How Ppobgi works and how to verify a seed

Drawing lots is a way to pick people, items, or an order at random, from pulling a paper slip to spinning a wheel. The forms differ, but the point is the same: the outcome is not fixed ahead of time, it is decided on the spot.

This tool runs that decision on screen, but makes it **reproducible**. A paper slip is gone once pulled, so nobody can check it later, but here a single value called a seed decides the outcome and stays in the link, so anyone can reopen that link and see the same result again.

Five modes

Wheel draws one name, or several. Order draw sets a turn order for everyone entered. Group split divides everyone into a chosen number of groups. Seat assignment places one person per numbered seat. Ladder game matches every name to one slot.

The seed decides the result

The seed is the single value this tool uses to produce a result. The same name list with the same seed always gives the same result, no matter who runs it or when. Changing even one character in the names, or drawing a new seed, changes the result.

From here on this is what the tool actually does, which differs between pickers, so it is worth reading once.

Up to 500 names, each cut at 24 characters

Paste one name per line: at least two, up to 500 at once. Lines beyond 500 are not silently dropped, the screen tells you they were cut. A name longer than 24 characters keeps only its first part.

Weight is a comma and a number

Add a comma and a positive number after a name to set its weight, for example "Sam,2" is twice as likely to be drawn as an unweighted name. Leaving it out sets weight to 1; zero, a negative number, or a non-number marks that line as an error and blocks the wheel from spinning. Weight only applies to the wheel; order draw, group split, and seat assignment treat everyone equally.

Groups come out as even as possible

Group split shuffles everyone once, then hands them out to groups one at a time in order, so group sizes never differ by more than one, and the total across all groups always equals the full headcount.

When seat count does not match headcount

More seats than people leaves the extra seats marked empty. Fewer seats than people lists the names that did not get a seat separately. Neither case is an error, both are the defined behavior.

Nothing is sent to a server

Name lists and results live only on this screen and in the link you create. The only telemetry our server keeps is whether the page opened, a draw was spun, or the result link was copied; it never records the names or the outcome.

Enter 2 to 20 names, then type the slots for the bottom, one per line. Leave them empty and they are named Slot 1, Slot 2, and so on. The rungs come from the seed, and every name lands on its own slot, so two names never end up in the same one.

Tap a name to see only its path in color, or tap Show all to see every path. Seed checking works the same as in the other modes: the same number of names and the same seed draw the same ladder.

Slot text is whatever the host types. This tool does not handle money or goods.

Pick the mode that fits

Use the wheel for a single winner, order draw for a presentation order, group split for teams, and seat assignment for placing people in seats, and the ladder game for matching each name to a slot. You can chain all five on the same name list.

Show the seed before arguing over a result

If someone disputes a result, re-entering the same seed and name list to reproduce it is faster than arguing in words. If the seed and name list match but the result differs, one of the two actually changed.

Prepare the result link ahead of time

Pick a seed and build the result link before you spin, then post it publicly before running the draw. That order, seed published first, is itself the proof nobody changed the outcome mid-event.

Drawing more than one winner

Setting the winner count above one draws without replacement: once a name is drawn, it is removed from the pool for the rest of that draw, weighted names included.

The spin button will not press

It stays disabled with fewer than two names. On the wheel, a weight error also disables it, so check the error list shown on screen first.

Same seed, different-looking result

A changed line order or extra spacing in the name list counts as a different input and changes the result. The seed alone is not enough; the name list has to match exactly too.

Pressing spin again gives the same result

That is not a bug. Without changing the seed, spinning again always reproduces the same result by design. Press New seed if you want a different one.