught a rough break with a bad category or really tough questions, or one or more teams are just too good or take it too seriously. If this happens, abandon trying so hard to win and try, instead, to have a good time.
- Practice makes perfect- 90% of the questions in a trivia challenge either most everyone gets wrong or most everyone gets right. The other 10% you think, "I know that! It's on the tip of my tongue!" Those are the ones that make the difference between winning and losing. Fill your head with as much useless knowledge about everything and anything whenever you can.
- Use Mulligans early and often- Mulligans are usually available for a nominal fee. Buy as many as you can and use as many as you can, as early as you can. It is much better to gain as much of a lead as possible rather than trying to catch up down the stretch. In addition, many times the questions get easier as the night goes on.
- Snacks- Oh snacks are a sore spot with me. Honestly, I don't care what you bring! I will probably eat anything that is laid out in front of me unless I don't like it and then I'm not going to complain, but this is the most important subject to some participants. If I had to give an opinion I guess I would say: go quantity before quality-- a couple of bags of chips and some dip will go much farther than a fancy pate or something. And once everyone is into the game and food is spread out all over the table, nobody really remembers what they ate.
- Just Do It- Even if you study every obscure fact that you can find and follow every tip on this lens, you are still going to learn a lot more (and have a lot more fun) by just getting out and participating in as many local trivia night events that you can... and remember to have fun!
Trivia Books on Amazon
Trivia on YouTube
Trivia Games on Amazon
Vote for your favorite trivia game!
Caddyshack Trivia
The Funniest golf movie ever made commemorated in more...2 points
Bible Trivia Board Game
Identify people, places and events found in the sacred more...1 point
Mental Floss Trivia Game
The Mental Floss Trivia Game picks up where every more...0 points
Smarty Pants: Trivia for Everyone
How smart are you? Do you know more than your Gran more...0 points
Travel Trivia Challenge Game
Travel the globe without leaving the house and tes more...0 points
Trivial Pursuit 25th Anniversary Ed
Introducing the most inclusive Trivial Pursuit eve more...0 points
Trivial Pursuit Greatest Hits
Includes questions from three of the best-selling more...0 points
The Ultimate TV Trivia Game
Can you tell the time by what TV show is on? Are y more...0 points
Tis The Season, Christmas Trivia Game
Holiday fun for everyone! With our Christmas Trivi more...0 points
Trivia Blog Search
- Trivia Time: On What Road Was a Veterans Banner Hung?
- By Zandy Dudiak The Honor Roll is located near the corner of Horning and Curry Roads across the street from Bloom Engineering. Submitted We honor our veterans on Memorial Day and throughout the years. The first picture is an Honor Roll taken in 1945, ...
- Reel Time trivia winner hails from Seattle
- This will be an ongoing weekly trivia contest where the winner who answers the question first will receive an outdoor prize that will range from books, Berkley bait, lures and other nifty items from the outdoors gunnysack. The next trivia question will ...
- RYU.com TRIVIA: The Answer Isn't John Lackey…
- We're back with another trivia question for you! Last time we asked who had the most losses in a season in franchise history, this time we'll ask the opposite: Which pitcher holds the franchise record for most wins in a season?
- Trivia - Island-hopping for fun and profit
- Today's trivia puzzle takes us to a warm, perhaps idyllic, paradise in the Northern Atlantic (is there such a thing?) You think you have a disaster recovery plan? Think again. Most businesses only have PART of a DR plan - and this spells business ...
Trivia Poll
Loading poll. Please Wait...
More Trivia-like Stuff from Skeeeeeetz
Trivia Stuff on eBay
Trivia Link List
- Useful Trivia
- An archive of miscellaneous pedantry and other useful stuff.
- Trivial Trivia Collections of Unusual Facts
- Trivial Trivia is a collection of interesting but useless trivial facts, unconventional wisdom, unusual information and extraordinary bits of knowledge.
- Presidential Trivia - Infoplease.com
- Presidential Trivia. Who was the only bachelor to lead the nation? Presidential Flare. Presidents Who Were Related to Each Other ...
- Sports Trivia - CBSSports.com
- Sports message boards, forums, blogs and groups at CBSSports.com Community. Here's your opportunity to be heard.
- Music Trivia Quiz
- Test your knowledge of music by listen to pieces of songs and try to name the artists!, music, trivia, quiz, photo, rock, pop, song, tune, singer.
- Trivia Games 80s
- Play the best and biggest collection of online trivia games from the '80s!
- Television Trivia
- Television trivia quizzes on all your favourite tv shows.
- Elvis trivia - Elvis Presley trivia - Trivia about Elvis
- In order to play the Elvis Presley Trivia game you must have Flash 4 installed on your computer. If you see the animation at right AND you can hear Elvis ...
Brush Up on Your Geography with Google Maps
A fun way to study a boring subject...
by Skeeeeeetz
I am a graphic designer looking for new outlets for creative inspiration. It all started with T-shirt design and will end somewhere else...
- 26 featured lenses
- Winner of 10 trophies!
- Top lens » Stroke and Chiropractors
Feeling creative?
Create a Lens!
