Biggest Roulette Winner

After you’ve spent your 40+ hours at the office, paid all your taxes, loans, and monthly bills, hopefully you have a little something left over to save or maybe even have some fun with. And, whatever you do with that money is your choice, and yours alone. But, with that being said, please don’t do what Londoner Ashley Revell did in 2004, despite his incredible story.

At age 32, Revell decided it was time to make it big. So, he liquidated every asset he had, and went to take a seat at the roulette table at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. There he would play a few hands and get ready for the most pivotal moment of his life when he placed his life savings, approximately $135,000, on red.

Revell may seem like a fool, but he isn’t stupid. He first came up with the idea after talking with a friend a few months before following through with it. Knowing his chances of winning were no better than his chances of walking away with nothing for all his hard work, he reached out to a film crew to document the entire event. Should he lose, he would at least have the chance to sell the film to a producer with a keen eye, and if he won then perhaps Hollywood would come calling?

So, he planned ahead, choosing just which casino the event would take place at, finally settling on the Plaza Hotel & Casino. Other casinos passed on the idea, but the Plaza Hotel & Casino knew the value of so much free publicity and ran with the idea, even if it meant the possibility of losing a ton of money.

With a giant crowd of well-wishers and family members stung by fear and hope, the ball began its sprint around the roulette wheel. As it started to slow down, Revell hoped for red, the color he had decided on after polling fans in his native Britain about what he should choose. With the odds completely neutral, Lady Luck would decide alone if his bet would cost him his life savings or open up a new avenue toward happiness.

It paid off. The ball bounced for the last time inside of red 7, and Revell doubled his life savings in an instant. Not a bad outcome for a man who risked it all and said he entered the casino with only the rented tuxedo he picked up prior to arriving. But, please, folks, don’t try this at home--or in the casino, because Lady Luck is a feeble friend.