Russian roulette

For other uses, see Russian roulette (disambiguation).

Russian roulette (Russian: (Русская) Рулетка, (Russkaya) Rulyetka) is the practice of placing a single round in a revolver, spinning the cylinder and closing it into the firearm without looking, aiming the revolver at one's own head in a suicidal fashion, and pulling the trigger. The number of rounds placed in the revolver can vary, though as a rule there will always be at least one empty chamber. As a gambling game, toy guns are often used to simulate the practice. The number of deaths caused by this practice is unknown.

History

Legends abound regarding the invention of Russian roulette. Most of these, predictably, take place in Russia, or occur among Russian soldiers.

In one legend, 19th century Russian prisoners were forced to play the game while the prison guards bet on the outcome. In another version, desperate and suicidal officers in the Russian army played the game to impress each other.

The earliest known use of the term is from "Russian Roulette", a short story by Georges Surdez in the January 30, 1937, issue of Collier's Magazine. A Russian sergeant in the French Foreign Legion asks the narrator,

"Feldheim… did you ever hear of Russian Roulette?" When I said I had not, he told me all about it. When he was with the Russian army in Romania, around 1917, and things were cracking up, so that their officers felt that they were not only losing prestige, money, family, and country, but were being also dishonored before their colleagues of the Allied armies, some officer would suddenly pull out his revolver, anywhere, at the table, in a cafe, at a gathering of friends, remove a cartridge from the cylinder, spin the cylinder, snap it back in place, put it to his head, and pull the trigger. There were five chances to one that the hammer would set off a live cartridge and blow his brains all over the place. Sometimes it happened, sometimes not.

Whether Czarist officers actually played Russian roulette is unclear. In a text on the Czarist officer corps, John Bushnell, a Russian history expert at Northwestern University, cited two near-contemporary memoirs by Russian army veterans, The Duel (1905) by Aleksandr Kuprin and From Double Eagle to Red Flag (1921) by Petr Krasnov. Both books tell of officers' suicidal and outrageous behaviour, but Russian roulette is not mentioned in either text. If the game did originate in real life behavior and not fiction it is unlikely that it started with the Russian military. The standard sidearm issued to Russian officers from 1895 to 1930 was the Nagant M1895 revolver. A primitive double-action revolver, the Nagant's cylinder spins freely until the hammer is cocked. While the cylinder does not swing out as in modern hand-ejector style double action revolvers, it can be spun around to randomize the result. However, it holds seven cartridges not six, which throws some doubt on the accuracy of the reference in Collier's.

The only reference to anything like Russian roulette in Russian literature is in a book entitled A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov (1840, translated by Vladimir Nabokov in 1958), where a similar act is performed by a Serbian soldier in the story The Fatalist: the dare however is not named as "Russian roulette". Russian officers did play a game called "cuckoo" with a Nagant revolver, in which one officer would stand on a table or a chair in a dark room. Others would hide and yell "cuckoo" and the man with the gun would fire at the sound.

In the 1978 movie The Deer Hunter, the game is also depicted as being played in Vietnam. According to one website claiming to offer insight into the practice of Russian roulette, Valerie Douglas, whose father's cousin and father were in the Vietnam War states that Russian roulette occurred both for gambling and murder. [1] Several teen deaths following the movie's release caused police and the media to blame the film's depiction of Russian roulette, saying that it inspired the youths. There is also an interesting Russian roulette scene in the Japanese film Sonatine, directed by Takeshi Kitano.

In the Film A Man Apart, the Main character plays a type of Russian roulette with a criminal until on the third shot, (not spinning the cylinder each time) the criminal reveals the information. This also occurs in the film L.A. Confidential, and is spoofed in 2004's remake of Starsky & Hutch. Both are also interrogation scenes.

In the Lee Child book Persuader, the main character relates to another character that, given that the revolver is well tuned and oiled, the odds of killing oneself in Russian roulette is fairly low, "...closer to 6000 to 1 than 6 to 1..." This is, supposedly, because the weight of the single round is enough for gravity to cause the cylinder to stop with the bullet in the lowest position, particularly with heavier bullets such as the .44 Magnum cartridge used in that particular instance. It should be noted, however, that this fact, if true, will not necessarily save the life on one relying on it, as some revolvers fire the round in the lower position, such as the Mateba Autorevolver.

