How to set exclusions before the draw

An exclusion is a pair of people the draw must never put together. It covers the classic case: a couple who already buy for each other, two siblings who live together, or the two colleagues who somehow always end up matched.

Only the organizer can set them.

Before you start: the mode matters

Exclusions only exist on exchanges created with a shared link.

In manual mode the draw runs the instant you create the exchange, so you never reach the screen where exclusions are configured. If you know in advance that you need them, create the exchange with a shared link.

You also need at least three participants already inside. With fewer, the exclusions section is not shown: without three people there is no possible draw, with or without restrictions.

Where they are

Exclusions do not live in a tab of their own. They sit inside the draw screen, which is exactly where you need them.

Open the exchange and press Draw. The "Perform draw manually" window opens and, right above the draw button, is the Exclusions (optional) block.

How to add a pair

Two dropdowns and a button.

• In the first one you pick a person.
• In the second you pick the other. The person you already picked disappears from this list, so you cannot exclude somebody from themselves.
• Press Add.

The pair appears straight away as a chip reading "Ana ↔ Luis". The double arrow is not decoration: it means the block runs both ways.

To remove a pair, press the x on its chip.

Until you add one, you will see the message "No exclusions yet. Anyone can draw anyone."

What an exclusion actually does

It blocks both directions. If you exclude Ana and Luis, Ana will not give to Luis and Luis will not give to Ana. You do not create the pair twice.

That is why the order you pick them in makes no difference, and why adding a pair that already exists is not an error: the screen tells you "Those two are already excluded" and disables the button.

What happens when you run the draw

The draw honours every exclusion you set. The shape of the result is a single circle: everyone gives once, receives once, nobody draws themselves, and no two people are ever paired with each other. Exclusions simply remove possible arrows from that circle.

Internally the system first tries random deals, and if the restrictions are dense it switches to a bounded exhaustive search. That is why the result stays random even with many exclusions, and why the draw always finishes instead of hanging.

If the draw becomes impossible

It can happen. With enough exclusions there is simply no valid circle: the easiest example is a group of three where two of them are excluded from each other.

When that happens, the draw is refused. No half-finished deal is made and no exclusion is silently dropped. You will see the notice "Remove one exclusion: with the current ones no draw is possible."

The fix is the one the message names: remove a pair, or invite more people. The more people there are, the more room the draw has.

Real limits

• Only the organizer can see, add or remove exclusions.
• Only before the draw. Once drawn, the exchange refuses any new exclusion. And since the draw button disappears afterwards, there is no way back to that screen either.
• Both people must already be in the exchange. You cannot reserve an exclusion for somebody who has not joined yet.
• You cannot exclude somebody from themselves. The draw already guarantees that on its own.

Practical advice

Add exclusions right before drawing, not when you create the exchange. With a shared link people trickle in, and you can only exclude somebody who is already inside.

The right moment is: wait until the group is complete, open Draw, add the pairs you need, and draw in the same sitting.