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Understanding Housie & Bingo
Ticket Numbers
Understanding Housie Tickets, Game Books & Ticket Numbers
Housie tickets might look like a page of random numbers, but there’s actually a lot more to them than meets the eye!
The numbers on a housie ticket are carefully generated to create a fair game, while the additional numbers printed around the ticket are important for recording, tracking and verifying your games.
When you’re running housie in New Zealand, having accurate ticket information is important. These numbers help you keep track of how many tickets have been sold, what tickets have been used in a session, and can assist with calculating prize money and proceeds.
So, let’s take a look at what all those numbers mean!
First things first: Ticket, Game Book or Single Sheet?
Before we look at the numbers printed on a ticket, it’s helpful to understand the difference between the different types of housie tickets you’ll come across.
Tickets
A ticket contains the numbers that a player marks or covers during a single game of housie.
One ticket = one chance to win. English Housie uses numbers 1–90. Each ticket contains a unique selection of numbers from 1–90. American Bingo uses numbers 1–75. Each ticket is a 5 x 5 grid containing a selection of numbers from 1–75.
The number patterns on housie tickets are carefully designed so that players have a fair and equal chance of winning.
Game Books
A game book is made up of multiple pages of tickets, with the pages glued together to form a book.
Each page represents a different game and is a different colour, making it easy for players and callers to know which tickets are being played for each game.
Game books are available in different sizes, including 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50 pages, depending on how many games you plan to play.
Most game books are supplied as 6-up or 12-up, meaning there are six or twelve individual tickets on each page. The tickets are perforated, allowing players to separate the number of tickets they want to play.
For example, a 5-page 6-up game book contains:
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5 coloured pages, numbered 1–5
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6 tickets on each page
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5 games in total
Single Sheets
You may also hear single sheets referred to as a Single, Special, Earlybird, Medium, Super or Session ticket, depending on the type of game.
These are generally supplied as a single sheet containing six tickets (6-up). The tickets are perforated, so players can separate and play as many as they need.
For example, a Medium Super Housie 6-up sheet contains:
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1 page
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6 individual tickets
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6 chances to win for that game
Now for the important part!
You’ll notice several different numbers printed around a housie ticket. While they may look similar, they each have a different purpose.
Knowing which number to use for recording, selling and verifying tickets can make your housie sessions much easier to manage.
Serial
Number
On the far left-hand side of the ticket.
The serial number is unique.
This to be recorded for every session to understand what tickets were used.
Ideally only one serial number per ticket type is to be used per session to avoid duplicate tickets and duplicate winners.
Why do these numbers matter?
It can be tempting to look at a housie ticket and think, “They're just numbers!” — but each number has a job to do.
The ticket numbers and patterns help make sure your game is:
Fair - players have an equal chance of winning.
Traceable - you can keep track of which tickets have been used.
Accurate - you can correctly record tickets and books sold.
Easy to verify - winning tickets can be checked against the correct ticket information.
Easier to manage - accurate ticket records make it much simpler to work out your session numbers, prizes and proceeds.
That's why we take the accuracy of our housie tickets seriously. When you're running a game where ticket sales, prizes and proceeds matter, you need to be able to trust the numbers on the tickets you're using.
If you're ever unsure about which number to record or how a particular ticket should be used, get in touch with us. We're happy to help you make sense of it before your next game.