# Man to bet everything on one spin **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122 "2004-04-09T04:03:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tallayan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Tallayan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tallayan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/21 "2004-04-09T15:51:59Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > It’s the only time in a Casino you could find a situation where you know the odds are something better than 50/50. And of course the casino will kick you out if they think your doing that. Really it seems to me that the house, once again, cant lose in this. If the guy loses, they’re up 180 grand, if he wins, then a whole stream of morons will think that its a good idea and decide to bet their life savings on one roll, and most of them WILL lose. Not to mention the free publicity they’ll, even more if he wins. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/22 "2004-04-09T15:58:50Z")
Well - Rudyard Kipling would approve: [http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Rudyard\_Kipling/kipling\_if.htm](http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Rudyard_Kipling/kipling_if.htm) Scroll down to the 3rd stanza. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/23 "2004-04-09T16:05:57Z")
Dabbler in casino gambling stats here… The house edge on most bets in American (0 and 00) roulette is 5.86% – you bet 100 $1 bets, in the long run you end up with $94.14. The odds are N in 38, and the payoff is 36 for N, where N is how many numbers you have covered. The house edge on the even-money bets on the American wheel with _en prison_ rules, where if the spin comes up 0 or 00 you lose only half your bet, and also in European roulette (just the 0) is 2.70%. The odds on the European wheel are N in 37. I’m not sure what the house edge is in American Baccarat (where there are no player decisions, and the house backs all bets), though I recall it’s less than 2.70%. In fact, the game is darn close to even, so a $100 bet on Banker wins only $95. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/24 "2004-04-09T17:02:41Z")
Well unless the guy needs to double his money in order to save his life. So that his original money is no more use to him than having no money at all, then he is a nut. But say your worldly goods are $50,000 and you owe the mob $100,000 then betting $50,000 on red or black at roulette gives you a 49% increase in your chance of survival. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/25 "2004-04-09T17:06:23Z")
Just thought, the guy may not be that stupid. Does he have a book deal signed up, newspaper rights to his story etc. I guess those might well cover his possible losses, and if he wins … ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/26 "2004-04-09T17:09:29Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Well - Rudyard Kipling would approve: > > ['If', by Rudyard Kipling](http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Rudyard_Kipling/kipling_if.htm) > > Scroll down to the 3rd stanza. > [@Rudyard Kipling](#): > > If you can make one heap of all your winnings > And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, > And lose, and start again at your beginnings > And never breath a word about your loss; Well, while it’s technically possible to get farther from “never breathe a word about your loss” then “placing the bet on international television” I don’t think it’s in the _spirit_ of **If** 🙂 PS. There are a few situations where this would make sense: for instance, if he has massive debts and is about to declare backruptcy and/or given a concrete lifejacket by Big Tony 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/27 "2004-04-09T17:19:46Z")
Yes I think the guy is a jerk too. For one thing, I think the guy is going to bet about $120,000. If his plan is successful, he will get $240,000. Wow - with that kind of money, you could live like a king for the rest of your life !!! Sounds like a sound financial plan to me. Seriously, I think “reality TV” is causing all kinds of people to do stupid things like this. How about the kids imitating the stunts they saw on the TV show “Jackass”? (and Newton Minnow had the temerity to call television a ‘vast wasteland’) Want to see your money dwindle away? Visit this site to play the “Virtual Lottery”. [www.1728.com/lottery.htm](http://www.1728.com/lottery.htm) “The odds are always with the house”. Dean Martin - “Ocean’s 11” ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/28 "2004-04-09T19:26:48Z")
In a ‘rented’ tuxedo, eh? So, since he’s already sold EVERYTHING else, if he loses he’ll ultimately be **NAKED** as well? ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/29 "2004-04-09T19:56:56Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > The best bet is to watch a BJ game… How do they decide who gives the BJ? And, how does one win? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/30 "2004-04-09T20:15:48Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > How do they decide who gives the BJ? And, how does one win? The dealer. So make sure you change tables when the dealer goes from being a hot woman to a hot man. Or the other way round, depending on gender and/or sexual preference. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/31 "2004-04-09T22:32:04Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > The dealer. So make sure you change tables when the dealer goes from being a hot woman to a hot man. Or the other way round, depending on gender and/or sexual preference. I believe in this case you might actually want to specify “gender XOR sexual preference” \ ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/32 "2004-04-09T23:22:13Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > I believe in this case you might actually want to specify “gender XOR sexual preference” \ [geeky hijack] Actually, “gender AND sexual preference” would be most appropriate, since BOTH are needed to make a final determination. The decision is not being made based on the state of one factor regardless of the state of the other. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/33 "2004-04-10T01:15:20Z")
