# Prize pools

Stock a pool of game keys and links, let your mods award one to a viewer with !keydrop @name, reveal it on a wheel, and take donated keys from viewers.

Updated 27 September 2026

## What a prize pool is

A prize pool is a stock of prizes your mods hand out one at a time, whenever they like. Nobody enters and nothing is drawn: a mod types `!keydrop @sam`, Sam gets a random prize from the pool, the giveaway panel spins a wheel of the prizes on stream, and chat tells Sam where to claim it.

It suits a stream that gives things away as it goes — a key for the best clip of the night, a link for whoever guessed the boss, a thank-you for a raid — rather than one draw at the end.

- A prize pool stocks prizes in the **prize vault**, which needs a plan that includes it: [your plan](https://bloopbot.com/docs/what-your-plan-includes) shows whether your channel holds it, under **Prize vault**.
- Every award is claimed on your channel's claim page, the same one a [claim-page giveaway](https://bloopbot.com/docs/giveaway-prizes#winner) uses. Winners sign in with Twitch there; nothing secret is ever said in chat.
- Bloopbot connected to your channel, with the bot account as a moderator, so it can read the command and answer in chat — [Get started with Bloopbot](https://bloopbot.com/docs/getting-started) walks through it.

> **A draw or a pool**
>
> A pool is fixed as a pool when you make it: it never turns into a draw, and a draw never turns into a pool. For viewers entering with a keyword and a winner drawn at the end, [Run a giveaway in chat](https://bloopbot.com/docs/giveaways) is the guide.

## Set one up

Open **Giveaways** and press **New giveaway**. Two choices appear under it.

![The Giveaways page after pressing New giveaway: two choices, Draw from entries and Prize pool, each with a one-line description.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/prize-pool-new.jpg)

_New giveaway offers Draw from entries and Prize pool._

1. Choose **Prize pool**. A new pool opens as a draft called **Prize pool**, on its **Prize** step.
2. On **Prize**, under **What are you giving away?**, give it a name viewers will recognise, such as `Indie key drop`. **Cover art** for the giveaway panel is optional.
3. Stock it in the **Prizes** section on the same step: pick a **Kind**, usually **Key (a code)** or **Link (a gift URL)**, give the prize a **Label** (what chat and the wheel show, such as `Bloop Raiders`), paste the keys or links one per line, and press **Stock prizes**. Each line is one prize. Stocking works the same way as for a [claim-page giveaway](https://bloopbot.com/docs/giveaway-prizes#stock), and you can keep adding prizes while the pool is open.
4. Press **Next**. On **Claim**, under **Unclaimed prizes**, choose **Keep until claimed**, or **Return to the pool after** a number of days. Set **Days to claim** between 1 and 90; the time starts when the prize is awarded.
5. Press **Next**. On **Donations**, tick **Accept donations** if viewers may add their own keys (see [Let viewers donate keys](https://bloopbot.com/docs/prize-pools#donations)); leave it clear otherwise.
6. Press **Next**. **Review** reads the pool back in one sentence per step, each with **Edit**. Press **Save**.
7. Add the award command (next section), then press **Open** on the **Run** panel.

A pool opens even with nothing in it, and its settings stay editable while it is open: rename it, change how long prizes wait, or switch donations on halfway through a stream.

## Add the award command

Mods award prizes with a chat command, and every line chat hears comes from that command's flow — so the wording is yours to change.

1. Open the pool. On the **Run** panel, under **Award command**, the **Command** box starts at `keydrop`. Change the word if you like.
2. Press **Add award command**. The line changes to **Mods award prizes with** `!keydrop @name`, with **Open flow** and **Change** beside it.

The award command is built in: it doesn't count toward your flow limit unless you edit it. **Open flow** shows what it does — a chat command, a check that the person typing it is a moderator, the **Award from a prize pool** action pointed at this pool, and a chat message for each outcome. **Change** swaps the word; **Keep it** leaves it as it was.

Each pool has its own award command, so two pools running at once need two different words.

## Give a prize

With the pool open, a mod (or you) types the command and the viewer's name:

```
!keydrop @sam
```

1. A random prize comes out of the pool for Sam. If Sam donated a prize to this pool, they are never given their own.
2. Chat hears `🎁 @sam won Bloop Raiders! Claim it: bloopbot.com/c/<your channel>/claim`. When the prize was donated with credit, the line adds who donated it.
3. The giveaway panel on stream spins a wheel of the prizes and lands on Sam's. The panel always shows how many prizes are left.

![The giveaway panel revealing a prize pool award: a wheel of the pool’s three prizes mid-spin, under the pool’s title and 2 prizes left.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/prize-pool-wheel.jpg)

_The giveaway panel mid-spin on a prize pool's wheel, with 2 prizes left under the pool's name._

The wheel is the giveaway panel's **Wheel** draw style. Select the **Giveaway** layer in the widget editor, open **Content** and set **Draw style** to **Wheel**, then **Publish**. [Put the giveaway panel on stream](https://bloopbot.com/docs/giveaways#panel) covers adding the panel to OBS.

Every award appears on the **Run** panel under **Awards**, newest first, with the winner, their prize and where it stands: **Waiting to be claimed**, **Claimed**, **Handed back** or **Expired**. While a prize is still waiting, **Take back** returns it to the pool — useful when a mod typed the wrong name.

