How to Identify Cheaters at Trivia Night
Cheating and trivia night are thought to go hand in hand, especially in today’s smartphone world. Go to any pub quiz, and you’re bound to find it: people Googling the answers, using music recognition apps like Shazam on ipod rounds, texting friends not in the bar, and likely a host of other ways to beat the system.
Not only is cheating at trivia night unfair to everyone else trying to partake in good, clean fun, but it’s also stealing when the culprits actually take home the prize. No matter where you are or how much is at stake, cheaters will always find a way to worm their way into the pub quiz night, and ruin things for everyone else. Everyone despises cheaters, including quizmasters – especially when it’s a free trivia night. I mean, really- cheating at a free event? Come on!
Having hosted over 300 bar trivia nights in New York City, I’ve seen my fair share of cheaters, and caught many in the act. Although there is no surefire way to stop cheaters at trivia night, here are some tips I’ve discovered to help identify those who simply can’t overcome the urge to whip out their mobile devices, and look up the answers:
Employ Audience Eyes & Ears – When starting the event, the first rule to announce is obviously “no cheating.” Rather than just leave it at that, though, ask people to keep an eye out for cheaters, and to call them out if spotted; some well-timed peer pressure (and possibly humiliation) from the next table may be all that’s needed for a would-be cheater to cut it out.
Manage by Walking Around – While it’s tempting for the trivia host to remain at his/her post for the duration of the event, it’s important to walk around every now and then and just check out the teams up-close. Doing so allows you to catch possible cheaters stealthily looking up the answers under the table, as well as sends the message that the “no cheating” rule is indeed being enforced.
Look for Score Leaps – After the first or second round of trivia, it’s usually pretty clear which handful of teams are going to be breaking away from the pack and competing for the prize. However, when a team which was doing poorly suddenly picks up steam out of nowhere – especially on rounds where “good” teams struggled – alarms should go off. Flag this team, and make a special point to visit their table- chances are, they’re cheating.
Nobody Gets Everything Right – While it’s theoretically possible to get every trivia question right, this never happens in the real world. At my corporate entertainment and trivia team building activities in NYC, where the rounds are ten questions each, I am instantly suspicious of teams who get ten of ten – and doubly so if it happens more than once.
Post Disinformation – This is an extreme move – actually, more like entrapment – designed to flush out cheaters. Before the trivia night, post some “sample questions & answers” on your trivia Website or blog (if you have one), or tweet out a question/answer via your trivia Twitter feed. Here’s the thing, though- include incorrect answers. During your event, casually mention that you’ve posted some questions from the event for people to share tomorrow with friends, coworkers etc., and be sure to read out the planted questions. While scoring sheets, any teams which puts down the planted incorrect answers is obviously a bunch of lame, cheating scoundrels, and should be called out. This move clearly takes some extra effort, and should only be used when your trivia night is suffering from a particularly bad cheating epidemic – but believe me, it works (FYI, Joaquin Phoenix’s birth name was NOT Leif Ericson – and yes, someone once fell for that).
Cheating has been, and always will be, a challenge for those who want to enjoy a clean, good-natured live trivia party, as well as those who host them. However, constant vigilance here by the quizmaster and the participants themselves will help identify the perpetrators, and keep the event as fair as possible.
Do you have any suggestions for identifying cheaters at pub quiz night? If so, please share below! We’d love to hear your ideas!
Cool subject and an interesting ‘Post Disinformation’ idea. Cheating is horrible and should be prevented.
When announcing that cheating is not allowed, you might want to mention the penalty when caught. I think this helps preventing cheating.
I also think it’s easier to prevent cheating when dealing with a regular quiz in the same venue with regular teams. These teams will build up some prestige, making it more vulnerable to be caught cheating.
And what about creating questions that cannot be answered easily by consulting the web? Think of cryptic questions or transformed (but fun) soundclips.
Finally, I was thinking of getting an cell-phone jammer (e.g. block all cell-phone traffic with a 100 yards) but then neighbors might get angry 🙂
Agree completely- it’s hard to come up with questions which are “Google proof” but of course every effort should be made here as well. Also, would love cell phone jammer (especially for the commuter train!)
We put buckets on the table and all phones must go in the bucket if teams are at the table.
When a phone is removed from the bucket, the team cannot answer the question in play.
I’m also considering requiring all players sit in an assigned area rather than giving them run of the bar.
As far as your “seeded questions” idea, I don’t think that is a foolproof detection method. My regulars check my FB page for weekly hints, and they’ll not question any answer I give them for bonus points. If it’s a wrong answer, they will assume I wanted that as the answer to get the Bonus Points.
The bucket idea is pretty intense…!
Re: “seeded questions,” there’s of course no perfect solution here, and it’s only for use when you’ve got a serious cheating problem – however, it DOES work, and is effective at shaming/deterring blatant trivia night cheaters
I caught a team using siri with a Bluetooth in a girls ear covered by her long hair. When I asked a question over the PA system , siri picked it up as their phone was in the range and the answer was giving directly to blue tooth. It made me aware as all other teams would discuss a question except this team. They wrote the answer down without even speaking to one another.
The best way I find if you think someone is cheating is have a person sit very close and keep a watchful eye. It’s very sad people have to cheat for a free drink or a small prize when it’s free to play. They are the real losers.
Roger – that’s one of the most audacious pub quiz cheating moves I’ve ever heard of! Thanks for sharing, and for helping raise awareness of this sneaky trick.
I hate to say it but I think bar trivia has been ruined forever. The last few I’ve been to, it has been obvious that blatant cheating is widespread. Some teams got literally every question correct- and these weren’t even multiple choice type questions or questions a normal person could answer – I’m talking stuff like “Name 10 movies starring Audrey Hepburn.”
