Russian roulette

{{For-multi|the similarly-named 1965 cartoon|Rushing Roulette{{!}}Rushing Roulette|other uses|Russian Roulette (disambiguation)}}

File:Rosyjska ruletka.png]]

Russian roulette ({{Langx|ru|Русская рулетка|translit=Russkaya ruletka}}) is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (of the opponent or himself), and pulls the trigger. If the loaded chamber aligns with the barrel, the weapon fires.

Etymology

The term Russian roulette was possibly first used in a 1937 short story of the same name by Georges Surdez, published in the January 30, 1937, edition of Collier's magazine:

{{blockquote|'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 {{Not a typo|Rumania}}, 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 café, 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.}}

References to the term in the context of the Collier's story appeared in some newspapers during 1937.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119886292/tween-lines/ |title='Tween Lines |newspaper=Omaha World-Herald |page=11-E |date=June 13, 1937 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} The first independent appearances of the term in newspapers began in 1938 with the reports of young men being killed while playing it. The earliest instance appears to have been the death of a 21-year-old former journalism student in Austin, Texas, appearing in The Austin Statesman and some other Texas newspapers on January 8, 1938.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119885783/death-laid-to-gun-roulette/ |title=Death Laid to 'Gun Roulette' |newspaper=The Austin Statesman |page=1 |date=January 8, 1938 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119886719/russian-roulette-test-fatal-to-austin-wr/ |title=Russian Roulette Test Fatal to Austin Writer |agency=United Press |newspaper=El Paso Herald-Post |page=3 |date=January 8, 1938 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} At least four other deaths were attributed to Russian roulette during the year: a 34-year-old policeman in Peoria, Illinois,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119887313/police-officer-is-latest-victim-of-dange/ |title=Police Officer Is Latest Victim Of Dangerous 'Russian Roulette' |agency=INS |newspaper=The Austin Statesman |page=1 |date=July 6, 1938 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119944601/dies-as-he-snaps-empty-pistol-at-head/ |title=Dies as he Snaps 'Empty' Pistol at Head as Joke |agency=INS |newspaper=St. Louis Star-Times |page=7 |date=July 6, 1938 |accessdate=March 1, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} a 20-year-old in Houston,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119887449/russian-roulette-thrills-houston-youth-t/ |title=Russian Roulette Thrills Houston Youth to Death |agency=United Press |newspaper=The Austin Statesman |page=3 |date=July 8, 1938 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} an 18-year-old in Saratoga Springs, New York,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119887761/another-life-taken-by-russian-roulette/ |title=Another Life Taken by 'Russian Roulette' |agency=AP |newspaper=Springfield Leader & Press |location=Springfield, Missouri |page=1 |date=July 23, 1938 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} and a 16-year-old in Los Angeles.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119888139/boys-triple-death-gamble-told-by-chum-a/ |title=Boy's Triple Death Gamble Told by Chum at Inquest |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |page=7 |date=November 22, 1938 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite web |title=Is Travel Now a Game of Russian Roulette? |date=29 March 2021 |url=https://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/s-suresh-international-travel-coronavirus-covid-19-testing-travel-abroad-world-news-65918/ |access-date=8 July 2024}}

The term has become a metaphor for taking foolhardy risks, and its usage steadily increased in reportage of diplomacy, politics, economics, medicine and sports.

Origin

An early example of Russian roulette can be found in the short story "The Fatalist" within the 1840 novel A Hero of Our Time written by Russian poet and writer Mikhail Lermontov.{{cite web|title=The Deer Hunter Roberto Leoni Movie Reviews| date=11 October 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5gD8SCymTU&list=PLFNYsCQU-KaMPQX8whHd19K6syiywZxwd&index=2&t=2s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/k5gD8SCymTU| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=13 October 2019|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} In the story, which is set in a Cossack village, the protagonist, Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin, claims that there is no predestination and proposes a bet in order to prove it, laying about fifty gold pieces onto a table. A lieutenant of the dragoons of the Tsar, Vulič, a man of Serbian origins with a passion for gambling, accepts the challenge and randomly takes one of a number of pistols of various calibres from its nail, cocks it and pours gunpowder onto the pan. Nobody knows if the pistol is loaded or not. "Gentlemen! Who will pay 20 gold pieces for me?", Vulič asks, putting the muzzle of the pistol to his forehead. He then asks Grigory to throw a playing card in the air, and when the card lands, he pulls the trigger. The weapon fails to fire, but when Vulič cocks the pistol again and aims it at a service cap hanging over the window, a shot rings out and smoke fills the room.{{cite web|title=The Fatalist. Mikhail Lermontov. English Translation.|date=18 October 2017|url=https://kittylevin.livejournal.com/29535.html|access-date=13 October 2019|publisher=LiveJournal.com}}