A semi-automatic pistol, unlike a revolver, will automatically load and fire a round if it has any rounds, or may contain a round in the chamber even when the magazine is removed. There has been at least one Darwin Award resulting from an attempt to play Russian roulette with such a pistol. This variation is sometimes referred to as "Polish roulette" – a play on the stereotype of Polish people being of low intelligence – though its actual origins are disputed.

"Russian poker" is a variation of Russian roulette – the difference being that in Russian poker, one's opponent places the gun up to the other person and pulls the trigger.

Odds

The argument that each hole is equally likely to be under the hammer is contestable. It has been argued that the weight of the bullet will tend to make the cylinder rest with the bullet towards the bottom. This would lower the probability of losing somewhat on early rounds, and increase the mid-game odds in games where the cylinder is not re-spun. One way that this 'bullet bias' could be eliminated is to spin the cylinder with the barrel pointed down, so the cylinder spins on a vertical axis instead of a horizontal one.

If the cylinder is spun after every shot, the odds of losing remain the same, 1/6 each time the trigger is pulled; in this case, in a two-person to-the-death game, it is better to go second (if the first person loses, the second person wins, even if he would have lost on his next move – this is equivalent to the house advantage in blackjack, where the house wins if the player busts, even if the dealer himself also is going to bust).

Notable Russian roulette incidents

Reality

On December 24, 1954 the American blues musician Johnny Ace shot himself to death in Texas playing Russian roulette in a dressing room before a concert.

John Hinckley, Jr., the man who attempted to murder President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was known to play Russian roulette, alone, on two occasions (although neither time he pulled the trigger was the bullet in the firing chamber). Hinckley also took a picture of himself in 1980 pointing a gun at his head.

On June 12, 2001, Clinton Pope, a 16-year-old young man with a criminal record who had been drinking and smoking marijuana for the night, fired a bullet into his face while playing Russian roulette before his friends in St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. He was sent to a hospital and was in critical but stable condition.[2]

On March 29, 2003, Evan Below, a 14-year-old boy, shot and killed himself while playing Russian roulette with a .38-caliber revolver in the kitchen of a friend's house in Casper, Wyoming, U.S. The weapon was taken by the houseowner's son from his mother's bedroom.

On August 7, 2004, Samantha Goodson, 16, shot her boyfriend, Michael Gerald Henry, 18, dead while they were playing a version of Russian roulette in a house in Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S. She was charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

On August 23, 2004, a 25-year-old Greek soldier, Antonis Syros, was shot in the forehead by a revolver that had held a single bullet at the gates of an Olympic village at Mount Parnitha in Athens, Greece. He was playing Russian roulette "jokingly" with Christos Chloros, a policeman, while he was standing guard.

On February 26, 2005, 13-year-old Thomas Gardner from St. Mary's County, Maryland, was shot to death by his father's revolver in his backyard with three friends. He only fired once.

On April 14, 2006, a 16-year-old teen from Peoria, Arizona shot himself to death while playing Russian roulette on his porch with a friend.

On May 19, 2006, 17-year-old Kaitlin Dawson from Statesville, North Carolina shot herself to death while playing Russian roulette in a kitchen at her friends house.

On June 8, 2006, 16-year-old Sean Jones from Jacksonville, Florida shot himself to death while playing Russian roulette on the front porch of his friend's house. He only fired once.

In addition to these specific incidents, it has been alleged that William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics attempted suicide by playing a solo game of Russian roulette [3].

Entertainment

In the bestseller Fandorin book The Winter Queen, the book begins with an apparent loner killing himself playing the game; but all is not as it seems. The characters in the novel frequently refer to the game as "American roulette", perhaps an ironic joke on the part of the author Boris Akunin to indicate the unclear origins of the game.

In the Australian true crime book entitled "Chopper: From The Inside" the book's author Mark Chopper Read boasts about playing Russian roulette with criminal elements of Melbourne's Vietnamese community in a chapter called "Russian roulette with rice eaters". As accounted in the book, Chopper had an advantage, because his revolver was much better balanced than the standard revolvers, and if he spun it the correct way, he'd get a much lower chance of dying, and made some money this way.

A rapper Papoose also made a song called "Russian Roulette" which is on the Boyz In The Hood mixtape

The song "Sugar" by System of a Down makes a reference to Russian roulette.

