Pick one, fairly
You’ve got 40 comment entries on a giveaway post and need to crown one winner. Or a roster of 28 students and you have to call on someone who won’t groan about it being rigged. Paste the names, one per line, and hit the button. The picker flickers through the list for about a second, slows down, and lands on a single name in big bold type.
That little roll isn’t just for show. It buys a moment of suspense so the result feels earned, the same reason a raffle drum spins instead of someone just reading a number off a slip.
How it works
Three steps, no setup.
- Drop your names into the box. One name per line. The counter under it tells you how many it sees, so you can spot a stray blank line or a double-pasted batch.
- Press Pick a name. Watch the shuffle, then read the winner.
- Want another? Press it again.
The draw uses Math.random() on every roll, so each name has the same shot every time you click. There’s no hidden weighting toward names at the top, and refreshing the page doesn’t change the odds.
Draw several, or keep going without repeats
Need more than one winner? Set Pick how many to 3 and you’ll get three distinct names in a single roll. No duplicates inside that draw, so the same person can’t win two of your three prizes by luck.
Flip on remove winner after picking and every name you draw gets pulled out of the list. Click, reveal, click again, and the pool shrinks each time. This is the setting for a turn order (“who presents first, second, third”) or for handing out seats where each person should come up exactly once. Leave it off and the full list stays put, so the same lucky name can absolutely come back around.
A running history sits to the side, newest at the top, holding your last dozen results. Handy when someone in the room asks “wait, who did we already pick?” and you’d rather not re-roll from memory.
Where people actually use it
Classroom cold-calls. Type the class list once, turn on remove-after-pick, and work through everyone without calling the same kid twice. When the list empties, you know the whole room got a turn.
Giveaways and raffles. Copy the entrant names out of your comments or signup sheet, paste, draw your winner on screen. If you stream or record the pick, the shuffle animation makes it obvious you didn’t just type your friend’s name in.
Standup and chores. Who runs today’s meeting? Who grabs the coffee order? Drop the team in, pick one, done. Nobody can argue the manager picked their favorite.
Secret Santa and game night. Pick the gift-buying order, or just settle who goes first on the board without the usual rock-paper-scissors tournament.
Everything happens in your browser. The names you paste never get sent anywhere, and they vanish the second you close the tab or hit Clear. So a class roster or a list of customer emails stays on your machine.
Common questions
Is the pick actually random, or weighted toward the top?
Every name has an equal chance on each roll. The tool shuffles the whole list before landing, so position in the box makes no difference. Name number one and name number fifty are exactly as likely.
Can it pick more than one name at once?
Yep. Set “Pick how many” to whatever you need and it’ll draw that many unique names in one go. Useful for picking, say, three runners-up alongside a grand prize.
How do I make sure no name repeats across draws?
Turn on “remove winner after picking.” Each drawn name leaves the list, so back-to-back picks can’t land on the same person until you reset. Without it, repeats are fair game.
Does the winner list save if I close the tab?
Nope. The history is in-memory only and clears on refresh, on Clear, or when you leave. If you need a permanent record, screenshot it or copy the names out before closing.
What if I paste names with extra blank lines or spaces?
Blank lines get ignored and leading or trailing spaces are trimmed, so a messy copy-paste still counts correctly. Check the counter under the box if the number looks off.
Can I use this for a livestreamed giveaway?
That’s a common one. The one-second shuffle reads well on camera and shows the result wasn’t pre-typed. For high-stakes prizes where viewers might dispute fairness, some hosts also screen-record the whole pick as a receipt.