How draws work, and how to check one

When a raffle closes

Each raffle states its draw rule up front: when a set number of tickets is sold, at a scheduled date and time, or whichever of those happens first. Entries are only counted once payment has completed.

How tickets are numbered

Paid entries are placed in a fixed order: by the time the entry was created, then by its record identifier. Each entry occupies as many consecutive ticket positions as tickets it purchased. Position 1 is the first ticket of the first entry, and so on. This order is not influenced by name, spend or timing beyond the entry time itself.

How the winner is selected

A random number is taken from a cryptographically secure generator (the same class of generator used for encryption keys). Rejection sampling removes any bias from mapping that number onto the ticket count. The number is reduced to a ticket position between 1 and the total tickets in the draw, and the entry holding that position wins.

What gets published

• When entries closed and when the draw ran
• The number of paid entries and total tickets in the draw
• The random value produced by the generator
• The winning ticket position
• A SHA-256 hash of the ordered entry list (entry identifier and ticket count for each entry)
• The named method, so the procedure can be reproduced

How to verify a result

Divide the published random value by the total tickets and take the remainder; adding one gives the winning ticket position, which should match the record. Organisers can export the ordered entry list from their dashboard; hashing that list with SHA-256 should reproduce the published hash, confirming the draw ran against exactly those entries. Any entrant can ask the organiser to confirm which ticket positions their entry held.

Limits of this record

The record shows that the published winning position was produced from the published random value against a fixed entry list. It does not, on its own, prove when the random value was generated. Draw records were introduced in September 2026; earlier draws show the date only.