Featured Image Credit: Plaza Hotel and Casino / YouTube/Ashley Revell
Topics: Film and TV, Las Vegas, Money, US News, YouTube
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Film and TV, Las Vegas, Money, US News, YouTube
A roughly 50/50 bet, what could possibly go wrong?
In 2004, Ashley Revell sold everything he owned and flew from London to Las Vegas set to make the biggest gamble of his life.
And no, it wasn't for a new job, to pursue a brief fling or to get married like Ross and Rachel, but to gamble his entire life on a single roulette spin.
Why? Well, why not apparently. Revell took his $135,000 and set off for the gambling capital of the world to place a bet he had a more than 50 percent chance of losing.
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If he won, he'd double his life savings. And if he lost? Well, 'no ragrets'?
Even in the storied history of the Plaza Hotel and Casino, that’s a big spin of the wheel.
And in case you were wondering - he picked red.
Not wanting it all to completely be for nothing should he lose, naturally, Revell didn't jet to Las Vegas solo but armed with a whole film crew too - because if you're going to do something stupid, you should at least get it on camera right?
In an attempt to bolster his betting pot, Revell even agreed to change his name by deed poll to 'Ashley Blue Square Revell' after a UK-based online gambling site called – you guessed it – Blue Square agreed to put up some dough.
There were some setbacks along the way though, as he’d originally wanted to put the bet down at the Hard Rock Hotel, but they reportedly refused to accept the wager.
Luckily, in Las Vegas, you usually don’t have to look too far for someone who's willing to take on a bet.
The roulette wheel must have seemed to be turning in slow motion for Revell, but thankfully, the agony turned to ecstasy when it landed on Red 7.
That meant that he’d turned the $135,300 into $270,600 - as well as gaining a hell of an anecdote to tell.
But what to do with all that cash?
After winning the bet, Revell used some of the money to start up an online poker website called Poker UTD, although that went out of business in 2012.
The whole thing was filmed for a Sky One documentary called - you guessed it again - Double or Nothing, as well as Revell’s story being featured in an E! special called THS Investigates: Vegas Winners & Losers.
It's certainly always better to be in the ‘winners’ section of shows like that.
He also provided the inspiration for a show that was created by Simon Cowell called - again, so creatively - Red or Black?
These days, Revell isn't in the public eye quite as much, but he’ll always have the memory of that fateful day in Las Vegas when he gambled everything and won.