How to play Tambola

What you need

• One caller with a phone, tablet or laptop open to the number generator.
• One ticket per player from the ticket generator, plus a pen each.
• An agreed list of prizes and, if you like, a small pot.

The ticket

A Tambola ticket is a grid of 3 rows and 9 columns. Only 15 of the 27 squares hold a number; the rest are blank. Each column covers a range — column 1 holds numbers 1–10, column 2 holds 11–20, and so on to column 9 holding 81–90 — and every row has exactly 5 numbers.

Playing a round, step by step

1. Give every player a ticket. Print tickets from the Ticket Generator or share the game on each player's phone. Each ticket has 15 numbers on a 3×9 grid.
2. Agree the prizes and the pot. Decide which prizes you are playing for — Early Five, the three lines, Four Corners, Full House — and what each one is worth.
3. Pick a caller. One person opens the Tambola Number Generator. They will call numbers and confirm claims.
4. Call the numbers. The caller taps “Call Next Number” (or presses Space). The generator speaks the number and marks it on the board so latecomers can catch up.
5. Players mark their tickets. If a called number is on your ticket, cross it out. Keep an eye on how close you are to a prize.
6. Claim as soon as you complete a prize. Shout the prize name before the next number is called. The caller checks your marked numbers against the called list.
7. Play on to Full House. The game continues until Full House (and often Second Full House) is won. Then start a new game.

The prizes

These are the common Tambola prizes, usually claimed in this order. Read the full explanation with grid diagrams on thewinning patterns page.

• Early Five: First to mark any five numbers on a ticket.
• Top Line: All five numbers in the first row.
• Middle Line: All five numbers in the second row.
• Bottom Line: All five numbers in the third row.
• Four Corners: The first and last numbers of the top and bottom rows.
• Star / Plus: The four corners plus the centre number of the ticket.
• Full House: Every one of the fifteen numbers marked.
• Second Full House: The next ticket to complete after the first Full House.

House rules worth agreeing first

• Claims must be made before the next number is called.
• A wrong claim usually forfeits that player's shot at that prize.
• Decide whether a player can win more than one prize per ticket.
• The caller's called-number list is the single source of truth.

Running it online with family far away

Put the caller on a video call and share your screen, or read the numbers aloud as the generator announces them. Everyone plays on printed tickets at their own end. Because the generator remembers the called numbers, a dropped connection is easy to recover from.