(warning all code untested)

If you aren't worried about space, then that approach is fine enough, but perhaps: 

@a = split /\s+/, join " ",
  ("1 " x 8, "2 " x 1, "3 " x 1);
print $a[int(rand 10)];

[download]
Is more(?) clear?

However, I would not approach it this way. Instead, I would do something like: 

my %wheel = {"One" => 8, "Two" => 1, "Three" => 1};
my $sum;
my $item;
foreach $item (keys %wheel) {
  $sum+=$wheel{$item};
}
my $spin = int(rand($sum));
foreach $item (keys %wheel) {
  last if $sum < $wheel{$item};
  $sum-=$wheel{$item};
}
print "$item was picked\n";

[download]
I think that will work, if not, you should at least get the general idea.

G'Luck!
Gryn

In reply to Roulette wheel by gryng
in thread Need help with number generator by meonkeys

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.