Ashley Revell (born 1971 in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

) is an English entrepreneur. In 2004 he sold all his possessions, including his clothes, and on 11 April he gambled US$135,300 (about £76,840 at the time) on a single spin of a roulette wheel in the

Plaza Hotel & Casino The Plaza Hotel & Casino is a casino–hotel located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada owned by the Tamares Group, and PlayLV is the leaseholder and operator of the property. It currently has 995 rooms and suites, as well as an casino and more tha ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Revell even changed his name by deed poll to "Ashley Blue Square Revell" after the UK online

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

contributed to his gambling fund. He raised additional cash through car boot sales and auctions. Having placed his chips on red, the ball ended up on 7, a red, and Revell doubled his money to $270,600. Revell used his winnings to set up an online poker company called ''Poker UTD'', which later went out of business in 2012 due to controversy over US frozen accounts. The event was filmed by Sky One as a reality mini-series titled ''Double or Nothing''. He was also featured in an E! documentary special along with

Stu Ungar Stuart Errol Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was an American professional poker, blackjack, and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest gin player of all time and one of the best Texas hold 'em players. He ...

called ''THS Investigates: Vegas Winners & Losers''. An episode of the television series ''

'' entitled "One Nation, Under Surveillance", first broadcast on 14 March 2005, had a character and event loosely based on Revell.

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

said that Revell's bet was the inspiration behind his 2011–2012 game show called ''

Red or Black? ''Red or Black?'' is a British television game show which was broadcast on ITV between 3 September 2011 and 29 September 2012. In each round, contestants choose red or black, with those that choose the incorrect colour being eliminated. During ...

''. Revell also owned iGaming Recruitment, a website that matched online gambling companies with job applicants.

References

External links

CNN Interview with RevellVideo of the Bet
1971 births Living people English gamblers {{England-bio-stub