Whereas bingo cards are filled with numbers, the Mexicano lotera cards, called tablas, feature vibrant pictures of animals, objects, and characters. Once every jugador has their tablas, the game can begin. Instead of matching numbers as in bingo, La Lotera players match pictures.

Lotera (Spanish word meaning "lottery") is a traditional game of chance, similar to bingo, and is played on a deck of cards instead of numbered ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored.