Man to bet all on Vegas roulette spin ... what an idiot!

lancestorm

Platinum Member
Oct 7, 2003
2,074
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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A British man who has sold all his possessions, including his clothes, will stand in a rented tuxedo on Sunday and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel.

If he wins, he doubles his money. If he loses, he will be left with only the television crew documenting his every move.

Ashley Revell, a 32-year-old Londoner, said he was worth about 75,000 pounds ($138,000) after he sold everything in March.

"I thought I was worth at least 100,000 pounds," he said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas, where he is putting in a week gambling about $3,000 in a bid to raise his pot.

By Wednesday, he was down $1,000.

Revell said he had planned to have a friend videotape his bet-it-all spin, but Britain's Sky One television decided it was worth a short reality series, called "Double or Nothing."

Sky will not pay him, he says, but a crew has followed his preparation and will cover the spin live on Sunday at the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas. It also plans to follow him for a month afterward, win or lose.

Revell, recently a professional gambler, said he decided to take a big plunge while he was still young and raised the stakes as high as possible, including selling his clothes.

"I like to do things properly," he said.

He had not decided yet whether to place his money or red or black on Sunday afternoon.

"I don't know, man," he said. "One of them is going to be the right thing to say and one is going to be the wrong thing."

He added that if he won he would probably take his winnings rather than spin again.
 

amoeba

Diamond Member
Aug 7, 2003
3,162
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man, hope he gets his room comped. If he loses, we won't even have the cash to drink away his sorrows, although that might be a good thing.
 

Wuffsunie

Platinum Member
May 4, 2002
2,808
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Ignoring the fact that the guy is a moron for doing the gambling, he's also an idiot for not getting Sky One to fork over some cash. They get a reality series out of it, he gets nothing? Yeah, this guy deserves to lose it all for being so dumb.
 

amoeba

Diamond Member
Aug 7, 2003
3,162
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Originally posted by: DaVortex
he has a 50/50 chance. I was in AC the other day and i got 2 correct out of 3

he does not have a 50/50 chance. if he did, casino's wouldn't make any money.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
Originally posted by: DaVortex
he has a 50/50 chance. I was in AC the other day and i got 2 correct out of 3

well you might want to look at a roulette wheel then. odds are less then 50/50.

there are also some green ones.
 

PanzerIV

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2002
6,875
1
0
Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
Ignoring the fact that the guy is a moron for doing the gambling, he's also an idiot for not getting Sky One to fork over some cash. They get a reality series out of it, he gets nothing? Yeah, this guy deserves to lose it all for being so dumb.

That is exactly what I was thinking. Why should they get a free documentary out of the "deal?" This guy truly is an idiot.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,167
18,772
146
Originally posted by: DaVortex
he has a 50/50 chance. I was in AC the other day and i got 2 correct out of 3

You are why casinos make money.
 

Kyteland

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 2002
5,747
1
81
Originally posted by: DaVortex
he has a 50/50 chance. I was in AC the other day and i got 2 correct out of 3
No, there are 38 spots on the wheel, and only 18 of each color. He has a 47.37% chance.

http://wizardofodds.com/games/roulette.html

Edit: Too slow, but if you want to learn about odds/gambling start by reading through this site.

Hopefully he isn't as stupid as he sounds and plays on one of the may single 0 tables in Vegas. That cuts his odds down to 18:37. Every little bit helps!

Edit again: I guess he is stupid. :(
The Hard Rock doesn't have a single 0 table.
 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
What he will potentially get is sympathy money after he loses it all.

As far as the odds go:
Each number has a 1:38 shot with a 1:35 payout.
There are 18 black, 18 red, and two green. The black and red have a 1:2 payout and a 18:38 odds.

The odds are against him already.

Edit: corrected numbers.
 

MrScott81

Golden Member
Aug 31, 2001
1,891
0
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Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
What he will potentially get is sympathy money after he loses it all.

As far as the odds go:
Each number has a 1:40 shot with a 1:38 payout.
There are 19 black, 19 red, and two green. The black and red have a 1:2 payout and a 19:40 odds.

The odds are against him already.

No....there are the numbers 0, 00, and 1-36 for a total of 1-38...the odds of hitting a number are 38:1, while they only pay you 36:1. The odds of winning a red or black bet is 18/38 = 47.37%
 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
Originally posted by: scottdog81
No....there are the numbers 0, 00, and 1-36 for a total of 1-38...the odds of hitting a number are 38:1, while they only pay you 36:1. The odds of winning a red or black bet is 18/38 = 47.37%

Too slow :)
 

BlamoHammer

Platinum Member
Sep 21, 2002
2,259
0
0
This would seem the prudent way to play with these types of stakes...

The following casinos offer single zero roulette, including half back on even money bets if the ball lands in zero
 

MaxDepth

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2001
8,757
43
91
I'm sure the speaking engangements afterwards will at least put him back to cost of living wages.
 

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,997
126
It's a sucker bet. Even if he wins after taxes he's only going to get around 60% of that 138k. Not sure what the exact taxes will be for a Brit gambling in Vegas, so let's be generous and say he clears $85,000. He's risking $138,000 to win $85,000 and bucking nearly a 6% house advantage to do it. What an @$$hole. At least if made the bet on craps or blackjack he'd cut the house edge down a couple of percent.