Adjusted Winner Calculator
Two people, a pile of things, and no way to cut most of them in half. Adjusted Winner asks each side to spread a hundred points across the items according to what they actually care about, then hands each item to whoever wanted it more and rebalances until both sides hold the same percentage of their own hundred. At most one item ends up divided. Both sides do at least as well as an even split, and neither would swap.
What this generator does
Gives each item to whichever side scored it higher, then moves items across in order of how little they cost the side that is ahead, until both sides hold the same percentage of their own hundred points.
How to use this tool
- Name the two parties and the five things being divided — rename the rows, and give a spare row 0 points on both sides.
- Have each side spread exactly a hundred points across the items.
- Work it out, and read who gets what.
- Note the one item that may be split — everything else goes whole.
Understanding the controls
- The two parties
- Whose columns are whose. The method only works for two sides; three or more is a different and much harder problem.
- Items and points
- Each side spreads exactly a hundred points across the items. Spending a lot on one item is how you say it matters more than the rest.
Worked examples
- A sofa, TV, table and rug, split between two people
- Alex scores them 40/30/10/20 and Sam scores them 10/20/30/40. Alex gets the sofa and TV, Sam gets the table and rug — both end up holding exactly 70 of their own 100 points, and no item needs to be divided.
Common use cases
- Dividing possessions when a household separates
- Splitting an inheritance between two people
- Settling which of two teams takes which pieces of work
- Negotiating a deal where both sides value the terms differently
- Teaching why stating priorities beats haggling item by item
How this generator works
Both totals are recomputed from the scores and compared, which is the whole promise: the percentages must match. Further conditions are checked rather than assumed — that neither side ends below half of its own valuation, which is what rules out envy, that no more than one item was divided, that every item is wholly shared out, and that no exchange would leave both sides better off.
Randomness and fairness
Nothing is random. The same scores always produce the same division.
For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.
Limitations and good to know
- Two parties only. The guarantees do not extend to three or more.
- It assumes both sides score honestly. Somebody who can guess the other's scores can gain by misreporting.
- One item may end up divided, which is awkward for things that cannot be shared or sold.
- Points describe relative worth, not money — the sides are not being compared on what they can afford.
Privacy and your data
Item names and scores stay in your browser. Nothing about what is being divided is transmitted or stored.
Related generators
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- Fair Division GeneratorSplits indivisible items between people who value them differently, then asks each of them whether they would rather have someone else's share.
- Auction Mechanism GeneratorRuns the same private values through a first-price and a second-price auction, proving by enumeration that honest bidding cannot be beaten in the second.