How to Play Tambola
Tambola — also called Housie — is a numbers game for any group size. One person calls out numbers at random and everyone else races to mark them off their tickets.
What you need
- A ticket (or several) for each player — generate them here.
- A pen or marker for each player.
- A caller with a way to draw numbers 1–90 at random. Our number calling board does this for you.
- An agreed list of prizes before the game starts — see prizes.
The ticket
Every ticket is a grid of 3 rows and 9 columns, so it has 27 boxes. Exactly 15 of them hold a number and the other 12 are left blank.
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- Each row has exactly 5 numbers and 4 blanks.
- Each column has at least 1 number and at most 3.
- Inside a column, numbers always go from smallest at the top to largest at the bottom.
- A number never appears twice on the same ticket.
Which numbers go in which column
Each column only ever holds numbers from its own range:
| Column | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers | 1–9 | 10–19 | 20–29 | 30–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60–69 | 70–79 | 80–90 |
The first column is one short (1–9) and the last column is one long (80–90), which is how 90 numbers fit across 9 columns.
Strips: six tickets, all 90 numbers
Tickets are made in sets of six called a strip (or sheet). Across those six tickets, every number from 1 to 90 appears exactly once — 6 tickets × 15 numbers = 90. A player who buys a whole strip is guaranteed to mark a number on every single call.
Our generator always builds full strips, so if you hand out tickets from the same strip to different players, no two of them will share a number.
Playing a game
- Hand out tickets and agree on the prizes and how much each one is worth.
- The caller draws numbers one at a time and reads each one out — usually digit by digit, then the whole number (“two four, twenty four”).
- Players mark off any called number that appears on their ticket.
- When a player completes a prize pattern, they shout out straight away — before the next number is called.
- The caller checks the claim against the numbers called so far. A valid claim wins the prize; that prize is then closed and play continues.
- The game usually ends when someone claims Full House.
House rules worth agreeing up front
- Late claims. Most groups say a claim only counts if made before the next number is drawn.
- Ties. If two players complete the same prize on the same number, decide in advance whether they split it.
- Bogus claims. Some groups disqualify the ticket for that prize, or for the rest of the game, if a claim turns out to be wrong.