About the Yes or No Wheel
What is a yes or no wheel?
A yes or no wheel is a random yes or no generator drawn as a spinning wheel.
You ask a closed question, spin, and the pointer stops on Yes or No with equal odds. The wheel has no opinion. It picks one entry at random, and every entry has the same chance, so it is a coin flip with a picture. Add Maybe for a third answer, or replace the entries with names, numbers or chores and it becomes a general picker.
Facts worth knowing before you spin
- Two entries give each a 50% chance. Three give 33.3%, ten give 10%, and the odds table below covers the rest.
- The winner is drawn before the wheel moves. It comes from the browser's cryptographic random number generator, and the animation lands on it. The spin is the show, not the decision.
- An entry listed twice wins twice as often. That is the only way to tilt the wheel, and the scores make the tilt visible.
- Repeat entries adds slices without changing the odds. Two entries in 5 sets make a ten-slice wheel that still lands on Yes half the time.
- Your entries, question and settings stay on this device. Nothing is sent to a server, and the list is back when you return in the same browser.
How to use the yes or no wheel
- Type your question, or skip it. The question appears with the result and in the list of recent spins.
- Choose the entries. Keep Yes and No, press Yes / No / Maybe, or type your own list with one entry per line.
- Spin. Press Spin the wheel, press Space, or click the wheel. It turns for four to five seconds and stops on the winner.
- Read, copy or spin again. The result stays on the wheel until you close it or spin again. Scores count every win, and Recent spins keeps the last 20 with the time.
- Draw several winners without repeats. Turn on Remove the winner after each spin, and turn on Mystery mode to hide the entries on the wheel.
Example
A question will be converted to a random answer with equal odds. The entries are the defaults, Yes and No in one set, and one spin gave this:
Should I order pizza tonight?
Yes
No
Should I order pizza tonight? Yes
Scores: Yes 1, No 0
Add Maybe as a third line and the same spin has three possible answers at 33.3% each. Press Spin again and the scores keep counting.
Odds per entry on the wheel
Every entry has the same chance. The odds depend only on how many entries there are and how often each one appears.
Chance of each entry winning, by number of entries
| Entries | Chance per entry | Example list |
|---|
| 2 | 50% | Yes, No |
| 3 | 33.3% | Yes, No, Maybe |
| 4 | 25% | Four names |
| 5 | 20% | Five chores |
| 6 | 16.7% | Six dares |
| 10 | 10% | Numbers 1-10 |
| 3, with Yes twice | Yes 66.7%, No 33.3% | Yes, Yes, No |
Common mistakes
- Spinning until you like the answer. The wheel has no memory, so the fifth spin is as random as the first. Decide before you spin what a Yes will mean.
- Expecting Yes and No to alternate. Random results cluster. Five Yes in a row happens about once in every 32 runs of five spins.
- Testing Remove the winner on a two-entry wheel. After one spin only one entry is left, and the wheel can land nowhere else.
- Reading the scores as odds. Scores count past wins. They do not change what the next spin can do.
Common Use Cases
A spin settles small questions faster than thinking about them:
- Small decisions. Pizza or pasta, go out or stay in, reply now or tomorrow.
- Games and dares. Truth or dare, who goes first, pass or fail in a classroom quiz.
- Picking one of many. Paste the names and turn on Remove the winner to run a raffle without repeats.
- Checking your gut. If the answer disappoints you, you wanted the other one, and now you know.
For a pick without the spin, the Random List Item Picker chooses one line from a list, and the Random Number String Generator gives numbers instead of entries.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a yes or no wheel work?
The wheel picks one of its entries at random, then animates the spin to stop on it. With Yes and No, each has a 50% chance on every spin, whatever came before.
Is the yes or no wheel truly random?
Yes. The winner comes from the browser's cryptographic random number generator, the same source used for passwords, and every entry has the same chance unless you list one twice.
How do I decide yes or no?
Ask the question, spin once, and notice your reaction to the answer. Relief means the wheel was right, and disappointment means you already knew the other answer.
Can I add Maybe to the wheel?
Yes. Press Yes / No / Maybe or type Maybe on its own line, and each of the three answers gets a 33.3% chance.
Does the wheel save my list?
Yes. Your entries, question and settings are stored in this browser on this device, nothing is sent to a server, and clearing the site data removes them.
Can I rig the wheel?
Not secretly. Adding an entry twice doubles its chance, which the odds table shows, but there is no hidden setting that forces a result.