Incidents

William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, claimed he attempted suicide by playing a solo game of Russian roulette.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/transistor/album1/shockley/shockley2.html |title=Bill Shockley, Part 2 of 3 |publisher=American Institute of Physics |via=PBS.org |date=1999}}
In a 1946 U.S. legal case, Commonwealth v. Malone, 47 A.2d 445 (1946), a Pennsylvania teenager's conviction for murder in the second degree as a result of shooting a friend was upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In this case, the teenagers involved played a modified version of Russian roulette, called Russian poker, in which they took turns aiming and pulling the trigger of the revolver at each other, rather than at their own heads. The court ruled that "When an individual commits an act of gross recklessness without regard to the probability that death to another is likely to result, that individual exhibits the state of mind required to uphold a conviction of manslaughter even if the individual did not intend for death to ensue."{{cite web |url=http://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/criminal-law/criminal-law-keyed-to-kadish/homicide/commonwealth-v-malone/2/ |title=Commonwealth v. Malone|work=casebriefs.com |access-date=26 July 2014}}
On 25 December 1954, American blues musician Johnny Ace killed himself in Texas, after a gun he pointed at his own head discharged. A report in The Washington Post attributed this to Russian roulette, but this account was disputed by two witnesses who said Ace was reckless with the gun but not playing Russian roulette.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1998/12/25/really-old-school-with-punk-zip/1ca39f04-4405-4311-8c6c-ed2ab5a01981/|title=Really Old School|newspaper=Washington Post|date=December 25, 1998|first=Geoffrey|last=Himes}}
Graham Greene related in his first autobiography, A Sort of Life (1971), that he played Russian roulette, alone, a few times as a teenager.{{cite web |url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/novelist_graham_greene_played_russian_roulette_as_a_teenager |title=Novelist Graham Greene Played Russian Roulette as a Teenager |first=Paul |last=Gallagher |website=dangerousminds.net |date=December 12, 2013 |accessdate=March 1, 2023}}
Malcolm X, in his 1965 autobiography, recalls an incident during his burglary career when he once played Russian roulette, pulling the trigger three times in a row to convince his partners in crime that he was not afraid to die. In the epilogue to the book, Alex Haley states that Malcolm X revealed to him that he palmed the round.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/19/arts/design/19malccut.html|title=The Personal Evolution of a Civil Rights Giant|first=Edward|last=Rothstein|date=19 May 2005|access-date=21 June 2017|work=The New York Times}} The incident is portrayed in Spike Lee's 1992 film adaptation of the autobiography.
In 1972, under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, the French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday played multiple games of Russian roulette with singer Nanette Workman, then his mistress.{{cite web |language=fr|url=https://www.programme-tv.net/news/musique/297177-roulette-russe-paradis-artificiels-deglingue-la-relation-survoltee-de-johnny-hallyday-et-sa-maitresse-nanette-workman/ |title=Roulette russe, paradis artificiels, 'déglingue' : la relation survoltée de Johnny Hallyday et sa maîtresse Nanette Workman|work=www.programme-tv.net |date=1 April 2022}} Laeticia Smet, Hallyday's wife, revealed in 2018 that he "has done this several times. But that was a long time ago ... At the time, he was playing with his destiny".{{cite web |language=fr|url=https://www.parismatch.com/People/Quand-Johnny-Hallyday-jouait-a-la-roulette-russe-1496354 |title=Quand Johnny Hallyday jouait à la roulette russe|work=www.parismatch.com |date=13 April 2018}}
On 24 July 1973, Dallas Police Officer Darrell L. Cain murdered Santos Rodriguez, a 12-year-old child, while interrogating him and his brother about a burglary. Cain shot Rodriguez after spinning the cylinder of his revolver, Russian roulette-style, in an effort to force a confession.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119940063/state-rests-case-in-cain-murder-trial/ |title=State Rests Case In Cain Murder Trial |agency=UPI |newspaper=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal |page=15 |date=November 14, 1973 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119940248/dallas-policeman/ |title=Dallas Policeman |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=2 |date=November 17, 1973 |accessdate=February 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}
On 10 September 1976, Finnish magician Aimo Leikas killed himself in front of a crowd while performing his Russian roulette act in Hartola. He had been performing the act for about a year, selecting six bullets from a box of assorted live and dummy ammunition.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.circushistory.org/Publications/CircusReport20Sep1976.pdf |title=In Memoriam |magazine=The Circus Report |date=20 September 1976 |volume=5 |number=38 |page=2 |access-date=2013-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903213446/http://www.circushistory.org/Publications/CircusReport20Sep1976.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-03 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19760910&id=rD0xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6876,2739715|title=Russian Roulette Act Misfires, Finnish Circus Performer Killed|work=Toledo Blade|date=September 10, 1976|page=11|via=Google News|access-date=21 June 2017}}
