KEY TAKEAWAYS
Ashley Revell was a 32-year-old Londoner who, on Sunday, April 11, 2004, put $135,300, the proceeds of selling nearly everything he owned, on red at a roulette table at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas. The ball landed on red 7 and he was paid $270,600. A British film crew recorded the spin for Sky One’s short reality series Double or Nothing, and the story spread through newspapers and broadcasters worldwide within a day. This article sets out what the sources document: how the idea began, why other casinos refused and the Plaza agreed, what kind of wheel it was, what the odds were and what Revell did afterward. It also places the result in context. A bet on red is close to a coin flip with a built-in house edge, and a loss would have cost him the entire stake. It is a retelling of a historical wager, not a model to follow.
The Plan and the Sky One Show
Revell’s own accounts place the idea in a pub conversation. The Mirror reported in 2011 that the chat took place in August 2003, when a colleague asked whether either of them would dare to bet everything on one game of chance. The Telegraph, in a 2013 first-person account, says that friends discussed betting everything on one spin in Las Vegas and that it got under his skin the next day.
Sources differ on what he sold and when. The Guardian said in 2004 that he sold all his possessions, including his clothes, in March. The Mirror listed a gold Rolex sold for £4,000, a BMW sold for £2,000 and a first edition of Cassell’s History of the Boer War, and said he added £40,000 of savings. The Telegraph says he had about £10,000 saved and that he auctioned the expensive items and held a car boot fair for the rest.
The stake was reported as $135,300, which the BBC, the Mirror and the Telegraph put at £76,840; the Guardian gave £73,900. Reuters reported that Revell had planned to have a friend videotape the spin, but that Sky One decided it was worth a short reality series called Double or Nothing. He told Reuters that Sky would not pay him and that a crew from Dai4 Films followed his preparations.
Descriptions of his occupation vary. The Guardian and the BBC called him a professional poker gambler or player; the Mirror described a former television researcher whose biggest earlier bet had been £20. He told the BBC he was unmarried with no children.
The Spin at the Plaza: April 11, 2004
According to the Mirror, Revell flew to Las Vegas on April 8, 2004 with a cheque for £76,840, met by his parents, friends and the Sky One crew. He first gambled about $3,000 during the week to raise his pot; the BBC and Reuters reported that he was down $1,000 by Wednesday.
The venue was not settled in advance. The Associated Press, citing Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke, reported that talks to place the wager at the Hard Rock Hotel broke down on Saturday night. The Las Vegas Sun later reported that Caesars Entertainment had rejected the bet and that the Hard Rock’s chief financial officer said the producers would not guarantee it would not be broadcast live. The Plaza’s owners, the AP said, saw the publicity value and agreed.
On Sunday, April 11, Revell wore a rented tuxedo. The AP quoted Plaza executive Rich Rose saying he brought cash, traded it for chips and played low stakes as a warm-up. The Mirror said he was ushered in just after 11 a.m., watched by about 100 spectators. He pushed all his chips onto red as the ball was spinning; the Telegraph quotes the dealer’s rule that a call after more than three revolutions of the ball would be no bet.
The ball bobbled across the pockets and settled in red 7, the AP reported. The Las Vegas Sun said the Plaza also made sure the wager was recorded, not broadcast live. Revell was paid at the table and tipped the croupier $600, Reuters reported. The cash went to a safety deposit box at the hotel, and the hotel gave him champagne and a suite and had him sign the roulette felt for display in its lobby.
The Decisions and the Odds
The color was chosen at the last moment. The AP, citing Clarke, said Revell picked red because of fan polls in Britain; the BBC said the choice was last-minute; and on CNN he said Sky viewers had voted for red.
The wheel type is documented indirectly. Columnist Mark Pilarski wrote on August 30, 2004 that a slow-motion replay of the broadcast clearly showed a double zero. In an e-mail he printed, Revell wrote that the Plaza had agreed beforehand that a ball landing on the double zero would be declared a no bet. The sources examined do not confirm that agreement.
A bet on red pays even money. A standard American wheel has 38 pockets: 18 red, 18 black, a 0 and a 00.
Expected loss on $135,300 = 135,300 × 2 ÷ 38 ≈ $7,121
If 00 is a re-spin: P(win) = 18 ÷ 37 = 48.65%, edge = 1 ÷ 37 = 2.70%
If a 00 was a re-spin, as Revell reported, the 37 remaining outcomes give 18 in 37, about 48.65%. Either way, the stake was risked at less than even odds.
