Place the 1 ball at the apex of the triangle. Place one solid and one stripe in the second row. Place one solid and one stripe in the third row, in the opposite pattern from row two, with the 8-ball in the middle. Place one solid and one stripe in the bottom corners. Fill in the rest of the balls at random. Break. Win.

Ask a few basic questions, but don’t turn it into a beer-knowledge quiz: Do they prefer light or dark? An herbal bite or soft and sweet? Or ask what they normally drink and use your powers of deduction: A red wine drinker might like a sour; a whiskey drinker might like a bourbon-barrel-aged stout. When in doubt, order something you like, so if they don’t, you can drink theirs, too.

Team diversity is key, according to Christopher Short, chief editor for Geeks Who Drink and a six-time Jeopardy! winner. “If everybody on the team can name all the cast members on Battlestar: Galactica, that’s good, but I would be worried that none of them can tell me what team Ty Cobb played for,” he says. If you want to study a little beforehand, stick to the latest Miley Cyrus video rather than particle theory. “It’s not Jeopardy!; most pub quiz companies tend toward more pop culture know-ledge. If you have a middle-school knowledge of science, you’ll know anything they're going to ask,” Short says. “But they’ll go a bit deeper on Lord of the Rings.”

“Typically, people stand two or three feet apart, but you should try to cut that space in half. If you’re talking to someone of the opposite sex that you’ve just met, you don’t want to be face-to-face. Move a bit to the side, turn your head so you’re almost talking into the person’s ear. Keep your sentences short and speak clearly: Also, be aware of your breath.” –Don Gabor, author of How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends

When is a pint of Pliny gross? When it’s in a bathroom. So if you have to go, but your beer needs to stay (and it really should!), a napkin laid over your pint glass means, “I’ll be right back; don’t take my beer.” And while there’s no total insurance policy, this simple action also doubles as dibs on your barstool.

It’s all in the fingers says Uli, who slings mugs at Lederhosen in Manhattan’s West Village. “It’s not about the weight of the beer; it’s about the size of your hand,” she says. “Mine are small, so I can only carry three liters in each.” The key is keeping your elbows tucked into your chest to brace yourself with your core. Go bigger if you dare. “I've seen some women carry 10 or 12 liters,” Uli says. “But I don’t. I’m not that crazy. I’d rather walk twice."

“Unless you know you’re funny, don’t do some outlandish thing; you’re probably not Tom Cruise doing ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin’’ in Top Gun. The best way to get attention is to stand near the person, smile and open the conversation with a genuine compliment. A question is always good, too: If they’re drinking something you don’t recognize, that’s a perfect opening.” –Donna Barnes, a New York-based relationship coach and author of Giving Up Junk-Food Relationships