The casino is a unique world full of fascinating stories. One of them is the story of the British Ashley Revell and the incredible roulette spin he played in 2004. The casino always has a statistical advantage over the player and we always remind you to only play amounts you can afford to lose. You should always assume that any amount deposited in a casino is already lost.
This golden rule is not always applied and some players forget it completely. Lucky7Bonus tells the story of the man who made the double or nothing of his life. His house, his car, his clothes and even his own name, this is the story of the man who sold his life before betting it on roulette!
Who is Ashley Revell?
Ashley Revell is a British man born in 1971 in Maidstone, Kent. In 2004, at the age of 32, Ashley is single and still paying off the loan he took out to buy his house. A fan of poker and casinos in general, Ashley and his friends discuss a rather crazy idea over a few drinks. Ashley wants to start a new life, on a new basis. To do this, he imagines betting his entire net worth on a round of roulette to start from scratch or literally double his fortune.
The friends then decide to find a team of professionals to film the bet, so as not to lose everything in vain. All that's left for Ashley to do is to sell all his possessions and find a casino that will accept such a bet.
The Double or Nothing of a Lifetime
Determined to gamble his life away, Ashley spends nearly six months selling everything he owns. The Briton first sells his Rolex watch, his golf clubs and his house. He then held a sort of garage sale in the back of his car, selling everything from his furniture to his clothes and only keeping his underwear before selling his car.
A bookmaker called Blue Square agreed to contribute financially to this crazy gamble when the Briton was officially renamed Ashley "Blue Square" Revell!
The Londoner ended up with nearly £80,000 (about $140,000 at the time), a plane ticket to Las Vegas and a rented dinner jacket.
A story that attracts spectators
The group soon attracted the attention of Sky One, a television channel available in England and Ireland and owned by British Sky Broadcasting. The entertainment channel agreed to film the roulette trick for a one-episode mini-series called Double or Nothing. The crazy idea attracted a large number of onlookers and the channel expected a record number of viewers. As the event gets more serious, Ashley, her friends and family take off for one of the only cities in the world where a casino will accept this crazy bet, the gambling capital of the world: Las Vegas.
The bet that Las Vegas casinos would not accept
Indeed, most casinos have different roulette tables with varying minimum and maximum bets. But it is rare to be able to bet such large sums in a single roll at most casinos.
The fact that Ashley wants to bet everything he has on live television scares most casinos, even in Vegas. They fear a bad publicity stunt if the player loses. Although all the games available in the casinos are audited and studied, theories of rigged games persist and a loss on a bet with so much anticipation could fuel these ideas.
While the Hard Rock Hotel casino had agreed to set up a roulette table to accept the bet, the team in charge decided to pull out at the last moment, leaving Sky and the British gambler's clan without a table to place their bet at. Sky One began to think about renaming their show "The Bet Las Vegas Couldn't Take".
In the end, it was the Plaza Hotel & Casino that decided to offer a suite to host Ashley and a roulette table to accommodate his incredible bet.
Red or Black?
On 11 April 2004, Ashley Revell arrived at the Plaza Hotel casino with just over $135,000 in her pocket, an empty bank account, no possessions to her name and a rented dinner jacket on her back. His arrival at the casino is broadcast live on television and a poll is offered to Sky One viewers: Red or Black?
Meanwhile, Ashley swaps his tickets for chips and starts betting small amounts before preparing for his big move.
The bettor wants to bet his entire fortune on black, but the Sky One poll shows the vast majority of viewers voting for red. At the last moment, Ashley changes his mind and follows the viewers' vote and places $135,300 on red...
The dealer and the casino manager warned the Briton of the risks involved and asked him to confirm that he was sure of himself and did not wish to back out. A few seconds later, all the chips are placed on the red square and the ball is rolled.
As a few million spectators and dozens of people in the casino held their breath, the ball bounced off the roulette numbers.
The result and the consequences
Finally, as if by logic, the ball of a lifetime lands in the 7... red, it's won for Ashley thanks to the Lucky 7!
270,600 is returned to the bettor who celebrates his win with his friends and family on site before tipping the casino staff $600.
After enjoying the moment with friends and family and bottles of champagne donated by the casino, Ashley signed the felt on the roulette table which was later displayed at the entrance to the casino.
The poker fan didn't lose his head after his incredible win and used his momentum to launch his online poker site called Poker UTD as well as iGaming Recruitment, a site to connect companies and people looking for jobs in the iGaming industry.
Ashley still used some of his winnings to take a trip to Europe on his motorbike when he returned from the US. As if to bring this story even closer to a tale, he meets his future wife and mother of his children during his road trip!
Red or Black? as a TV show
In 2011, Simon Cowell is developing a TV show called Red or Black? presented by Ant and Dec. Simon will later admit that Ashley Revell's story inspired what will become the most expensive game show in history with a budget of £15,000,000.
The principle is similar to roulette, with 100,000 members of the public taking part in the first round by choosing a colour between red and black and only those who choose correctly advance to the next round, until only one participant remains. This participant had to choose between red and black again in order to win £1,000,000!
The return to the Plaza Hotel & Casino
On November 2, 2019, 15 years after the roulette spin that doubled her fortune, Ashley returns to the Plaza Hotel Casino after receiving an invitation from the hotel. The establishment inaugurates the first roulette table in Downtown Las Vegas with only one zero.
Revell placed the very first bet on the new table and announced the launch of the special event: "Red 7". Until November 7, every time the ball lands in the red 7, an additional $25 is offered to players at the table.
Where to Play Roulette
Obviously, never bet more than you can afford to lose. And while roulette seems to offer a 50/50 chance of winning when playing on red and black, keep in mind that the green zero gives the casino a mathematical advantage in the long run.
For those who want to have fun and play roulette, it is easy to find a casino that offers both virtual and live tables as roulette is one of the most popular games among gamblers.
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