It’s a shame.
I agree, the bar trivia scene has definitely changed since when it first sprang up here in the US about 10 years ago…however, I like to think that most people aren’t cheating, and that only a few rotten apples out there continue to do so. It’s also gotten easier to spot cheaters, using the tricks mentioned here!
There’s a guy where we play trivia that gets every question right and has won every trivia game every week for a couple of years. He wins a $50 gift card each week and he accumulates them to pay for his law practice client appreciation party every year to the tune of about $2500. I cannot figure out how he is doing it unless the trivia caller is somehow getting him the questions ahead of time. Is it possible for one guy to know every book, movie, song, science question etc every week without cheating? I sometimes wonder if he has a second cell phone.
Cindy – this sounds quite frustrating! While it’s certainly not unheard of for trivia teams to consistently win, or for people to know a LOT of trivia, what sounds suspicious about the situation you’ve described is A) the guy is playing alone, B) gets every question right, and C) wins the game every week. What’s even more perplexing is that the bar allows this to go on, to the tune of throwing the guy a $2,500 bar tab!
Sounds like something fishy is definitely going on here…
I feel what needs to be done is that if someone is suspected of cheating that the host or hostess doing the thing we’re to give them 0 points or minus . Let’s say some one gets 120 it’s minus 120. Don’t give any leeway. Oh most important of all call the police!!! Stealing is wrong if a team wins a prize they go to jail and pay hefty fine and criminal record!!!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! (though calling the police might be a bit extreme…)
How about setting a Go Directly to Jail area with bars etc. for cheats (clearly visible to everyone) & the punishment is banned from entry to the particular trivia night + they lose all their points.
Norma – an extreme solution, but probably effective…! Hope these tips are helpful!
Ive been hosting for over a year for the second time at my venue/hotel and I’m 99.99% convinced that a friend of mine is cheating on a regular basis. I have shaved of points and given regular warnings before I host to all teams. I am beginning to get really sick of it and feel this person thinks they are getting away with it. We play for 3 financial vouchers. I know one night it’s going to come to ahead and I’ll be forced to permanently ban a “Friend”
Yikes! Doesn’t sound like much a friend at all…!
Our local Movie Tavern has started doing free Trivia nights recently, starting from the first week there’s been a team coming in with 10 people who win every single week with seemingly every question correct. Kind of sad that they feel the need to take it that seriously, I don’t doubt that they’re cheating on top of that huge number of people as well. Every other team averages 2-3 people with the occasional 4th member.
Will – frustrating indeed, not just for the other teams but for the host as well. Perhaps it’s time to instate a per-team maximum, say 6 people, to keep things fair?
Our pub quiz team is called “Put those cell phones down you cheaters”. At least it gets announced a few times per night.
The rules should be:
Team size limit 5 or less. Giant teams break up to distant tables
No bluetooth headsets – girls/guys with long hair, show your pretty ears
Phones in your pocket or face down on the table
Touch your phone during the quiz and your team is disqualified for the round
Leave the room and you can’t come back until the round is over.
Cell phone cheating has nearly ruined most quiz formats.
Thanks DJ for the excellent tips – no one likes cheaters, especially at trivia night!
Simple.
When you come in to register all the participants must hand in their phones.
Honestly why do all pub quizzes not employ this obvious strategy.
Bloody phones have ruined the fun and point of quizzing.
I’ve always liked the idea of having a “defending champions” table right at the front by the host. It would be fairly obvious if teams who score full marks while seated in the back corner bomb each time they are at the front, or simply don’t pitch. This could easily be made to look like an honorary position rather than a ploy to catch cheats.
I like this article.
I take part in a quiz in Suzhou, China – each Tuesday. There’s a big expat community here, and it’s good fun having some food, beer, and chat.
But two of my teammates are incorrigible. They cheat, and they cheat, and they cheat.
I wonder if I should quit partaking, inform the quizmaster, encourage my teammates to play fair, or just turn a blind eye.
We ”won” first prize yesterday.
It sounds like you need new teammates…!
There’s a team at our trivia night that always has around 20 at the tables!
They push tables together and there are long draping tablecloths…
Perfect for cheaters! This team is always in the top 3 and often first place. The host won’t break up the team. We would like to see teams of 10 maximum. Our host won’t do it.
I always hated this. It’s like, come on, guys – clearly every other table here has a smaller team, can’t you see this is unfair??
My team plays at a regular trivia event at a local club. There has been a team that nearly always sits down in the back corner of the room (out of camera view) and they often cheat – the team captain often has her phone under the table and googles answers which she gives to the scribe (her husband). The rest of the team look out to see if anyone on another team notices them cheat.
My team complained to management after seeing them cheat again one night. Management said they’d shift all teams around on future trivia nights, so that team wouldn’t keep sitting in the back corner. Some members of the cheating team gamble 2 or 3 nights a week in the pokie room
The club did nothing until I posted some anonymous stuff on local community FB page giving people the heads up that there was a cheating team that nearly always sits in the back corner. I didn’t mention any names of town, venue, team or team members.
The team captain replied to my post under her real name and denied cheating. If the hat fits, wear it. She has since told other quiz night attendees that she has her hands under the table so often because she has arthritis in them. She must have arthritis in her eyes too because they’re always looking at her hands when they’re under the table.
The whole situation is quite comical in a sick kind of way.
I’m currently barred from attending trivia night until I take all social media posts down. Management couldn’t give me any advice as to how to call a cheating team out and also got real angry when I suggested putting a camera down the back of the room. They’ve effectively barred the whistle blower. The rest of my team are still attending. I’m planning my next move now.