How to organise Tambola at home: tickets, calling and prize money

Tambola — also called Housie — needs very little: tickets, a way to draw the numbers 1 to 90, and someone to call them. The host’s real job is keeping the game fair and the pace right. This is the checklist.

Before the day

Decide the prizes. The standard five are early five, top line, middle line, bottom line and full house. For more, see the Tambola games list. Five to seven prizes is the right number for one game.

Set the stake and the split. If players pay per ticket, a common split of the pool is:

Prize	Share
Early five	10%
Top line	15%
Middle line	15%
Bottom line	15%
Full house	45%

Adding four corners or a second full house? Take 5–10% for each from the full house. Write the split down and read it out before the first call, so there is no argument at the end. The Tambola prize calculator turns the split into rupees for your collection, with the host’s share taken out first.

Print the tickets. The Tambola ticket generator prints three, six or twelve tickets to a page. Every ticket follows the standard rules: fifteen numbers from 1 to 90, five in each row, with each column in its own range. Each ticket carries a ticket number, which is how winners are checked later.

Print one or two tickets per player, plus a few spares for late arrivals. Bring pens or dabbers.

How many tickets per player

• Children and first-timers: one ticket.
• Regular players: two or three. More than three and people start missing numbers.
• Mixed groups: let each player choose, and price per ticket.

Calling the numbers

You can draw numbered tokens from a bag, or open the caller screen on a TV or laptop. The caller draws at random, shows the number large, and reads it aloud in your browser’s voice — digit by digit and then the number, “four, two, forty-two”, the way numbers are called in a hall.

Pace. One number every ten to fifteen seconds suits most rooms. Slow down for children or large tickets, and pause after any claim.

Traditional calls. Many hosts add the old nicknames: “Kelly’s eye, number one”, “two little ducks, twenty-two”, “top of the house, ninety”. They are optional and they make the evening.

Keep the called numbers visible. Players who missed a call can check the board rather than asking you to repeat it.

Checking a claim

A claim is valid only if it is made before the next number is called. Then:

1. Stop calling.
2. Ask for the ticket number, or take the ticket.
3. On the caller screen, type the ticket number into Check a ticket. It rebuilds that ticket, marks what has been called, and names any line, early five, four corners or full house it has completed.
4. Announce the winner, and carry on calling.

Checking by ticket number means you never have to walk across the room for the paper. With handwritten or bought tickets, read the claimed numbers aloud instead and check each against the called board.

House rules worth announcing

• Late claims lose. Once the next number is called, the claim has passed.
• Ties split. Two correct claims on the same number share the prize.
• Wrong claims. Decide the penalty: the ticket is out for that prize, or out for the game.
• Phones away, unless you are playing on phones.

Playing apart

For family on video calls, print the tickets as a PDF and send them ahead, or send the page for phone play so every player’s phone gets its own ticket. Share your screen with the caller open, and check claims by ticket number as usual.

A note on money

A friendly stake among family and friends is how Tambola is usually played at home. Rules on paid games differ between countries and states, and public or ticketed events can need a licence. If you are running one for a club or a fundraiser, check the local rules first.