Flip a coin

How to flip a coin online

1. Call heads or tails, if you are settling something.
2. Tap the coin or the Flip button.
3. Read the result once the short animation finishes.
4. Use flip 10 or flip 100 to toss lots of coins in one go.

Is an online coin flip fair?

Each flip uses your browser's cryptographic random generator, so heads and tails have exactly the same chance and no flip is affected by the one before. That makes it arguably fairer than a real coin, which can be caught, fumbled or flipped by someone who has practised.

One thing that trips people up: a fair coin does not "even out" over a few tosses. Five heads in a row happens about once in every 32 sets of five flips. Each new flip is still 50/50, however many heads came before.

Flip 10 or 100 at once

The bulk options toss many coins in one go and show how many landed heads and how many tails. This is useful in maths and science lessons on probability: ask the class to predict the result of 100 flips, then compare. You will rarely get exactly 50 and 50, but the split is usually fairly close, and running it a few times shows how much results wobble.

It also works for games that need several tosses at once, or for settling a best of ten without tapping ten times.

Everyday uses

• Deciding who kicks off or picks ends in a kickabout
• Choosing who has the first go in a board game
• Settling who does the washing up or takes the bins out
• Breaking a tie in a quiz or a vote between two options
• Deciding between two restaurants when nobody will commit

When you need to choose between more than two options, the spin the wheel tool or the random number generator will do the job. For a yes or no answer with a bit more ceremony, try the yes or no wheel.

Questions people ask