Run a raffle people actually trust
The hardest part of a giveaway is not picking a winner — it is convincing everyone else that the pick was clean. Announcing “we chose a winner internally” invites doubt; a spinning wheel with every ticket visible removes it. Each entry gets an identical slice, the spin happens live, and the pointer decision is instant and public. The winner is selected by a uniform random draw the moment you click Spin, so the odds are exactly one-per-ticket regardless of where a name sits on the wheel.
Three ways to load your entries
- Ticket numbers — paste “Ticket 001 … Ticket 250” style numbers, one per line. Best when buyers hold numbered stubs.
- Names — paste the entrant list straight from your signup sheet or spreadsheet column.
- Name + ticket — lines like “Maria — #047” keep both visible on the slice and in the winner pop-up.
Multiple tickets per person? Give them one line per ticket. Five lines among one hundred is a 5% chance — identical to five paper stubs in the drum, and visibly so.
Drawing several prizes
Turn on elimination mode and spin once per prize. Winners are removed automatically, so nobody takes two prizes and the remaining odds tighten naturally (1 / 50, then 1 / 49, then 1 / 48…). A common format that builds suspense: draw third prize first, then second, and finish with the grand prize. If one person legitimately holds several tickets and prizes are per-ticket, remove only the winning ticket line and leave their other lines in play.
Transparency checklist
- Publish the entry list (or wheel share link) before the draw so entrants can verify they are on it.
- Spin on a shared or projected screen — never off-camera.
- State the rules up front: number of prizes, elimination on, rerolls only for invalid entries.
- Record the screen for anyone who missed the live draw.
Because the wheel runs entirely in your browser and the share link encodes the full entry list, there is no hidden server-side state to dispute. For everyday name-picking see the random name picker, teachers should try the classroom name picker, and for binary calls there is the yes or no wheel.
Raffle draw FAQ
How do I draw more than one raffle winner?
Enable "Remove winner after each spin" before you start. Each announced winner is removed from the wheel, so with 50 tickets the second draw is 1 in 49, the third 1 in 48, and the same ticket can never win twice. Spin once per prize, ideally starting with the smallest prize and ending with the grand prize.
Someone bought 5 raffle tickets — how do I represent that?
Add them on 5 lines (or paste their 5 ticket numbers). Every line is one slice with equal probability, so 5 lines out of 100 total is exactly a 5% chance — the same as holding 5 of 100 paper tickets.
How do I make the draw transparent for participants?
Spin where people can watch: share your screen on a video call, record the spin, or project it at the event. Because the entries are visible on the wheel and each slice is the same size, the audience can verify the setup themselves. Copy the share link into the chat beforehand so anyone can inspect the exact wheel.
Is this legal for running a lottery?
This tool is a general-purpose random picker. It uses the browser’s standard random number generator, which is fine for community raffles, giveaways, and prize draws, but it is not certified gambling equipment. Regulated lotteries and games of chance for money usually have legal requirements (licensing, audited RNGs) that vary by country — check your local rules before running anything with paid entry.