Lotería

Loteria (written Lotería in Spanish) is Mexico’s picture bingo: instead of numbers, each tabla (board) shows pictures such as El Gallo, La Sirena and La Luna, and the caller draws cards from a shuffled deck. Print free 4 by 4 tablas with calling cards, or play Loteria online on phones.

Loteria tablas and calling cards to print (PDF)

These four pages show the Loteria printables: a page of 4 by 4 tablas, a page of easy 3 by 3 tablas for children, and two pages of the calling deck to cut out and shuffle. Click any picture for the PDF, or use the generator above to choose the number of tablas and the paper size.

Print or download your Loteria tablas

• Choose how many tablas you need (up to 200, each one different) and 1, 2 or 4 per page.
• The pack includes the calling cards (the deck) to cut apart and shuffle.
• Press Download PDF or Print. Pick A4 or Letter paper.

How to play the Loteria game

• Each player gets a tabla and a handful of markers. Dried beans (frijoles) are traditional.
• The caller (el cantor) shuffles the deck and draws one card at a time, calling its name. Many callers add a short rhyme or riddle as a clue, and guessing it is half the fun.
• Players cover the picture if it is on their tabla.
• The first to complete the agreed pattern shouts “¡Lotería!” (or “¡Buenas!”).

Loteria winning patterns

• Una línea: any row, column or diagonal.
• Cuatro esquinas: the four corners.
• Centro: the four middle squares.
• Llena: the whole tabla.

Loteria in the Spanish classroom: a favorite game

Loteria is a favorite in Spanish lessons: every card is a noun with its article (el or la), so students practice vocabulary and gender while they play. Try calling the English word and letting students find the Spanish picture, or ask students to take turns as el cantor.

The 47 Loteria cards in this deck

Traditional printed decks have 54 cards. This deck uses our own pictures and keeps 47 classic cards; we left out a few traditional cards that many families and teachers now consider offensive, so the game suits classrooms and parties.

Loteria game: where it comes from

The Loteria game is based on a lottery game that came from Italy to Mexico, then called New Spain, in 1769. The pictures on the cards that most people know today were designed in 1887 by Don Clemente Jacques, whose printing company made the famous 54-card deck. Wikipedia’s Loteria article describes the history in more detail.

Loteria cards: what the caller says (el cantor)

In a traditional game the caller does not simply read the name. He or she sings a short verse as a riddle, and players guess the card before the name is said. These five are among the best known:

You can make up your own riddles for the other cards, in Spanish or in English: “the bird that wakes the village at dawn” for El Gallo is a good start.

Loteria tablas: how many different boards are possible?

Each tabla has 16 pictures chosen from the 47 cards of this deck and arranged in a 4 by 4 grid. The number of different tablas is about 3.1 × 10²⁵, which is why no two tablas in a game are the same. The generator above prints up to 200 different tablas at once, with 1, 2 or 4 on a page.

Loteria printable: tablas and calling deck

The Loteria printable has two parts. The tablas are the boards for the players, and the calling deck is the set of 47 cards that the caller draws. The calling cards print 20 to a page, so the deck takes 3 pages, and you can cut and shuffle them or keep them in a bag. For a class of 24 you need 12 sheets of tablas at 2 per page, plus the 3 sheets of calling cards.

How long does a Loteria game last?

A game of Loteria can be played for a line, the four corners or the center, and the whole tabla. The table shows when each prize is usually won, with 6, 12 and 24 players, from a simulation of the deck of 47 cards and the middle half of results in brackets:

The time depends on how fast the caller goes. For a typical group of 12 players:

Mexican bingo or Spanish bingo: how Loteria differs from bingo

Loteria is sometimes called Mexican bingo or Spanish bingo, but it differs from number bingo in three ways. The cards show pictures, not numbers. A deck of cards is shuffled and drawn, so every card is called once, with no repeats. And the caller adds a verse or a joke, which makes the game as much a performance as a contest. The tablas have no free square, and the winner calls “Loteria!”.

Loteria cards PDF: what to download

For a Loteria cards PDF, choose the number of tablas, the number per page and the paper size, and press Download PDF. The file contains the tablas and the calling deck. For a group of children, use the 3 by 3 size, which has fewer pictures to find, and for a more challenging game keep the 4 by 4 size.

Spanish bingo in the classroom: nouns, articles and gender

In a Spanish class, every card is a noun with an article, and the article shows the gender. This table shows how the 47 cards divide, which gives teachers a ready-made vocabulary list:

Ask students to call the English word and let the class find the Spanish picture, or ask them to call the Spanish name, and the class covers the picture. For a fun extra round, students take turns as el cantor and make up a riddle for each card they draw.

Play Loteria online

Press Create game and share the link: every player opens a different tabla on their phone and taps pictures as you call them. The host screen shows each card big and says its name, and you can check any claim by tabla number.

More picture bingo

• Picture bingo for kids
• Emoji bingo
• 90-ball bingo cards (UK)
• 75-ball bingo cards (US)
• All party games
• Play bingo online
• Picture bingo for kids