A raffle that hands out bonus entries for sharing a post is not broken, it is doing what it promised.
A weighted wheel of names lets you give one entry a bigger slice, which raises its chance of winning. The slice size shows the odds, so everybody watching can see the weighting rather than finding out afterwards.
This page covers how to set weights, what percentage each weight actually produces, and the line between a weighted draw and a rigged one.
What is a weighted wheel of names?
A weighted wheel of names is a spinner where entries carry different odds. Give a name a weight of 3 and it takes three times the slice of a name weighted 1, so it wins three times as often across enough spins.
On a normal wheel every slice is identical. Twelve names, twelve equal wedges, one in twelve each.
Weighting breaks that on purpose. The wheel redraws so slices match the weights, which means the picture on screen is an honest chart of the odds.
How do you set weights on the wheel?
Enter a weight next to each name, then spin. A weight of 1 is the default, 2 doubles that entry's share of the wheel, and 5 gives it five times the slice. The wheel redraws as you type so you see the odds change.
The workflow:
- Paste your names in as normal
- Add a weight to any name that should have better odds
- Check the percentage column before you spin
- Spin
What percentage does each weight give?
This is the question people actually ask and almost nobody answers. The maths is simple: an entry's chance is its weight divided by the total of all weights.
Say you have four names. Three carry weight 1 and one carries weight 3.
| Name | Weight | Share of wheel | Chance per spin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex | 3 | 3 of 6 | 50% |
| Sam | 1 | 1 of 6 | 16.7% |
| Jordan | 1 | 1 of 6 | 16.7% |
| Riley | 1 | 1 of 6 | 16.7% |
| Total | 6 | 6 of 6 | 100% |
Notice what happens. Alex looks like they have three times the odds, and they do compared to any single person, but they still lose half the time. Weighting is less powerful than it feels.
Is a weighted wheel rigged?
No, and the difference is whether people were told. A weighted wheel shows the odds on screen through slice size and percentages, so anyone watching can see that one entry has a better chance. A rigged wheel hides that.
Here is our position, and it is worth stating plainly.
If the wheel is deciding something between people, tell them the weights before you spin. A weighted draw announced in advance is fair, because everyone knows the rules they are playing by.
The same weighting applied quietly is not. Nothing about the software changes between those two cases. What changes is consent.
And if somebody asks whether the draw was weighted, showing them the percentage column ends the conversation in about four seconds. Full detail on the fairness question sits at is wheel of names rigged .
When should you weight a wheel?
Raffles with bonus entries, prize draws tied to tickets bought, handicap games that give a younger player a better shot, and any situation where the participants agreed the odds should differ. Announce the weighting first and it works fine.
Cases where weighting genuinely fits:
- Raffle entries earned by sharing a post or referring a friend
- Prize draws where people bought different numbers of tickets
- Handicap games giving the youngest or newest player an edge
- Chore wheels where someone owes an extra turn
- Selling wheel spots at different prices, where the buyer knows what they bought
Cases where it does not:
- Picking a student to answer, where equal chance is the entire point
- Any draw you described publicly as random without qualification
- Situations where the weighted person is the one doing the spinning
Does weighting work with other settings?
Yes. Weighting combines with remove after pick, so a weighted entry that wins leaves the wheel and the odds recalculate across whoever is left. The percentage column updates on its own as the pool shrinks.
That recalculation matters for multi winner draws. Remove a heavily weighted name and everyone else's odds jump, which is correct but surprising if you were not expecting it.
Related settings:
- Wheel of names without repeats for elimination mode
- Wheel of names multiple winners for drawing several at once
- Raffle winner wheel for running the draw itself
- Wheel of names for the standard equal odds spinner