# Breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tambola: what they mean and how to check a claim

Source: https://spolvero.design/articles/breakfast-lunch-dinner-in-tambola/
Updated: 2026-10-04
Tool: https://spolvero.design/tools/play/tambola-tickets/

> In Tambola, breakfast, lunch and dinner are three extra prizes that split the ticket into thirds by column. Breakfast is every number in the first three columns (1 to 29), lunch is every number in the middle three (30 to 59) and dinner is every number in the last three (60 to 90). The first player to mark all the numbers in one part claims that prize.

Somebody at the table says "we are also playing breakfast, lunch and dinner", three people nod, and one person has no idea what was just agreed. These three prizes are among the most popular Tambola extras, and also the ones most often explained differently in different houses. Here is the usual rule, what it means on a real ticket, and how to check a claim without an argument.

## The rule

A Tambola ticket has three rows and nine columns, with fifteen numbers on it. The columns go by tens: the first holds 1 to 9, the second 10 to 19, and so on, up to the ninth, which holds 80 to 90.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner cut the ticket into three blocks of three columns:

| Prize | Columns | Numbers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Breakfast | 1, 2 and 3 | 1 to 29 |
| Lunch | 4, 5 and 6 | 30 to 59 |
| Dinner | 7, 8 and 9 | 60 to 90 |

To win breakfast, a player must mark **every** number their ticket has in the first three columns. Lunch and dinner work the same way for their blocks. They are three separate prizes, and one ticket can win more than one of them.

## Why tickets are not equal

A full line always needs five numbers. Breakfast does not. A ticket can have as few as three numbers in a block, or as many as nine.

We dealt 40,000 tickets with the same engine that prints the tickets on this site and counted the numbers in each block:

| Numbers in the block | Share of tickets |
| --- | --- |
| 3 | about 7% |
| 4 | about 25% |
| 5 | about 36% |
| 6 | about 24% |
| 7 or more | about 8% |

So a player holding a ticket with three numbers under 30 has a much easier breakfast than a neighbour with seven. That is the fun of these prizes: everyone looks at their ticket before the game and knows which meal they are hoping for.

## When each one is won

These are middle-of-the-game prizes. We ran two thousand games for each group size and noted the call on which the first ticket finished each block:

| Tickets in play | Breakfast, lunch or dinner won after about | Early five, for comparison |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10 | 53 calls | 15 calls |
| 20 | 46 calls | 13 calls |
| 30 | 43 calls | 12 calls |

All three come at about the same point, because each covers a third of the numbers. Which one falls first in a given game is down to the draw.

That timing is useful when you plan the prizes. Early five goes in the first few minutes, then there is often a quiet stretch before the lines. Three prizes landing around the halfway mark fill it.

## 1 to 29, or 1 to 30?

This is the argument to avoid. Some families define the meals by number: breakfast is 1 to 30, lunch 31 to 60 and dinner 61 to 90. On a standard ticket, though, 30 sits in the fourth column and 60 in the seventh. Under the by-number rule, a player's 30 belongs to breakfast even though it is printed in the lunch block.

Either rule works. What does not work is discovering mid-game that two players are using different ones. Say it aloud before the first call. Going by columns is the simpler choice, because a player can see their block at a glance without reading each number.

## Checking a claim

When someone shouts "breakfast":

1. Stop calling. A claim must come before the next number is drawn.
2. Ask the player to read out every number in their first three columns.
3. Check each against the numbers already called.
4. Check that the last number called is one of them. If it is not, the claim is late, and by most house rules the prize has gone.

The [Tambola ticket maker](/tools/play/tambola-tickets/) has a caller for the same game. It keeps a "Called so far" board, which makes step 3 quick. The caller checks the standard five prizes and four corners by ticket number on its own; breakfast, lunch and dinner you confirm by eye against that board.

## What to pay for them

These are extras, so take their share from the bigger prizes. A common split of the pool is 10% for early five, 15% for each line and 45% for full house. If you add extras, take 5 to 10% for each from the lines and full house. For three meals, 5% each is plenty: that leaves full house as clearly the biggest prize.

With gifts in place of money, give three small matching items, so the meals feel like a set.

## How many extras is too many?

Five to seven prizes suit one game of 90 numbers. The standard five plus three meals makes eight, which is at the upper edge. If you add breakfast, lunch and dinner, do not also add star, pyramid and odd-even in the same round. For a kitty party of fifteen to thirty people, the standard five, the three meals and nothing else is a full afternoon's game.

## Temperature, the other quick extra

Temperature is often played alongside the meals. It needs only two numbers: the lowest and the highest on your ticket. In our runs it was won after about 20 calls with twenty tickets in play, so it lands just after early five. Because it is quick and needs so little, give it the smallest prize of the game.

For every other pattern, see the [Tambola games list](/articles/tambola-games-list/). For tickets, pace and prize money from the start, see [how to organise Tambola at home](/articles/how-to-organise-tambola/), and for a group that meets every month, the [kitty party games ideas](/articles/kitty-party-games-ideas/).

## Questions

### What is breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tambola?

Three prizes for three parts of the ticket. Breakfast is all the numbers in columns 1 to 3 (1 to 29), lunch is all the numbers in columns 4 to 6 (30 to 59) and dinner is all the numbers in columns 7 to 9 (60 to 90). Each is claimed by the first ticket to mark every number in that part.

### Is breakfast 1 to 29 or 1 to 30?

On a standard ticket it is 1 to 29, because the fourth column holds 30 to 39. Some houses say 1 to 30, 31 to 60 and 61 to 90. Agree which one before the first call; going by columns is easier to check at a glance.

### How many numbers are in breakfast on one ticket?

Between three and nine, and most often five. In tickets dealt by this site, about a third of tickets have exactly five numbers in each part, and about one in fourteen has only three.

### When are breakfast, lunch and dinner usually won?

Around the middle of the game. With twenty tickets in play, each is typically claimed after about 46 numbers have been called; with ten tickets, after about 53.

### What is temperature in Tambola?

A separate quick prize for marking the lowest and the highest number on your ticket. With twenty tickets it is usually won after about 20 calls, so it sits between early five and the lines.