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Wheel of names

Paste the list of names and spin. Whoever the wheel points to is the winner.

  • Free
  • No sign-up
  • Nothing leaves your device

Guide and details

Paste your list and spin. The winner is drawn before the wheel moves, and the receipt lets anyone re-check it.

Using the wheel with a class or a group

  1. Paste the whole list into the box, one name per line. A column copied from a spreadsheet works as it is.
  2. Leave “Remove the winner after each spin” ticked so nobody is called twice. Untick it for a prize draw where every spin starts from the full list.
  3. Open presentation mode before projecting. Only the wheel, the Spin button and the winner’s name stay on screen, sized for the back row.

The list is saved in the browser, so tomorrow’s lesson starts where today’s ended. To carry the wheel to another computer, use “Copy link to this list”: the names are written into the link itself and open on any device.

How the winner is chosen

Many wheels online pick a random spin speed and let the animation decide where it stops. Here the order is reversed. The page draws a 256-bit seed from the browser’s cryptographic generator, derives one position in the list from it with equal odds for every line, and then animates the wheel to that slice. The pointer lands in the middle of the slice, so there is no arguing about a line.

Each line is one slice of equal width. Writing a name on two lines gives it two slices, which is the honest way to weight a draw: the weighting is in the list for everyone to see.

Reading the receipt

Under the winner there is a draw receipt with the time, every entry in order, the seed and a SHA-256 fingerprint of the list and seed. “Copy verification link” gives you an address that opens the Verify page with the receipt loaded, where the winner is recomputed from scratch.

For long lists, or several winners in one go, the random name picker does the same draw without the wheel.

Why use Choose Tools

  • One source of randomness

    Every draw calls crypto.getRandomValues and throws away the values that would cause modulo bias. A test fails if Math.random ever appears in the source.

  • The result comes first

    The wheel, the coin and the dice pick the outcome before they move. The animation always has the same length and only shows what was drawn.

  • A receipt you can recompute

    Wheel and name-picker winners are derived from a 256-bit seed with SHA-256. The Verify page repeats the calculation and compares.

  • Lists stay on your device

    They are kept in local storage. Shared links carry the list after the #, which browsers do not send to servers. There is no account.

  • Quiet by default

    Sound is off until you turn it on, and with “reduce motion” set in your system the result appears with no animation.

Questions and answers

How many names can the wheel hold?

Up to 2,000 lines. Labels shrink as the wheel fills and are only cut when they still do not fit. Past about 60 names the slices get too thin to read from a distance; the random name picker handles long lists better and draws the same way.

Does the spin speed or a name’s position change the odds?

No. The winning slice is chosen first, with equal odds for every line, and the animation then travels to that slice. The spin lasts the same time whatever the result.

Can I give someone a bigger chance?

Each line is one slice, so a name written on two lines has twice the chance. The receipt lists every line, so the weighting is visible to anyone who checks it.

Is my wheel saved?

The list, the remove-the-winner setting and the colour theme are saved in this browser. To use the same wheel on another device, copy the link to the list: the names travel inside the link.