Flipping a coin online, and what streaks really mean
A coin flip is the simplest fair way to settle a choice between two options: who goes first, which restaurant, heads or tails. Without a coin in your pocket, an online flip does the same job in one tap.
This tool flips a virtual coin once, ten times or a hundred times, keeps a history of results, counts heads and tails, and shows the current streak.
How to use it
- Press Flip 1 for a single flip, or 10 or 100 for a batch.
- Read the last flip and the heads and tails totals.
- Watch the current streak: how many times in a row the latest result has come up.
- Press Clear to start a fresh history.
Example: counting a short history
heads, heads, tails, heads, heads, heads
Heads: 5, tails: 1 Current streak: heads × 3
The streak only counts the latest run, so the two heads at the start do not add to it.
Streaks are normal
In 100 fair flips, a run of at least six of the same side in a row is more likely than not. People expect random results to alternate more than they do, which is why genuine random sequences often look suspicious and why a streak says nothing about the next flip. Each flip is independent: after five heads, tails is still exactly a one-in-two chance. Believing otherwise is called the gambler's fallacy.
What 50/50 looks like in practice
Over 10 flips, getting 6 or 7 of one side is common. Over 100 flips, results between 40 and 60 heads cover about 95% of outcomes. Only over thousands of flips does the share settle close to half, which is the law of large numbers at work. Flip 100 a few times and you will see the totals wander.
How random is it?
The flips use the browser's built-in Math.random generator. It is more than random enough for games and everyday decisions, but it is not a cryptographic generator, so do not use it for anything with money or legal weight, such as an official prize draw.
Questions
Is a real coin flip really 50/50?
Almost. A 2023 study of 350,757 hand flips found a slight bias: a coin lands on the side it started on about 50.8% of the time.
Can I decide between more than two options?
Use the random picker for a list of options, or the decision matrix when the choice deserves more thought.
Is the history saved?
No. It stays on the page until you clear it or close the tab.