> [@Max\_Castle](#): > > [geeky hijack] > Actually, “gender AND sexual preference” would be most appropriate, since BOTH are needed to make a final determination. The decision is not being made based on the state of one factor regardless of the state of the other. But that conveys redundant information. I stand by what I meant, though I admit it was ambiguous: I meant “specify (gender XOR sexual preference)” not “(specify gender) XOR (specify sexual preference).” Of course, this is entirely equivalent to saying “as appropriate” or “of whichever gender” or “from hot man/woman to hot woman/man” etc somewhere, but that wouldn’t be as funny! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/34 "2004-04-10T06:03:47Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Want to see your money dwindle away? Visit this site to play the “Virtual Lottery”. > [www.1728.com/lottery.htm](http://www.1728.com/lottery.htm) Believe it or not, I just played that little game and won 5 out of 6 on the second draw! Wish I had that much luck playing the California lottery for real! Lottery, BTW, is illegal in Nevada…go figure. I live here in Las Vegas and everyone got a kick out of this story…but ya know, there is always a story and stranger things have happened. - Jennifer Lopez’s mother recently won the Wheel of Fortune in Atlantic City. - a few years ago, a local woman won MegaBucks ($39,000,000) at a machine while her mother was playing in a casino, across the street, at the exact same time on the same type of machine and cursed that someone else had won. To make the story even more bizarre, the woman who won and her sister were in a horrible car crash less than a year later, killing her sister and crippling that woman for life. - there is the story I think you guys are trying to remember that happened at Binions, when Binion was still alive (before the infamous murder). According to local news reports, some young guy came in with $1 million and asked to bet it all on one spin of the roulette wheel. Teddy Binion agreed. The guy won. Doubled his money. They never knew who he was, or where the money came from…but on the way out, when someone asked why he did it, he simply said “a million ain’t what it used to be.” And even though Las Vegas is built on the winnings from losers, there are always the success stories…in our office, the nice old guy from runner’s bay who delivers our mail every morning won $65,000 on the local casino football pool last year. Another woman in our office won a new Mercedes, with a total investment of $1.00 at one of those oddball slots on the Stip while she was waiting for her sister who went to the bathroom. Regardless of whether this guy goes on to win, or lose, expect to see him on the Leno Show, the Today Show, Oprah and the rest of those shows. He may be clever enough to make a losing bet a winner. And the way things are going, sometimes the losers become the winners…two words: William Hung. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/35 "2004-04-12T01:51:02Z")
Well, it may not have been the smartest move in the world, but it paid off. [Briton Bets All on Vegas Roulette Spin – and Wins](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040411/people_nm/bet_briton_dc_1) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/36 "2004-04-12T01:57:59Z")
From the linked site: > [@](#): > > “I’m still against it,” said his Dad. "He shouldn’t have done it. He’s a naughty boy. I wonder if he got a spanking when he got home? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/37 "2004-04-12T02:19:54Z")
cynical me is thinking that the casino rigged for this guy to win. The free publicity and lemming like suckers that will follow this “winning” example is well worth the 150k or so the casino had to pay out. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/38 "2004-04-12T06:29:31Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Well - Rudyard Kipling would approve: > > ['If', by Rudyard Kipling](http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Rudyard_Kipling/kipling_if.htm) > > Scroll down to the 3rd stanza. They’re no Rudyard Kipling, but Blood, Sweat and Tears agree too. [Go Down Gamblin’](http://www.ame.onestop.net/Gamblin.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/39 "2004-04-12T10:11:55Z")
Well, he won. Funny they don’t mention the IRS is going to take 20% of his winnings, for now, and probably more later. [http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/reuters20040411\_194.html](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/reuters20040411_194.html) ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122/40 "2004-04-12T11:53:06Z")
I was happy for him that he won but he won’t keep it for long. He’s got all the markings of a soon to be serious gambling addict. I hope his win doesn’t encourage others to try the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-to-bet-everything-on-one-spin/239122.md?page=3)