Tambola number calls

"Two little ducks, twenty two!" A good caller does more than read numbers. The little nicknames give players a second chance to hear each number, and they are half the fun of the evening. Here are the calls you are most likely to hear, where they come from, and how to call so that nobody misses a number.

What number calls are

A number call is a nickname or short phrase that the caller says along with the number. Some describe the shape of the digits. Some rhyme with the number. Some point to a date or a fact that everybody knows.

Callers use them for two reasons. The first is clarity. In a noisy hall, "fifteen" and "fifty" sound alike, and so do "thirteen" and "thirty". A nickname, or the digits said one by one, removes the doubt. The second reason is atmosphere. A call that makes the room smile keeps a long game lively.

Many of these calls came to India with the game itself and are shared with Housie and bingo halls in other countries. Others are Indian additions, built around dates that every family here remembers.

How to call clearly

Say the digits first, then the number. For 47, say "four and seven, forty seven". For 80, say "eight and zero, eighty". Players hear the number twice in two different ways.
Announce single digits as single digits. For 5, say "single number five" or "only number five". That way nobody waits for a second digit.
Add the nickname last, if you use one. "Two and two, twenty two, two little ducks." The number should never depend on the nickname, because not every player knows every call.
Pause before the next number. Give people time to look across their tickets. A steady rhythm is kinder than a fast one.
Repeat if asked. Repeating the last number costs three seconds and saves an argument later.

Commonly heard calls

Calls vary from group to group, and no list is official. These are widely used and easy for a new caller to remember.

No.	Call	Why
1	Kelly's eye, or At the beginning	1 is the first number. "Kelly's eye" is an old call whose origin is not certain.
2	One little duck	The figure 2 looks like a duck on water.
3	Cup of tea	Rhymes with three.
4	Knock at the door	Rhymes with four.
5	Man alive	Rhymes with five.
7	Lucky seven	Seven is widely thought of as a lucky number.
9	Doctor's orders	Usually said to come from a tablet known as "Number 9" that army doctors once handed out.
11	Legs eleven	The two 1s stand side by side like a pair of legs.
12	One dozen	A dozen is twelve.
13	Unlucky for some	Thirteen is thought unlucky by many people, though not by whoever needs it.
14	Valentine's Day	Celebrated on 14 February.
16	Sweet sixteen	A common phrase for the sixteenth birthday.
17	Dancing queen	From a famous pop song about a girl of seventeen.
18	Coming of age	Eighteen is the age of adulthood and voting in many countries, including India.
20	One score	A score is an old word for twenty.
21	Key of the door	Twenty one was the traditional age for getting your own house key.
22	Two little ducks	Two figure 2s look like two ducks swimming together.
24	Two dozen	2 × 12 = 24.
25	Silver jubilee	A 25th anniversary is a silver jubilee.
26	Republic Day	India's Republic Day is 26 January.
33	All the threes	Both digits are 3.
36	Three dozen	3 × 12 = 36.
40	Life begins at forty	A well-known saying.
44	All the fours	Both digits are 4.
45	Halfway there	45 is half of 90, the highest number in the game.
47	Year of independence	India became independent in 1947.
48	Four dozen	4 × 12 = 48.
50	Half a century	A century is 100, as every cricket follower knows.
52	Weeks in a year, or Pack of cards	A year has 52 weeks and a standard pack has 52 cards.
55	All the fives	Both digits are 5.
60	Five dozen	5 × 12 = 60.
66	Clickety click, or All the sixes	"Clickety click" rhymes loosely with sixty six. Both digits are 6.
72	Six dozen	6 × 12 = 72.
75	Three quarters of a century	75 is three quarters of 100.
77	All the sevens	Both digits are 7.
84	Seven dozen	7 × 12 = 84.
90	Top of the house	90 is the highest number in the game.

Numbers without a nickname are simply called by their digits: "six and eight, sixty eight". There is no need to invent something for every number. A handful of well-loved calls, used every week, works better than ninety that nobody remembers.

Patterns that make calls easy to remember

Doubles: 33, 44, 55, 66 and 77 are "all the threes", "all the fours" and so on. The same pattern works for 88.
Dozens: every multiple of twelve has a ready-made call, from one dozen at 12 to seven dozen at 84.
Shapes: 2 is a duck and 1 is a leg, which gives you 2, 22 and 11.
Rhymes: 3, 4 and 5 rhyme with tea, door and alive.
Dates and anniversaries: 14, 25, 26 and 47.

Make your own family calls

The best calls are the ones only your group understands. They cost nothing and they turn an ordinary number into a small celebration.

Birthdays: if Dadi's birthday is on the 19th, then 19 is "Dadi's birthday" in your house.
House and flat numbers: "Flat 32, Sharma ji's door" works well in a housing society game.
Anniversaries: the number of years a couple in the room has been married.
Ages: the age of the youngest player, if they are happy to have it announced.
Shared memories: the bus route everyone took to school, or the year the family moved to the city.

Keep family calls kind. A nickname that teases someone about age, looks or weight may get a laugh from the room and quietly spoil the evening for one person. If in doubt, leave it out.

What the app says

Tambola Pro reads every number aloud in plain English, without nicknames. It says the number and nothing else, so nobody is confused by a call they have not heard before. The number also appears in large digits on every phone.

That leaves the fun part to the host. After the app announces the number, add the nickname in your own voice. On a video or phone call with family in other cities, this works well: the app keeps everyone accurate and the host keeps everyone smiling.

If you are using paper tickets, the Call Numbers Only mode does the same job. The phone shows and speaks the number, and you add the call.

Common mistakes new callers make

Saying only the nickname. Always say the number as well.
Calling too fast. Players with three tickets have 45 numbers to look through.
Turning away while speaking. Face the room, or hold the phone near your mouth on a call.
Changing a call halfway through the game. If 26 is Republic Day at the start, keep it that way until the end.