How to Use a Giveaway Wheel With Prizes, Step by Step
A spinning wheel turns a list of names into a moment people want to watch. Add a second wheel for prizes and one spin answers both questions at once: who won, and what they won. This guide walks through a full draw on the GoPickaro double wheel, including the details that only show up once you are live.
Before you start
Have three things ready:
- The final list of entries, one per line. Collect it after the giveaway closes, not before. Our guide on running a fair giveaway covers how to collect and clean it.
- The prize list, with quantities.
- One decision from your rules: can a person win more than once? The wheel needs to know before the first spin.
Step 1: Add the participants
The left panel feeds the outer wheel. Paste your names, one per line, and each name becomes a slice. You can also use Import to load a TXT or CSV file, or to fetch the commenters of a YouTube video directly.
Two things are worth knowing:
- A name on two lines gets two slices. That is how you give someone an extra entry, for example for a second qualifying comment. If your rules say one entry per person, remove duplicates before you paste.
- Long lists work, but slices get thin. With a few hundred names the labels become small. The draw works exactly the same, and the result window always shows the full name.
Step 2: Add the prizes, with quantities
The panel below feeds the inner wheel. One prize per line. If you have several identical prizes, add a quantity instead of repeating the line:
This gives three slices on the prize wheel. Gift card x3 stays as one slice, and every confirmed win lowers the number: x3, then x2, then plain Gift card, then the slice disappears.
How quantities affect the odds. Every prize line is one equal slice, so on any single spin T-shirt x5 has exactly the same chance as Headphones. The quantity decides how many times a prize can be won, not how likely it is on each spin. As long as you have enough participants, every copy is handed out before the draw ends.
This matters if you want the big prize to come last for suspense. The wheel will not hold it back for you. Run the smaller prizes as one draw, then start a new draw with only the grand prize. If your rules say one prize per person, leave the earlier winners out of the second list.
No prizes at all? Leave the panel empty and the wheel works as a classic name picker. No names? Fill in only prizes and it picks prizes, which is handy for deciding the order in which prizes are handed out on stage.
Step 3: Decide on repeat winners
The switch Remove winner from list after winning is on by default. Each confirmed winner leaves the outer wheel, so nobody wins twice. Turn it off only if your rules allow repeat winners, and set it before the first spin.
Step 4: Spin for one winner
Press 1× Spin or tap SPIN in the middle of the wheel. The two rings turn in opposite directions for about ten seconds, ticking as each slice passes its pointer, and stop independently. A window then shows the winner and the prize, with two choices:
- Confirm Winner saves the result to the winners list on the right, uses up one copy of the prize and, if the switch is on, removes the winner. The winning slice stays under the pointers for a moment so your audience can see it, then closes smoothly.
- Disqualify & Re-spin takes that name off the wheel without recording a win and leaves the prize in place for your next spin. It is meant for a winner who is not eligible. It sits lower and smaller than Confirm, with a short note underneath, and asks you to confirm before anyone is removed. In a prizes-only draw there is no name to remove, so the button simply reads Re-spin.
Disqualify only for reasons your rules name in advance, for example a winner who turns out to be under age or outside the allowed countries. Removing someone just because you did not like the result is exactly what viewers worry about, and a recording makes it obvious.
Once the first spin starts, the lists are locked. Nobody can add or remove a name halfway through, which protects you as much as your audience.
Step 5: Spin for many winners at once
With twenty prizes, confirming each one by hand gets slow. The buttons under the wheel run several spins in a row:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1× Spin | One spin, with the Confirm or Disqualify window |
| 5× Spins, 10× Spins | Five or ten spins back to back, with a countdown on the button |
| Counter and Go | Any number from 1 to 999. Set it with − and + (hold to go faster), then press Go |
Multiple spins are shorter, about five seconds each, and confirm each result automatically. There is no Confirm or Disqualify window, so check your lists before you start. After every spin the wheel pauses on the result for a couple of seconds, the winner is added to the list, and the used slices close before the next spin begins. The run stops early if the names or prizes run out.
Step 6: The last winner and the summary
When exactly one name and one prize are left, spinning would decide nothing, so the wheel skips the spin and assigns them to each other in a window marked Auto-Assigned. Press Continue to record it.
Once the names or the prizes run out, the draw ends and a summary lists every winner in order. Use Print/Save to print it or save it as a PDF, which is worth doing before you close the page. New Draw clears everything for the next giveaway.
Running the wheel live
- Test first with a short dummy list, then start a new draw with the real one.
- Share the browser tab or window, not your whole screen, so notifications stay private. If you stream with software such as OBS, capture the window and include desktop audio, because the ticking and the finish sound are half the fun.
- Show both lists before the first spin and say how many entries there are.
- Keep the window wide enough for both side panels, so viewers can watch the winners list fill up.
- Do not panic if the browser crashes. The wheel saves the draw on your device as it goes. Reopen the page in the same browser and it offers to continue with the same lists, winners and any result that was still waiting for Confirm. The saved draw is kept for 30 days and never leaves your computer.
Why the result is fair
The stopping angle of each ring is decided by your browser's cryptographically secure random generator before the animation plays. Every slice on a ring is the same size, so every entry on the outer wheel has the same chance, and every prize line on the inner wheel has the same chance. The two rings are drawn separately, so the name does not influence the prize. Nothing is sent to our servers to pick the winner. The fairness page explains the method in more detail.
Prefer results in one click, without the show? The instant draw uses the same randomness for long lists and many prizes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add several copies of the same prize?
Write it once with a quantity, such as Gift card x3. It stays one slice and counts down with each confirmed win.
Does a prize with a bigger quantity come up more often?
No. Each prize line is one equal slice. The quantity only sets how many times it can be won.
Can the same person win twice?
Not while Remove winner from list after winning is on. A name written on two lines has two slices, which gives that person two chances.
What happens if my browser crashes?
Open the wheel again in the same browser within 30 days and choose Continue draw. The lists, the winners so far and any result waiting for Confirm come back.
Why can I not edit the lists after the first spin?
They lock so the draw cannot be changed halfway. Start a new draw to edit them.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The wheel, the multi-spin buttons and the counter all work on mobile browsers.
Related guides
- Christmas giveaway wheel: holiday prize draws from Black Friday to New Year.
- How to run a fair giveaway: rules, entries you can check and a public draw, on any platform.
- How to pick a random YouTube comment winner: filters, backups and proving the draw was fair.
- How to run a Twitch giveaway: the required disclaimer, chat entries and a live draw.