Guides

How to run a draw people trust, ideas for using a wheel in class, at work and at parties, and plain-English explanations of the odds behind coins and dice. Every guide is written and checked by the people who build the tools on this site.

• How to split a group into fair random teamsPicking teams is one of those small jobs that goes wrong surprisingly often. Let two captains choose and somebody is always picked last. Let people choose their own groups and the same friends end up together every time. Choose the groups yourself and you will be accused of favouritism, usually by the people who lost.Updated 8 October 2026 · 4 min read
• How to pick a giveaway winner fairlyChoosing the winner is the easy part of a giveaway. The hard part is making sure the people who did not win believe the draw was honest. One suspicious-looking result can undo all the goodwill the giveaway was meant to create.Updated 8 October 2026 · 3 min read
• 14 ways to use a random name picker in the classroomA name wheel on the board is one of the simplest tools a teacher can add to a lesson. It takes thirty seconds to set up, costs nothing, and removes a dozen small decisions from the day: who answers next, who hands out the books, who presents first.Updated 8 October 2026 · 3 min read
• Is a coin flip really 50/50?Everybody knows a coin toss is 50/50. It is the textbook example of a fair chance, used to start football matches and settle arguments. The interesting part is that a real coin, flipped by a real person, is very slightly not 50/50, and we know roughly by how much.Updated 8 October 2026 · 4 min read
• Dice probability explainedDice are the easiest way to see probability working. One die is simple: every face is equally likely. Add a second die and something more interesting happens, because some totals can be made in more ways than others.Updated 8 October 2026 · 3 min read
• How online wheel spinners work, and whether they are fairWhen a wheel slows down and creeps past three slices before stopping on a name, it looks as though the result was decided in that last second. It was not. In almost every online spinner, including this one, the winner is chosen the moment you press spin, and the animation is a performance of a result that already exists.Updated 8 October 2026 · 4 min read
• 60 icebreaker questions for a spin the wheel gameMost icebreakers fail for the same reason: they put one person on the spot while everyone else waits for their turn in silence. A wheel changes the feel of it. The question is chosen by chance, the person is chosen by chance, and there is a few seconds of suspense that gives the room something to watch together.Updated 8 October 2026 · 5 min read
• 12 random number games to play with a number wheelA wheel of numbers is about the most flexible game prop there is. With no preparation at all it can call bingo, run a maths warm-up, draw a raffle or settle who does the washing up. All you need is a screen and a range.Updated 8 October 2026 · 4 min read
• Is computer randomness really random?A computer is a machine built to do exactly what it is told, the same way every time. That makes "pick a random number" a strange thing to ask of one. Give a program the same starting point and it will produce the same output, so where does the surprise come from?Updated 8 October 2026 · 7 min read
• The birthday paradox, explainedHow many people do you need in a room before it is more likely than not that two of them share a birthday? Most people guess somewhere around 180, half the days in a year. The real answer is 23.Updated 8 October 2026 · 4 min read
• The Monty Hall problem, explainedYou are on a game show, facing three closed doors. Behind one is a car. Behind the other two are goats. You pick a door. The host, who knows where the car is, opens one of the other two doors to reveal a goat. Then he makes you an offer: stick with your first choice, or switch to the one remaining closed door.Updated 8 October 2026 · 5 min read
• The gambler's fallacy, explainedA coin lands heads five times in a row. What is the chance that the next flip is tails? If your instinct says "better than half, it must be due", you have just met the gambler's fallacy: the belief that a run of one result makes the opposite result more likely.Updated 8 October 2026 · 5 min read