Draw Lots
Pull a straw and see who wins โ or loses โ without an argument.
About drawing lots
Set how many straws there are and how many are short, then everyone picks in turn. A short straw shrinks; a long one stays. Switch the meaning around if the short straw should win rather than lose.
Which straws are short is decided the moment the round starts, before anyone touches anything. That is what makes it a fair draw: picking first is neither better nor worse than picking last, exactly as with real straws in a fist.
Why the order genuinely does not matter
People assume drawing first improves the odds, or worsens them. Neither is true, and the maths is worth knowing.
With five straws and one short one, the first person has a 1 in 5 chance. The second person only draws if the first was safe โ 4/5 โ and then faces 1 in 4, which multiplies out to 1 in 5 again. Every position works out identically. The odds look like they change as straws are removed, but the chance of reaching that position falls at exactly the compensating rate.
This is the same reasoning behind the fairness of a shuffled deck, and it holds for any number of short straws.
Frequently asked questions
Is drawing first better or worse?
Neither โ every position has identical odds. Later draws face better-looking odds but only reach that point if earlier draws were safe, and the two effects cancel exactly.
Can more than one straw be short?
Yes. Set how many are short and they are distributed randomly among the straws before anyone draws.
Can the short straw be the winner instead?
Yes โ switch the meaning and the short straw becomes the prize rather than the forfeit.
Is it genuinely random?
Yes. The short straws are chosen with your browser's cryptographic random number generator when the round starts, and nothing is decided at the moment you click.