Russian Roulette

 

Ok, this isn't exactly a gambling related article, but interesting enough, and a good argument against the gambling impulses of the (sort of) everyday person:

 

A man was seriously injured in Paris on Friday night/early Saturday morning

(20^th March 2009) after participating in a game of Russian roulette, three other people have been arrested and remanded in custody, according to the police judiciary in Paris.

 

According to the first stages of the investigation the origin of the accident occurred when a wager was established between a group of friends' which came about after a heavy drinking session in an apartment in the 12^th arrondisement in Paris, according to the source.

 

Three tenants from the apartment block who resided on the 5^th floor, the same floor as the victim and his wife, all of which replied to an invitation from one of their neighbours, ex-military personnel who had in his possession a firearm.

 

During the course of the night the victim took possession of the handgun, in which a bullet had already been loaded in order to play Russian roulette, in acceptance of the wager, according to the witnesses who were present.

 

The victim pulled the trigger and the shot, aimed straight at his head, caused serious cranial injuries.

 

Three other people were arrested at the scene and later questioned regarding the facts of the night.

 

The injured man was hospitalised and is in a critical condition, specified the police and judicial sources, without specifying exactly the location where the shooting took place, nor the hospital to which the victim was driven.

 

Just to provide some light entertainment on this site, we have decided to investigate some of the more ridiculous bets that have been made in human history, as well as the more obscure games that have been played for gambling purposes.........first some more stories about Russian roulette:

 

Malcolm X apparently played Russian roulette during his criminal days, in order to prove to his ‘co-workers' that he wasn't afraid of dying...but later admitted that he hadn't actually loaded the gun.

 

In October 2003 the British illusionist Darren Brown played what appeared to be an actual game of Russian roulette live on British television, the programme makers even allowed a delay of several seconds to cut to adverts should the worst have happened....it didn't, but that didn't stop the Television Complaints Commission in the UK being inundated with complaints....viewers were reminded that Darren Brown is an illusionist, and a very good one from the sounds of this tale.

 

 

And the famous last words of one particularly unlucky man who played Russian roulette:

"I doubt it; I've never won anything in my life..." (Luckier in death possibly?).

 

 

 

Gambling Quotes:

 

"You can't beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it." - Einstein

 

 "The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket."- Kin Hubbard

 

"One way to stop a runaway horse is to bet on him."-  Jeffrey Bernard

 

"Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit."-
R.E. Shay

 

"A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time."-  Author Unknown

 

"Horse sense is a good judgment which keeps horses from betting on people." -
W.C. Fields

 

"I like to play blackjack. I'm not addicted to gambling. I'm addicted to sitting in a semi-circle."- Mitch Hedberg

 

"He was a degenerate gambler. That is, a man who gambled simply to gamble and must lose. As a hero who goes to war must die. Show me a gambler and I'll show you a loser, show me a hero and I'll show you a corpse."- Mario Puzo

 

"Last year people won more than one billion dollars playing poker. And casinos made twenty-seven billion just by being around those people." - Samantha Bee

 

"There is a very easy way to return from a casino with a small fortune: go there with a large one." -Jack Yelton.

 

 

 

 

Famous Bets:

 

The best return on a bet ever recorded happened in February 2000 in Japan when a bet was made of 82c and the person ended up winning $10, 600.

 

In 2004 a man named Ashley Revell bet everything that he owned, he sold his house, car, clothes, basically all his possessions, walking into the Plaza Hotel in Vegas with a rented tux, where he proceeded to bet all his money (about $135,000) on Roulette, he chose red.......and won! Doubling his money!

 

Recently, one of the largest gambles ever succeeded happened in 2000, when Irish-trained Papillion came in first for father and son partnership, Ted and Ruby Walsh. The 9 year- old horse had been given odds of 33/1 on the morning of the great race, but started at 10/1 after being selected by several experts including the prominent Pricewise of the Racing Post.

 

Always worth a mention is the famous bet which occurred in 1873, when the Englishman Joseph Jaggers used the roulette wheel bias to his advantage (this is the first such recorded incident of anybody noticing the bias). Jaggers, alongside a team of six clerics, clocked every the wheel in the Monte Carlo casino, realising that one particular wheel had a significant bias. In their attack they exploited this flaw winning over $325,000, and a phenomenal amount way back in 1873.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be used for the advancement of any anti-gambling campaigns.