Spin the wheel to see a winner here.
How the Spin Wheel Works
Every name on the wheel has the same 1 in N chance on each spin, so with 8 names each one has 12.5%. The winner is drawn by the random number generator before the wheel moves, and the spin simply shows it. Enter one name per line, choose whether winners leave the wheel, and spin.
Each segment of the wheel represents one name from your list. The wheel uses equal-sized segments regardless of how many names you have, so every participant has an identical probability of winning on each spin: it is not weighted or biased in any way.
The spin slows down along a smooth ease-out curve that mimics a real spinning wheel. The final position is determined by a random number generator before the animation starts: the spinning is purely visual.
Fair Selection
Use Cases
Odds per Spin by List Size
| Names on the wheel | Chance per spin | Picked at least once in 5 spins (keep in list) | Picked in 5 spins (remove winner) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 50% | 96.9% | 100% |
| 5 | 20% | 67.2% | 100% |
| 8 | 12.5% | 48.7% | 62.5% |
| 10 | 10% | 41.0% | 50% |
| 20 | 5% | 22.6% | 25% |
| 30 | 3.3% | 15.6% | 16.7% |
Keep or Remove the Winner?
With Keep in list, every spin is a fresh draw and the same name can win twice in a row. That feels unfair in a classroom: with 25 students and 25 spins, about 36% of the class is never picked and only about 16 different students get called on average.
With Remove after spin, each winner leaves the wheel, so everyone is picked exactly once before anyone repeats and every order is equally likely. Use it for prize draws where a person can win only once, presentation order or chore rotas. Reset Names puts everyone back.
Entering a name twice
Each line is one slice. Typing a name on two lines gives it two slices and double the chance, which is a simple way to weight an option. With 8 single names and one name entered twice, that name wins 2 spins in 9 (22.2%). Remove accidental duplicates before a fair draw.
How the Wheel Picks
When you click Spin, the page draws a whole number from 0 to N minus 1 with Math.floor(Math.random() × N), then works out how far to turn so the pointer stops in the middle of that slice after 5 to 7 full turns. The slowdown is only animation. Math.random is the browser's standard pseudorandom generator: fine for classrooms, games and team decisions, but for a prize draw with money or legal rules, use a documented draw with a witness. Your names stay on your device; the page has no code that sends them anywhere.
Need several people at once? The team generator shuffles a whole list into groups, and the random number generator works with numbered tickets.