Singer Enrique Iglesias recorded a song called "Ruleta Rusa" (Russian Roulette) for his 1998 album Cosas Del Amor; however, the song merely likened a relationship with a woman to playing Russian roulette. The song was released as a single in Argentina.

A rave song entitled Russian Roulette was released in 2004. The vocals of the song feature a Russian man and another man playing the game.

In a Lucky Luke graphic novel, Luke is jailed under orders from a corrupt judge. The town jailer offers him a chance to play Russian roulette; Luke agrees, on the condition that the jailer go first. After the jailer has survived, he hands Luke the gun; Luke promptly re-chambers the bullet and takes the jailer hostage.

In a 1970s issue of MAD Magazine, Sergio Aragonés depicted six people playing Russian roulette. After the first five have survived, the sixth takes the gun and – instead of putting it to his own head – shoots it such that the bullet goes through the heads of all the others.

In the webcartoon Mystic Island, Sam finds a gun in Dennis' room; Dennis explains that the gun has one bullet, to be used whenever the group runs out of coconuts. Sam takes the gun with him, unbeknownst to the viewer (although it is implied that he did so). When the psychotic Norm goes on a rampage, killing everyone except Sam and one islander who loses an arm, Sam attempts to kill Norm with the gun, but it is a semi-automatic pistol and the bullet is in the bottom of the clip. Norm feigns despair, and when the bullet reaches the chamber, he disarms and shoots Sam. Sam, however, is revived and throws the spent bullet through Norm's head, causing him to fall down the cliff.

In the flash video game, Pico vs. Überkids, Pico and his friends Nene and Darnell must face a team of genetically engineered Überkids. Knowing that neither he nor his friends can defeat the Überkids in a test of skill or abilities, Pico picks Rock Paper Scissors Roulette, a game based entirely on luck. In the game, the player and the Überkid play Rock Paper Scissors, with the loser being forced to pull the trigger.

Films

Russian roulette is featured heavily in The Deer Hunter (1978), where the main characters are forced to play Russian roulette as prisoners of war. Subsequent to his release, Nick, played by Christopher Walken, is introduced to the world of "professional" Russian roulette, which becomes for him an addiction.

The comedy film High School High contains a spoof on Russian roulette scenario in The Deer Hunter.

In the movie Bad Day on the Block starring Charlie Sheen, his character forces his neighbors to play Russian roulette.

In the film 187, characters played by Samuel L. Jackson and Clifton Collins Jr. play Russian roulette by placing two rounds into a revolver and agreeing to take an equal number of turns even if one dies first.

In the film The Way of the Gun, a character is playing a version of Russian roulette with multiple guns when a phone call interrupts him.

The movie remake of Starsky and Hutch has one character unknowingly playing a real game of Russian roulette in an attempt to psyche out a prisoner. (He thinks the gun is unloaded.)

In the film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the main character (Harold) attempts to intimidate an enemy by playing Russian roulette, but ends up killing him on the first round.

In the 2005 film Tzameti, a version of the game is played.

Russell Crowe forces information out of a suspect by playing Russian roulette with him in L.A. Confidential.

Television

Russian roulette inspired a TV Game show of the same name. Players stood on trapdoors, arranged in a circle, and following rounds of answering questions, a spotlight would travel around the circle (mimicing the spinning of the cylinder of a revolver) before stopping on one of the trapdoors. This then opened, dropping the player from sight.

On October 5 2003, famous mind control magician Derren Brown played Russian roulette on British television Channel 4. Even though the stunt was apparently being broadcast live, it was broadcast on a slight delay and if anything had gone wrong the programme would have cut to a black screen. The stunt was condemned by some as being irresponsible, and a statement by the police that they had been informed of the arrangements in advance and were satisfied that "at no time was anyone at risk" made it clear that the incident was at least partially a hoax. However, it was proved on the prerecorded segment of the programme that at point blank range even a blank cartridge may cause concussion to the head, deafness or burns. Exactly what precautions Brown took to avoid this are still unknown.

In Season 3 of the television program 24, main character Jack Bauer is forced to play Russian roulette after he is held captive by inmates during a prison riot. Actor Kiefer Sutherland preceded the episode with an announcement from the Americans For Gun Safety Foundation, addressing the issue of gun safety. This episode originally aired on November 25, 2003.

