Early 5 is another common winning point option. The player who first strikes 5 numbers in any row wins. This is best if you only want to play a short game. First row is another winning point alternative. This means that the player who is first to strike all of the numbers along the top row wins. Corners is another winning point option if you want to play a short game. The player who can strike each number in the 4 corners of the ticket first, wins. This means that the first and last numbers of the top and bottom rows will be crossed out. There are many variations on what the winning point can be for the game. If you are organizing the game, feel free to make up your own winning point, or explore the many ideas available either online or with other tambola players.
This person will also be responsible for verifying any potential winning tickets to make sure that the numbers are correct. The caller doesn’t have to be the caller for all of the rounds. If you are playing multiple rounds of tambola, pick a different caller for each round so that everyone have have a turn to play.
Tambola tickets have 3 horizontal rows and 9 vertical columns, which makes 27 boxes in total. There are 5 numbers in each horizontal row, with the remaining 4 boxes randomly blocked out. The first column has numbers from 1-9, the second from 10-19, and so on, up to the number 90. [4] X Research source You can purchase tambola tickets online, or you can make your own using a random number generator. Make sure that each person has a pen or pencil before the game begins so that they can cross off the numbers as they are called. [5] X Research source
If you are playing at a big, commercial game, there will usually be a machine that will draw the numbers for the caller. [7] X Research source
Some experienced callers like to use nicknames for the numbers that they read out to make the game more fun. However, they will always say the actual name for the number too. [9] X Research source Some nicknames for the numbers include “Lone ranger” for the number 1, “Colors of the rainbow” for the number 7, and “Valentine’s Day” for the number 14. [10] X Research source If you play tambola regularly with family or friends, come up with your own nickname for each number to make the game more interesting.
If you miss your chance to announce that you have won, you will usually miss out on your entitlement to the prize. More than 1 person may realize that they have the winning point after a number is called. In this case, the first person to announce it goes to the caller to have their ticket verified.
If the player has won, this often ends the game. However you can decide to keep playing if you want to draw for second and third prizes. If the player doesn’t have a winning point, keep calling numbers and playing the game until someone wins.
For an informal game with family or friends, you can be more creative with the prizes. Try a voucher to a local restaurant, a delicious treat, a flower bouquet, or a certificate with the winners name on it.
