Red or black. Odd or even.
Can you imagine risking it all on a spin of the roulette wheel? The chance to double your wealth….or lose it all.
That was the gamble that one Englishman, Ashley Revell, took back in 2004. He sold all of his worldly possessions – house, car, gadgets etc – to leave himself with just the clothes on his back and a bank account of £76,840.
Why? Because he wanted to see if he could double his money at the roulette wheel. So, the somewhat masochistic 33-year-old (at the time) used a portion of his new-found wealth to book a plane ticket to Las Vegas, before taking his seat at the table at the Plaza Hotel & Casino on the famous strip.
So would this story have a happy ending, or would Revell be left with (literally) nothing?
The Idea
There’s a book called Twelve Grand, written by the excellent Jonathan Rendall, in which his publishing company gave him £12,000 (a decent sum of money back in 1997) on the proviso that he must gamble it all and document his ups and downs.
The upside? Rendall was allowed to keep any winnings that came his way. The risk? He was given the £12,000 in lieu of a traditional publishing deal, which meant that if he lost everything he was still contractually obliged to write the book….but wouldn’t make a penny from it.
We won’t give the ending away, but needless to say it’s a fantastic read with an ending worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Whether Ashley Revell’s ‘double or nothing’ idea was inspired by Rendall’s adventures, or whether his maniacal decision was all his own, is not known, but it’s fair to say he did not take any half measures.
He sold all of his possessions, held car boot sales and auctions, and even legally changed his name to Ashley Blue Square Revell after the betting firm Blue Square, who were acquired by Betfair back in 2013, got wind of his shenanigans and offered him a wad of money for the publicity stunt.
Originally, Revell had planned to travel alone with just a friend filming the action for posterity, however the ante was upped considerably when Sky learned of his decision – be it ingenious or barking mad, delete as you see appropriate.
Suddenly, he was propelled into the spotlight with a camera crew despatched to travel with Revell to Las Vegas and document him doubling his money….or losing it all.
Red or Black
Sky One filmed two episodes of Double or Nothing – the first detailing the adventure and securing interviews with Revell’s friends and family. The second, broadcast live, would see his spin of the roulette wheel take place in real time.
It perhaps goes without saying that his family and friends were largely opposed to the massive gamble Revell was taking. In an interview with CNN, he admitted he was ‘really worried that I’d lose and my parents would be upset, and my family would, you know, all my friends would be upset.’
Another interview with Revell’s father confirmed that he had told his son not to go through with it, and that he was a ‘naughty boy’ who ‘should work like all other kids do’.
But with the Sky TV cameras in place, it was now too late for Revell to change his mind….
one of the quirks of the Sky documentary was that they wanted their viewers to vote on which colour Revell should play with his spin at the roulette wheel. He himself was planning to go with black, but the viewer poll ultimately saw red come out on top.
Before he’d even taken his seat at the table, Revell found himself conflicted. What if the ball landed in black….and the UK public cost him his last £76,000?
Vegas Bound
Revell, a select band of his friends and family and the Sky TV crew flew out to Las Vegas in April 2004. His date with destiny was confirmed as April 11.
After arriving at the Plaza, Revell was guided to a specially designated roulette wheel, and after all of the TV formalities were complete he confirmed his bet – £76,840 to be placed on red.
There was no going back now….
The wheel spun for what felt like an eternity – presumably the wait was even worse for Revell, but slowly….slowly….the wheel ground to a halt.
The ball took up its position in its temporary home….pocket number seven.
Red.
Revell had won $270,600, or around £152,000 at the time, and all of his worst fears were cast asunder as his wildest dreams took centre stage.
He was engulfed by his delirious family and friends, as you would expect, and after the dust had settled he was interviewed once more. When asked how we was feeling, Revell replied:
“I was just pleading that it would come in and I’d get lucky.”
“At no point before I did the bet did I think about losing. I just felt positive and thought about just going ahead and winning. But now I’ve actually won, I can think about what would have happened if I’d lost.
“And to be honest, I was crazy to do this bet. It was the maddest thing. I mean, this is really about all I’ve got left, the tuxedo, which I’m not allowed to keep.”
In a separate interview, Revell was later asked if he had any plans to repeat his escapade – a veritable sequel to Double or Nothing.
“No, that’s it for me. I don’t want to ride my luck,” he said.
That was the right call. In American roulette, the version he played on that fateful day, has two zero pockets on the wheel, meaning that there were 18 red winning numbers but 20 (18 black and two zeros) that would have seen him lose it all.
So, while the programme was billed Double or Nothing, Revell wasn’t actually taking a 50/50 bet. In reality, his probability of winning with red was 47.4%….highlighting how fortunate he had been on the day, and why he was right not to try his luck again….
Where Is Ashley Revell Now?
In the immediate aftermath of his Double or Nothing win, Revell was hot property on US news channels, and he featured in an E! documentary called Vegas Winners & Losers alongside some of the legends of the strip, including poker and blackjack great Stu Ungar.
Determined to reinvest his winnings sagely, Revell set up his own online poker firm – Poker UTD. Unfortunately for him, that niche was to be hit hard by a raft of legal challenges and new regulation which saw firms like PokerStars and Full Tilt shut down by American authorities on the infamous Black Friday.
Sadly for Revell, his firm would be caught up in the fallout, and Poker UTD was closed down in 2012.
Taking a break, he decided to embark on a road trip around Europe, where he would ultimately end up meeting his wife. Perhaps taking that trip was his smartest decision of all….
Since then, Revell has owned a recruitment company specialising in filling jobs in the online gambling sector, and in 2022 he launched the link sharing/shortening outfit Four.me.
His cultural influence has also ensured a lasting legacy. Simon Cowell, the X Factor impresario, admitted that he watched Double or Nothing, and that formed the premise for his TV gameshow, Red or Black, that was hosted by Ant & Dec and which ran for two series in 20111 and ’12.
Hopefully now Revell has got his all-or-nothing gambles out of his system, and can lead an altogether quieter life!