In an episode of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Phileas Fogg (SAJV) is seen playing Russian roulette with one round in the cylinder. Phileas, at one point, pulls the trigger five times in succession without the gun firing, before handing the gun back to his opponent.

In a Season 3 episode of the television show The X-Files titled "Pusher", Fox Mulder is forced to play Russian roulette when under mind control. He first pulls the trigger at the man controlling him, then himself, and at the end tries to shoot Dana Scully, but turns the gun back to the pusher and fires the only bullet.

In the Bugs Bunny cartoon Ballot Box Bunny, the original ending – which was censored in America until release on DVD – showed Bugs and Yosemite Sam playing Russian roulette after both lose a mayoral race.

In one episode of Family Guy entitled "Love Thy Trophy", Peter suggests playing Russian roulette ("last one standing wins") as a way to settle a dispute with his neighbors over a trophy. However he looks down the barrel saying "This is crazy! You go first..." and hands the gun to Quagmire.

In an episode of The Simpsons the bar owner Moe Szyslak uses the backroom of his bar for a Russian roulette tournement involving Krusty the clown in an homage to The Deer Hunter.

In an episode of the Comedy Central series The Hollow Men, a parody of the Deer Hunter is seen with office workers betting on a game of Russian roulette involving staplers instead of revolvers.

Videogames

In the videogame Conflict: Vietnam, the tenth mission, titled "Russian Roulette", opens with American POWs forced to play Russian roulette.

In the videogame Killer7, Garcian Smith plays Russian roulette with the principal of Coburn Elementary School, Benjamin Keane, with the condition that if Garcian gives up he must assassinate the President. The trigger is pulled five times, and Garcian is handed the gun for the sixth pull. However, Garcian reveals he knows the gun contains seven shots, and pulls the trigger with the gun pointing to his own head. The principal then kills himself with the seventh shot.

The character Major Ocelot in the bestselling videogame Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater played a different version on other characters. It involved juggling three Colt Single Action Armys, one of which had a single round in a random chamber. Each time a gun was in his right hand, he would pull the trigger. This would be done six times in order to test how lucky the person was. The first time he attempts the stunt almost kills Nikolai Sokolov as the gun he was about to fire is caught by The Boss and shot off into the distance. The second time, he nearly kills EVA, but Naked Snake manages to push him out of the way and the gun takes out Snake's right eye. During the final showdown, Ocelot put a bullet in a chamber, spun it, and juggled it with one other revolver. He and Snake each had one gun, but there only a single bullet in a random chamber. Both then took turns firing at one another.

Toy gun version

Equipment

The primary piece of equipment used to play modern Russian roulette is a toy gun that has a 1/6 probability of activating when the trigger is pulled, for example a cap gun with a rotating cylinder and a single loaded cap. The gun may be a dedicated device, or it could be a video game light gun connected to a computer programmed for Russian roulette simulation.

Play

All players put money in the pot. Each player in turn points the gun at their head and pulls the trigger. If the gun activates, the person holding the gun is eliminated from the game. The last player remaining wins the pot.

Risks

Firing a cap gun at a person's head can cause burns or other injuries.

Firing a gun loaded with blanks at a person's head (an occasional "safe" variant) can cause severe injuries or death.

Drinking game

Some students on college campuses have created a drinking game titled "Russian roulette". Similar colored shot glasses are collected and shots of water or vodka are poured into every one but one. Into the last one is poured a strong alcohol such as Everclear. The drinks are then mixed up and people randomly take a shot as a group.

Another version popular on college campuses in the 1980s was "Beer Hunter" (an obvious play on words from the most famous film depiction of the game). One can of beer in a six pack is shaken and returned to the other five. A player selecting the shaken can will have it "explode" in his face when he opens it, and must "chug" it down, as well as the other five.

See also

• Roulette

External links

• The Deer Hunter death roll
• Teen Wounded Playing Russian Roulette
• Man, 18, Dies in Russian Roulette
• "Russian Roulette" Olympics Death
• Kablamo, a tongue-in-cheek board game with a Russian roulette theme.
• Gimp Roulette, a Shockwave webpage game that simulates Russian roulette.
• 2000 Darwin Award Runner-Up, Man wins Darwin Award after playing Russian roulette with a pistol.