Articles

Short reads on randomness, fairness, and the long history of deciding things by chance.

• The Surprisingly Long History of Drawing Lots

  Long before dice or coins, people were deciding by chance with sticks, stones, and straws. A short history of drawing lots and why it endures.

• How Random Is crypto.getRandomValues, Really?

  Why drawlots.net uses crypto.getRandomValues instead of Math.random(), what rejection sampling is, and why it matters even for something as low-stakes as a spinner wheel.

• Fair Ways to Split a Group Into Teams

  Picking captains, going by height, counting off — every classic way to split a group into teams has a fairness problem. Here's what actually works.

• Coin Flips, Dice Rolls, and the Myth of Streaks

  Five heads in a row doesn't make tails 'due.' A plain explanation of the gambler's fallacy and why every flip, roll, and spin here is completely independent of the last.