Aftermath: Critics, Europe and Red or Black
Reaction in Las Vegas was divided. The Las Vegas Sun reported on April 19, 2004 that MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said the Plaza had made a mistake, and a Harrah’s spokesman called it irresponsible. Plaza owner Barrick Gaming’s operating chief Phil Flaherty defended the bet and said the publicity was worth far more than it cost. Carol O’Hare of the Nevada Council for Problem Gambling found the stunt “a little disconcerting.”
Revell’s own later accounts are modest. He told the Telegraph in 2013 that he took a motorbike trip around Europe, met a woman in Holland and later married her. The Mirror reported in 2011 that he part-ran a kitchen tiling firm in Kent and had two young children. He told the BBC in 2004 that the main thing he had learned was that it wasn’t really about the money.
The Mirror reported that Simon Cowell cited the bet as the inspiration for Red or Black, an ITV game show. On November 2, 2019 Revell returned to the Plaza to place a ceremonial bet at its new single-zero roulette table, according to a Plaza press release published by Casino City Times. News3LV headlined that he won again, without giving a stake.
Myths, Disputes and the Other Side
Whether the spin was live is disputed. The Mirror said an audience around the world watched live, while the Las Vegas Sun reported that, after the Nevada Control Board raised concern about the federal Wire Act, the Plaza made sure the bet was taped, not broadcast live.
A story that the first spin landed on 12 red and was voided is told in a 2011 Card Player column by Marty Wilson; no 2004 report examined mentions it, so it is best treated as one person’s recollection. The same column says Revell vowed never to gamble again, yet Reuters quoted him saying only that he would not try to double it again.
The other side is the risk. A loss would have cost him everything he owned. Flaherty said the Plaza would not take such a wager outside a television show: “We always said we’d never condone this if it weren’t part of the reality TV show.” Revell’s father told Reuters his son should not have done it.
Ashley Revell Bet Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| August 2003 | Pub conversation that started the idea, per the Mirror |
| April 8, 2004 | Revell flies to Las Vegas with a cheque for £76,840, per the Mirror |
| April 10, 2004 | Hard Rock negotiations reported broken down; Plaza agrees |
| April 11, 2004 | $135,300 placed on red; red 7 wins $270,600 |
| April 12, 2004 | Guardian, BBC, CNN and AP report the result |
| April 19, 2004 | Las Vegas Sun reports rival casinos’ criticism |
| August 30, 2004 | Pilarski column reports the double zero and Revell’s no-bet agreement |
| 2011 | Mirror interview: Revell part-runs a tiling firm in Kent |
| 2011 | Cowell cites the bet as inspiration for Red or Black |
| October 28, 2019 | Plaza announces the ceremonial bet |
| November 2, 2019 | Revell places a ceremonial bet at the Plaza’s single-zero table |
Related Stories
Revell’s bet sits among the stories of single, outsized wagers. A very different long shot is told in the Leicester City 5000-1 title bets, where small stakes and cash-out choices decided the outcome. The game itself has a long past, told in the history of roulette, which explains how the single zero arose and why American wheels carry a second zero. The house edge that shaped Revell’s odds has older roots in the history of dice, and the mathematics of playing against that edge is covered in the profile of Edward O. Thorp. Casino machines that offer their own fixed edge appear in the history of slot machines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources & References
- Alexis Akwagyiram — Briton rents tux to bet all he has on spin of Vegas wheel, The Guardian (April 12, 2004)
- CBS News/Associated Press — He Bets Life Savings, Wins $270K (April 12, 2004)
- Reuters via NBC News — Briton bets it all on roulette spin, and wins (April 2004)
- BBC News — ‘All or nothing’ gamble succeeds (April 12, 2004)
- CNN — Gambler: Roulette play ‘just a mad thing to do’ (April 12, 2004)
- Liz Benston and Jeff Simpson — Competitors critical of TV gambling stunt, Las Vegas Sun (April 19, 2004)
- Mark Pilarski — The Devil, sometimes missed, is in the details, Casino City Times (August 30, 2004)
- Ashley Revell as told to Ben Riley Smith — What it’s like to bet everything you own on red, The Telegraph (September 18, 2013)
- I’m the £77k all-or-nothing gambler who inspired Simon Cowell’s new TV show Red or Black, Mirror (May 22, 2011)
- Plaza Hotel and Casino press release — Ashley Revell to place ceremonial roulette bet in Las Vegas, Casino City Times (October 28, 2019)
- Cody Miller — Roulette player who won $270,000 over 15 years ago returns to Plaza, wins again, News3LV (November 2019)
- Marty Wilson — The Twisted Wheel, Card Player (October 18, 2011)
