Housie (Tambola)

Each ticket has 27 boxes in 3 rows and 9 columns. Every row has 5 numbers, so a ticket has 15 numbers, and each column holds numbers from one band of ten: 1 to 9 in the first column, 10 to 19 in the second, and so on up to 80 to 90 in the last. One person is the caller, who keeps the 1 to 90 number board and the numbered coins (or a ball cage). Everyone else takes one or more tickets and a pen.

The caller shakes the bag, draws one coin at a time, calls the number aloud and puts the coin on the number board, so every called number can be checked later. Many callers use rhymes and nicknames borrowed from British bingo: 'Kelly's eye, number one', 'legs eleven', 'two little ducks, 22', 'two fat ladies, 88' and 'top of the shop, 90'. If a called number is on your ticket, you strike it off.

As soon as your ticket completes a prize, you shout to claim it: Early Five (the first five numbers struck, often called 'Jaldi 5'), Top Line, Middle Line or Bottom Line (all five numbers in that row), Four Corners (the first and last numbers of the top and bottom rows) and Full House (all 15). The caller checks your numbers against the board. Each prize is won once, and if two people claim it on the same number the prize is usually shared; a wrong claim can put you out of the game, so check before you shout. The game ends when someone claims Full House, which usually takes 20 to 30 minutes.

Families add their own prizes, such as Pyramid, or Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for the three column groups, and some let each player play two or three tickets. A set with 600 paper tickets is enough for about 30 games with 20 players on one ticket each; reusable tickets with sliding or push-back windows suit smaller family games. Number-caller apps and printable ticket sheets also exist, which is handy for playing over a video call. Skillmatics' Pop-Reveal Housie is a branded twist on the game that uses reusable cards instead of paper tickets.