![A prize pool’s Run panel: 1 prize left, Add prizes and End pool, the award command reading Mods award prizes with !keydrop @name, two awards waiting to be claimed with Take back, and one donation waiting for review.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/prize-pool-run.jpg)

_A pool's Run panel: prizes left, Add prizes and End pool, the award command, two awards waiting to be claimed, and a donation waiting for review._

A flow of your own can react to awards too: the **Giveaway changes** trigger has **A prize is awarded from a pool** and **A pool prize is handed back** under **When** — to play an alert, say, or thank a viewer who passed their prize on.

## What the winner sees

The winner opens the link from chat, your channel's claim page, and signs in with Twitch. Their prize waits under **Waiting for you**, with its label, and the time left to claim when the pool returns unclaimed prizes.

![The claim page with a prize pool award waiting: Your prize: Bloop Raiders, claim within 14 days, Claim prize, and Hand it back under it.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/prize-pool-claim.jpg)

_The claim page with a pool prize waiting: Your prize, the time left to claim, Claim prize and Hand it back._

- **Claim prize** makes it theirs. Then **Show my key** (or **Show my link**) reveals it, as often as they like, and only to them.
- **Hand it back** gives it up before claiming: the prize goes back in the pool for someone else, and the award reads **Handed back** on your Run panel. Once a prize is claimed, it can't be handed back.
- If the pool returns unclaimed prizes and the winner hasn't claimed in time, the award reads **Expired** and the prize goes back in the pool. With **Keep until claimed**, it waits for them however long it takes.

## Let viewers donate keys

Viewers can add their own spare keys and links to a pool from a public page.

1. On the pool's **Donations** step, tick **Accept donations**.
2. Choose **Approve each donation first** (donations wait on the Run panel for you), or **Add donations straight to the pool** (each can be awarded the moment it arrives).
3. Copy the **Donation page** link with **Copy** and share it, in chat or in a panel. The page takes donations once the pool is open.

On the donate page a viewer signs in with Twitch, picks **Key** or **Link**, gives it a **Name** (up to 60 characters, shown in chat and on the wheel), pastes it into **Key or link**, and presses **Donate**. **Credit me by name** is ticked to start with, so chat says who donated it when it is won.

![A prize pool’s public donate page, signed in: Key or Link, a Name, an empty box for the key or link, Credit me by name ticked, and Donate.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/prize-pool-donate.jpg)

_The donate page signed in: Key or Link, a Name, the Key or link box, Credit me by name and Donate._

A viewer can have up to five donations waiting for review in one pool at a time. Their own claim page lists their donations under **Your donations**, each as **Waiting for review**, **In the pool**, **Given away** or **Not accepted** — never who won it.

> **Adding straight to the pool**
>
> With **Add donations straight to the pool**, a donated name can appear in chat and on stream without you seeing it first. Approving each one is the safer choice for a big channel.

## Review donations

With **Approve each donation first**, donations wait on the pool's **Run** panel under **Donations**, with a count beside the heading.

![The Donations list on a prize pool’s Run panel: a donated key called Cozy Farm, donated by @moss\_and\_tea, with Approve and Reject.](https://bloopbot.com/docs/screenshots/prize-pool-donations.jpg)

_A donation waiting for review: its name, Key, who donated it, and Approve and Reject._

- **Approve** puts it in the pool, where the next award can pick it.
- **Reject** turns it away. It is never awarded, and the donor sees **Not accepted**.

A donation's key or link is never shown to you, only to the viewer who wins it — review the name, and who sent it.

## End a pool

Press **End pool** on the **Run** panel and confirm. Mods can't award from it any more, and the award command answers that the pool isn't running. Prizes already awarded can still be claimed.

The pool then reads **Finished**. Press **Archive** to file it away. Archive waits while a winner still has a prize to claim: press **Take back** on that award under **Awards**, or wait for them to claim it. A pool that was never opened can be removed with **Call off** instead.

## Troubleshooting

- **The pool is empty.** Chat says this when every prize has been awarded or is waiting to be claimed, or when the only prizes left were donated by the viewer being awarded: donors can't win their own. Press **Add prizes** on the Run panel to stock more, approve a waiting donation, or take back an award nobody will claim.
- **No Twitch user called …** The name after the command isn't a Twitch account. Check the spelling; the `@` is optional.
- **Say who wins, e.g. !keydrop @name.** The command was typed without a name after it.
- **The wheel doesn't show.** The panel's **Draw style** is **Slot reel**, which rolls the prize names instead: set it to **Wheel** and **Publish**. If nothing appears at all, no overlay in OBS has a **Giveaway** layer, or the layer is hidden — see [Put the giveaway panel on stream](https://bloopbot.com/docs/giveaways#panel). An award always takes over the panel. When the panel reloads, it shows the giveaway you opened most recently, so run one pool or giveaway at a time.
- **Mods can't use the command.** The Run panel reads **Your award command is paused, so mods can’t award prizes.** Press **Resume** and switch the flow on. If nothing happens at all, check the bot account is a moderator, and that the person typing is one: the command only answers mods and you.
- **Chat says the pool is not running.** It is still a draft, or it has ended. Press **Open** on the Run panel, or make a new pool.
- **Donations aren't possible.** The donate page only takes donations while the pool is open and **Accept donations** is ticked. A viewer with five donations already waiting is asked to wait for you to review them.
- **A pool won't open or save.** Prize pools need the prize vault: [your plan](https://bloopbot.com/docs/what-your-plan-includes) shows whether your channel holds it.