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He sold his house and everything he owned, turned it to cash and bet it all on one spin of the roulette wheel. Expect idot copycats to follow.

linky

He did it for a TV show which, I bet, had some clause to say he wouldn't walk away empty handed if he lost.

Yeah, it was broadcast on sky, though i missed it and didn't care that much. Oh well, lucky him i suppose.

considering he bet it on a color as opposed to anything that would obviously be more high risk, it's not surprising that he won. his chances were 50-50, which is considerably better than other spots on the wheel. though if it'd landed on black he'd probably be kicking himself, hard.

Also it was his idea to get it filmed, if he lost he could probably start up again on income from broadcasting a "i bet my life savings and lost" program. probably not as much as winning of course.

Actually, because there are two house spaces on the wheel, the odds are somewhat less than 50-50 if you bet a color. Not that it matters to me, because no matter how I bet on roulette I end up losing--though I once came within one bounce of winning about $2000 when I threw a bunch of money on "8". The ball dropped into "8", but bounced out and stopped a few numbers over.

RedImperator wrote:Actually, because there are two house spaces on the wheel, the odds are somewhat less than 50-50 if you bet a color. Not that it matters to me, because no matter how I bet on roulette I end up losing--though I once came within one bounce of winning about $2000 when I threw a bunch of money on "8". The ball dropped into "8", but bounced out and stopped a few numbers over.

true, though the odds on red or black are still far greater than just about everything else. except maybe odds/evens.

Darth_Zod wrote:

RedImperator wrote:Actually, because there are two house spaces on the wheel, the odds are somewhat less than 50-50 if you bet a color. Not that it matters to me, because no matter how I bet on roulette I end up losing--though I once came within one bounce of winning about $2000 when I threw a bunch of money on "8". The ball dropped into "8", but bounced out and stopped a few numbers over.

true, though the odds on red or black are still far greater than just about everything else. except maybe odds/evens.

The odds are the same for odds-evens, because "0" and "00" aren't odd or even numbers.

in roullette, do you win more than you bet? if so, just bet half on red, half on black. hedge it. if you loose red, you only loose half of your money, but you win on black so you get mroe than half back. bingo, instant win.

but i suspect you cant do that.

kojikun wrote:in roullette, do you win more than you bet? if so, just bet half on red, half on black. hedge it. if you loose red, you only loose half of your money, but you win on black so you get mroe than half back. bingo, instant win.

but i suspect you cant do that.

depends on what you place the bet on. odds/evens and red/black is usually 2-1. then they have sections of numbers, ie - 1-10, 11-20, etc. which is 3-1. then there's individual numbers. not entirely sure how it works ,but the lower the odds are of you hitting a number the higher the payoff is if it happens to land on it.

with odds/evens and red/black having the lowest payoff possible.

50/50 odds are absolutely shit. You'd be better off playing blackjack, where at most places you can expect to only lose 3%.

kojikun wrote:in roullette, do you win more than you bet? if so, just bet half on red, half on black. hedge it. if you loose red, you only loose half of your money, but you win on black so you get mroe than half back. bingo, instant win.

but i suspect you cant do that.

that defeats the purpose of gambling. if you put $5 on one and $5 on the other you will always break even every bet. If that's you're idea of gambling then why don't you save yourself from paying for a the trip to Vegas and go play with the change machine at Chuck E Cheese's.

kojikun wrote: but i suspect you cant do that.

Well, I don't think its outside the rules, but you wouldn't break even long-term because there is a little green slot which is neither black/white nor odd/even (actually two green slots under US rules I believe.) The ball lands on that, and all your lucre goes to the house. The green slot and the maximum betting limit make roulette statistically unbeatable.

Wicked Pilot wrote: You'd be better off playing blackjack, where at most places you can expect to only lose 3%.

With sufficiently skillful play, you can do better than that and even swing the odds in your favour. Unfortunately, casinos refer to "sufficiently skillful play" as "card counting" and will either ban you for it, or ply you with free alcohol until your skill level drops to a level more to their liking.

However, I would have to add that both these games offer much, much better odds than things like the UK National Lottery. They also offer the advantage that the actual gambling activity goes on for longer and is more mentally stimulating, plus it takes place in pleasant surroundings with discounted or even free drinks rather than a miserable, wordless queue in a newsagents handing over their paper coupons and one pounds like 1950s Soviet-style rationing was in force.

Col. Crackpot wrote:that defeats the purpose of gambling. if you put $5 on one and $5 on the other you will always break even every bet. If that's you're idea of gambling then why don't you save yourself from paying for a the trip to Vegas and go play with the change machine at Chuck E Cheese's.

Worse, it actually works in the house's favor. If you bet evenly on both red and black, you'll break even if it hits either, but you'll lose double if it happens to land in one of the two green spaces.

I saw this on the news, and that guy would easily recoup his losses in the event of guessing wrong by media exposure. Although, I don't think many people would want the guy who lsot everything hocking(sp?) their product.

Gambling to make money is basically a fool's errand if you're playing against the house. The game is rigged that in the long term, almost everyone loses. The appeal is being able to go to a big flashy casino, enjoy cheap liquor and the company of others, and have fun playing cards or roulette or dice. That's why I never understood the appeal of slots machines--just sit there feeding the damn thing money. At least at the roulette wheel I got a moment with my heart in my throat when I thought I was actually going to win a single-number bet.

Gambling is basically paying to be entertained for a while.

As for this guy, well, yeah he is an idiot. But he did win. I wonder if people would think him a bigger idiot if he lost.

Is there anyway to tell if a person is counting cards in blackjack?

HemlockGrey wrote:Is there anyway to tell if a person is counting cards in blackjack?

the only way the hotels can really tell if someone is counting cards is if there's some type of pattern to their win/lose streak, or if they're winning an insane amount of times more than they should be. there's also cameras monitoring each table, so that the security can keep track of anyone pulling sly tricks such as cards hidden in their sleeves, switches, etc.

unless they do it more than a few times though it's difficult to tell.

Moron?

He's the one with quite a bit of cash in his back pocket.

Gambling is bad.

IIRC, blackjack, craps, and video poker are the three games which, if correctly played, give you the best chance of not being taken to the cleaners. Blackjack especially.

kojikun wrote:in roullette, do you win more than you bet? if so, just bet half on red, half on black. hedge it. if you loose red, you only loose half of your money, but you win on black so you get mroe than half back. bingo, instant win.

but i suspect you cant do that.

Wouldn't help. All casino games are made so that the house will come out on top in the long term. There is no casino game where the odds are 50-50, and the amounts won are adjusted with the odds of winning so the house will win more in the long term.

This guy is a dumb ass but he has balls. I have to admit, more than once I've wished I could pull something like this off. Being laid off makes you feel pretty insecure money wise, and you start dreaming.

As for blackjack, there was a good article today a www.fool.com about how many casinos are making blackjack odds really bad for the player. Its a registered site, but basically they are taking advantage of low bet novice gamblers.

Slot machines? Ya, they're mindless. That's why you attack it _ONCE_. I just happened to hit one with a lucky shot and turned $5 into $40, neatly paying for the 4-place dinner buffet my boyfriend, my dad, his GF, and I just ate.