How to divide Tambola prize money: the split, the rounding and the host's share
The short answer
To divide Tambola prize money, add up what the tickets brought in, take out anything the host keeps, and split the rest: 10% for early five, 15% for each of the three lines and 45% for full house. With 40 tickets at ₹50 that is ₹200, ₹300 per line and ₹900. Round the smaller prizes down and give the few rupees left to full house, so the prizes add up exactly.
Collecting the money is easy. Dividing it, with twenty people watching and a calculator app that keeps giving you ₹266.666, is where a Tambola host loses ten minutes. Here is a method that gives round numbers, adds up to the last rupee, and can be explained to the whole room in one sentence.
Step 1: work out what was collected
Multiply the ticket price by the number of tickets sold. Count tickets, not players: if twenty members take two tickets each at ₹50, that is 40 tickets and ₹2,000.
Step 2: take out the host’s share, if there is one
Some groups put every rupee into prizes. Others keep a little for tea and snacks, the hall, or printing. If yours does, take it out before splitting, and say what it is for.
- As a percentage. 10% of a ₹5,000 collection is ₹500, leaving a ₹4,500 pool.
- As a fixed amount. “₹500 for the snacks” comes to the same thing here, and is easier to agree on when the number of players changes from month to month.
Step 3: split the pool
The split most groups use for the standard five dividends:
| Dividend | Share of the pool | From a ₹2,000 pool |
|---|---|---|
| Early five | 10% | ₹200 |
| Top line | 15% | ₹300 |
| Middle line | 15% | ₹300 |
| Bottom line | 15% | ₹300 |
| Full house | 45% | ₹900 |
The order follows how hard each one is. Early five comes first and fast, usually within the first fifteen calls, so it gets the least. The lines come mid-game and are equally hard, so they are equal. Full house needs all fifteen numbers and ends the game, so it gets the most. For how each dividend is won, see the Tambola games list.
If every prize should be the same, as some family games prefer, split the pool equally: ₹2,000 across five dividends is ₹400 each.
Step 4: add extras without breaking the order
Each extra dividend needs its own share, and that share has to come from the others. The fair way is to give the extra a weight and let every prize shrink in proportion, rather than taking it all from full house.
With four corners weighted the same as early five, the ₹2,000 pool becomes:
- Early five: ₹180
- Each line: ₹270
- Four corners: ₹180
- Full house: ₹830
Full house is still the biggest prize and the lines are still equal. The same works for a second full house, or for breakfast, lunch and dinner, explained in breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tambola. Keep it to six or seven dividends: with ten, early five shrinks to something nobody wants to claim.
Step 5: round, and put the remainder somewhere stated
Exact shares rarely come out round. A ₹900 pool split 10/15/45 gives ₹90, ₹135 for each line and ₹405. That is fine if you pay by UPI. For a cash box, round:
- Round every prize except full house down to your step, say ₹10. The lines become ₹130 each.
- Give full house whatever is left. Here that is ₹420 instead of ₹405.
The total is still exactly ₹900. If you would rather keep full house round as well, send the odd amount to the host instead: full house becomes ₹400 and ₹20 goes back into the snacks fund.
Rounding down only the smaller prizes means full house can only gain from rounding, never lose, so in this split it stays the biggest prize. The one thing to watch is a step that is too big for the pool: rounding to ₹50 when only ₹240 was collected would round every smaller prize down to nothing. Use ₹1 or ₹5 for small games.
Do it in one go
The Tambola prize calculator does all five steps as you type. Enter the ticket price and tickets sold (or players and tickets each), the host’s share as a percentage or an amount, tick the dividends, and pick ₹1, ₹5, ₹10 or ₹50. It rounds the smaller prizes down, says where the remainder went, and the prizes plus the host’s share always equal what was collected. Copy the list straight into the WhatsApp group, or print it for the caller’s table.
A society Diwali night with 50 tickets at ₹100 and 10% kept for the hall comes out at ₹450 for early five, ₹670 for each line and ₹2,040 for full house. Round to ₹50 instead and it is ₹450, ₹650 each and ₹2,100. More games are worked through in Tambola prize money for 20, 50 and 100 players.
Agree it before the first number
However you split it, the split only works if everyone hears it before the game starts. Read the list aloud, or paste it in the group chat, and agree two more things at the same time:
- Two winners on one number. Split that prize equally, or the first to call takes it.
- A wrong claim. The ticket is out for that prize, or for the game.
If your group plays for gifts rather than cash, Tambola prize ideas suggests what to give for each win in the same order of size. And the Tambola ticket maker prints the tickets and checks every claim by ticket number, so the money goes to the right person.
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