Toss a Coin: Head or Tail
A coin toss gives head or tail with an equal 50% chance; FlipACoin tosses the coin on its server and lets you verify every toss.
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Head or tail on Indian coins
On Indian coins, the side with the national emblem is commonly treated as head and the side with the value as tail. That is a popular custom rather than an official rule, so the safest habit is to agree before the toss which side counts as head. Once that is settled, the coin is just as fair: head or tail each has a 50% chance on every toss. When you toss a coin online here, the question disappears, because the screen clearly shows head or tail. You can toss once, three times or 100 times, and every toss can be checked on the Verify page.
Why a coin toss is considered fair
A coin toss is considered fair because both sides have an equal chance and neither person can control the result. The coin turns over many times in the air, so tiny differences in the flick decide how it lands, and nobody can repeat them on purpose. Statisticians Andrew Gelman and Deborah Nolan showed that even a weighted coin cannot be meaningfully biased when it is tossed and caught. The one small effect researchers have measured is that a coin lands on its starting side 50.8% of the time, and that disappears when the starting side is hidden. That is why umpires and referees trust the toss in cricket and football.
Toss with friends
To toss a coin with friends online, open a private room in the FlipACoin app and share the 6 character code or link on WhatsApp or any other chat. Pick Bo1, Bo3 or Bo5, then choose the Duel rule, where the first player to pick locks a side, or the Guess rule, where both of you call independently. You watch the same toss live on both phones. For a bigger crowd, join the Global Flip, a worldwide round every five minutes. Everything runs on virtual coins with no real value, which makes it handy for deciding who bats first in a gully cricket match or who gets the window seat.
Same side k times in a row
| k | Specific side (e.g. heads) | Any side, counted from the first flip |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 in 4 (25%) | 1 in 2 |
| 3 | 1 in 8 (12.5%) | 1 in 4 |
| 5 | 1 in 32 (3.13%) | 1 in 16 |
| 10 | 1 in 1,024 (0.098%) | 1 in 512 |
| 15 | 1 in 32,768 | 1 in 16,384 |
| 20 | 1 in 1,048,576 | 1 in 524,288 |
FAQ
Why is tossing a coin considered fair?
A properly tossed coin gives both sides an equal chance, and neither person controls the outcome. The coin turns over many times in the air, so tiny differences in the flick decide the result. Statisticians Andrew Gelman and Deborah Nolan showed that even a weighted coin can't be meaningfully biased when it is flipped and caught. That is why referees use a coin toss to start football and cricket matches.
Can you flip a coin for me?
Yes. On FlipACoin you tap Flip and instantly get heads or tails, free and without an account. Each result is generated on our server and comes with a code you can check on the Verify page, so nobody, including us, can change it afterwards. You can also flip 100 times at once, play best of 3, or ask a yes-or-no question.