How to Host a Tambola Game Online for Free (No Sign-Up)
Most Tambola games fall apart in the setup, not the play — someone has to call numbers fairly, everyone needs a ticket, and nobody wants to download an app for a once-a-year family game. Here’s a setup that works whether your players are in the same room or scattered across a video call.
What you need
- A device to run the number caller (phone, laptop or tablet — anything with a browser).
- Printed or on-screen tickets for every player.
- A way for players to see or hear each number as it’s called.
That’s it. No accounts, no installs.
Step 1: Generate tickets for everyone
Open the ticket generator and create one ticket per player (or a full strip of six if you’re playing the traditional way, where one strip covers every number exactly once across six tickets). Print them, or share the page link if players are joining remotely and can mark a ticket on their own screen.
Step 2: Start the number caller
Open the number generator on the host’s device. It draws from 1–90 with no repeats, shows the number large on screen, and reads it out loud — so players on a video call can hear it directly through your microphone, and players in the room can hear it without anyone needing to shout.
Step 3: Agree on winning patterns before you start
Decide prizes up front so there’s no argument mid-game. The usual order is:
- Early Five — first player to mark any five numbers.
- Top Line, Middle Line, Bottom Line — one full row.
- Four Corners — the four corner numbers on a ticket.
- Full House — every number on the ticket.
See the winning patterns guide for diagrams of each one, including less common prizes like Four Corners and Second Full House.
Step 4: Playing over video call
If your group isn’t in the same room:
- Share your screen so everyone can see the number being called, not just hear it — useful for noisy calls or players who are hard of hearing.
- Have each player keep their ticket visible on camera, or trust the honour system for a quick family game.
- Agree on how a win gets verified — usually the winner reads their marked numbers back and the caller checks them against the call history.
Step 5: Keep score fairly
Because the number generator never repeats a number until you reset it, every player sees the exact same sequence — there’s no risk of the host accidentally skipping or repeating a draw, which is the most common source of disputes in a manually-called game.
That’s the whole setup
No app to install, no numbers to write on scraps of paper, and no sign-up for anyone involved. If you’re playing again next week, everything resets with one click — tickets regenerate fresh and the caller starts a new 1–90 draw.