How to Play Tambola (Housie): Rules, Tickets & Calling Guide

Updated July 2026 · 7 min read

Tambola — also called Housie, and closely related to Bingo — is one of the most popular group games at Indian festivals, kitty parties, and office celebrations. This guide covers everything you need to host a proper game: the ticket layout, winning patterns, and how the number calling actually works.

What you need to play

• Tickets — each player gets one or more tickets, each containing 15 numbers arranged in a 3×9 grid (3 rows, 9 columns, 5 numbers per row, rest blank).
• A caller — one person (or a number caller app) who draws numbers one at a time from 1–90, announces each one, and keeps track of what's already been called.
• Something to mark called numbers — players cross off or dab numbers on their ticket as they're called.

How ticket numbers are arranged

Each column of a Tambola ticket is restricted to a specific number range, which is why tickets always look roughly similar:

Common winning patterns

Before the game starts, the host announces which patterns count as prizes for that round. The most common ones, usually claimed in this order:

• Early Five (Quick Five) — the first player to mark any 5 numbers on their ticket.
• Top Line / Middle Line / Bottom Line — all 5 numbers in a specific row of the ticket.
• Four Corners — the four corner numbers of the ticket.
• Full House — all 15 numbers on the ticket, usually the final and biggest prize.

Some hosts add fun variations like "Star" (a cross pattern) or specific-number bonuses — this is entirely up to whoever's running the game, so it's worth clarifying the rules before you start.

Traditional number nicknames

Part of what makes Tambola calling fun is the tradition of nicknames — calling out a phrase instead of (or alongside) the plain number. A few well-known ones: "Kelly's Eye" for 1, "Legs Eleven" for 11, "Unlucky for Some" for 13, "Two Fat Ladies" for 88, and "Top of the Shop" for 90. These add personality to the calling and help players double-check they heard the number correctly.

Why fair, no-repeat calling actually matters

The single biggest source of disputes in a manually-run Tambola game is a repeated or misheard number — someone marks a number that was never actually called, or a number gets called twice by mistake, throwing off everyone's tally. A digital caller solves this cleanly: numbers are drawn from a shuffled pool and each one is removed once called, so a repeat is structurally impossible until every number in the range has come up.

Step-by-step: running a game with Ankelu

1. Open the Tambola tab and set the range to 1–90 (or use the preset button).
2. Make sure "Don't repeat numbers" is switched on — this is the default and matches standard Tambola rules.
3. Turn on "Announce aloud" so the app calls each number out loud as it's drawn — useful when you're hosting and can't read the screen to everyone at once.
4. Tap Draw number for each round. The called-numbers grid at the bottom updates live, so you (or anyone) can settle disputes instantly by checking whether a number was actually called.
5. When someone claims a pattern, cross-check their ticket against the called-numbers grid before confirming the win.

Looking for the difference between no-repeat and repeat draw modes, and when you'd actually want each one? Read our guide to no-repeat vs repeat number draws next.