Briton bets all on red and wins
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-13 08:48

A British man who sold all his possessions, including his clothes, stood in a rented tuxedo Sunday surrounded by family and friends and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel.

He won't go home empty handed.

Ashley Revell, a 32-year-old Londoner, sold all his possessions in March, took US$135,300 to the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, did some low stakes gambling and then placed everything he had left on "Red."

The wheel was spun, a crowd of supporters including his Mum and Dad from London went wild, the ball bobbled over the slots and landed on Red "7" — and Revell walked away with US$270,600.

"It all happened so quickly, it was spinning before I knew it," Revell said, adding he did not intend to try to double it again. He gave a US$600 tip to the croupier and plans to party — and buy some clothes.

"It's really down to my friends and family and Mum and Dad," he told Reuters Television. "I knew even if I lost I'd always have a home to go to."

"I'm still against it," said his Dad. "He shouldn't have done it. He's a naughty boy. I tell my kids they shouldn't gamble. I've got four others and they're all going to want to go the same way."

"It's just brilliant," said Ashley Hames, a friend from London in Las Vegas for the occasion. "He's put his neck on the line and got away with it. It's absolutely great."

"It bobbled for a second and I just thought, 'Oh no, it's not going to do it,'" said another friend, James Frederick. "But it did and I'm made up for him. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

Asked if he wanted to try his luck again, Revell said: "No that's it for me. I think he'd like me to do it again, but no that's it," gesturing to a casino host. "I don't want to ride my luck," he said as the champagne began to flow.

This week, the gambling spirits had seemed against him. He put in a week gambling about US$3,000 in a bid to raise his pot.

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