What is a tambola ticket?
A tambola ticket is a grid of 3 rows and 9 columns that holds 15 numbers — exactly 5 in each row — with the other 12 cells left blank.
- 3 rows × 9 columns — 27 cells in all.
- 15 numbers — 5 in every row; 12 cells stay blank.
- Columns by tens — column 1 holds 1–9, column 2 holds 10–19 and so on, up to 80–90 in the last column.
- 1 to 3 numbers per column — and they always go from smallest at the top to largest at the bottom.
What makes a tambola ticket valid?
A valid ticket has 15 numbers, 5 in every row, and each column holds only numbers from its own range — 1–9, 10–19 and so on up to 80–90 — with 1 to 3 numbers per column, smallest at the top.
Hand-made or badly printed housie tickets often break these rules, and that leads to arguments at prize time. On PlayTambola.Live the server generates every player’s ticket, so it always follows them.
Paper tickets or digital tickets?
Paper tickets need printing, a pen for every player and a host who checks every claim by hand; digital tickets appear on each player’s phone, only called numbers can be marked, and the server checks every win.
- Getting a ticket
- Paper tickets:Print, cut and hand out a ticket for every player
- PlayTambola.Live tickets:Scan the QR code or type the game code — the ticket is ready
- Marking numbers
- Paper tickets:A pen or token for every player
- PlayTambola.Live tickets:Tap the number on your phone
- Mistakes
- Paper tickets:Easy to mark a number that was never called
- PlayTambola.Live tickets:Only numbers that were actually called can be marked
- Checking wins
- Paper tickets:The host checks every claim by hand
- PlayTambola.Live tickets:The server checks every win and the big screen celebrates it
How do players get tickets on their phones?
Players scan the QR code on the big screen or type the game code in their phone browser, enter a name, and get a standard 3×9 ticket generated by the server — no app, no login.
- Up to 200 players — each with their own ticket, in one game.
- Free up to 5 players — with every feature; bigger games use one seat per player.