The 1978 historically inaccurate film The Deer Hunter depicts captured South Vietnamese and American soldiers being forced to play Russian roulette as their Viet Cong captors bet on who will survive. Several teen deaths following the movie's release caused both police and the media to accuse the film of inspiring the youths.{{cite web|date=August 16, 2007|title=The Deer Hunter Suicides|url=http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/deerhunter.asp|access-date=April 26, 2013|publisher=Snopes}}
John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was known to have played Russian roulette, alone, on two occasions.{{cite book|last= Garbus|first= Martin|title=Courting Disaster: The Supreme Court and the Unmaking of American Law|url=https://archive.org/details/courtingdisaster00garb|url-access= registration|page= [https://archive.org/details/courtingdisaster00garb/page/135 135]|edition=hardcover|date= 2002-09-17|orig-year=2002|publisher=Times Books|isbn=978-0-8050-6918-1}}
On 12 October 1984, while waiting for filming to resume on Cover Up (1985), actor Jon-Erik Hexum played Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum revolver loaded with a blank. The blast fractured his skull and caused massive cerebral hemorrhaging when bone fragments were forced through his brain. He was rushed to Beverly Hills Medical Center, where he was pronounced brain-dead.{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/10/14/jon-erik-hexums-fatal-joke/ |title=Jon-Erik Hexum's Fatal Joke |date=14 October 1994 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=5 February 2013}}
On 10 July 1993, former French rugby player Armand Vaquerin died during a “demonstration” of Russian roulette in the Béziers bar “le bar des Amis” on avenue Gambetta.{{cite news|url=https://www.telerama.fr/radio/podcast-les-derniers-mysteres-de-la-mort-du-rugbyman-armand-vaquerin-7010745.php|title=Podcast : les derniers mystères sur la mort du rugbyman Armand Vaquerin|trans-title=Podcast: the latest mysteries about the death of rugby player Armand Vaquerin|language=fr|publisher=Télérama|date=4 June 2022|access-date=7 November 2023}}
On 5 October 2003, psychological illusionist Derren Brown appeared to take part in a game of Russian roulette live on UK television. Two days later, a statement by the police said they had been informed of the arrangements in advance, and were satisfied that "There was no live ammunition involved and at no time was anyone at risk."{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3169388.stm |title=Roulette gun stunt 'a hoax' |work=BBC News |date=2003-10-07 |access-date=2007-09-02 }}
The BBC program Who Do You Think You Are?, on 13 September 2010, featured the actor Alan Cumming investigating his grandfather Tommy Darling, who he discovered had died playing Russian roulette while serving as a police officer in British Malaya. The family had previously believed he had died accidentally while cleaning his gun.{{cite news |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/198947/Alan-Cumming-s-hero-grandad-died-playing-Russian-roulette |title=Alan Cumming's hero grandad died playing Russian roulette |first=David |last=Jarvis |website=Daily Express |date=September 12, 2010 |accessdate=March 1, 2023}}
On 11 June 2016, fighter Ivan "JP" Cole apparently killed himself by playing Russian roulette.{{cite news|title=MMA fighter 'killed himself playing Russian roulette' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/13/mma-fighter-killed-himself-playing-russian-roulette/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/13/mma-fighter-killed-himself-playing-russian-roulette/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=13 June 2016|date=13 June 2016|first=Adam|last=Boult|work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}

Lethality

File:Smith & Wesson Model 686 Plus with 1 round.jpg is a seven-shot revolver shown here loaded with a single round]]

Calculations in this section are based on the use of a six-shot revolver with a single chamber loaded. Abnormal factors, such as the possibility of a dud round, are not included.

= Chamber respun after each trigger pull =

With this variant, turn order is essential, because the probability of losing decreases the later one's turn is.

Given a six-shot revolver, for any given single trial (pull), the probability of losing is $\tfrac 16 \approx 16.7\%$ . However, since all players only come into the game if and when each of the players before them has caught an empty chamber, the all-game loss probability for player $k$ (starting from 0) is reduced to $(\tfrac 56)^{k} \cdot\tfrac 1 6$ . The all-game loss probabilities for each of the six players are hence, in order, $16.7\%$ , $13.9\%$ , $11.6\%$ , $9.6\%$ , $8.0\%$ , and $6.7\%$ to one decimal place. More generally, for a revolver with $n$ chambers, player $k$ 's all-game loss probability is $(\tfrac{n-1}{n})^{k}\cdot\tfrac {1}{n}$ .

The probability of the revolver having fired after six pulls is $1-(\tfrac{5}{6})^6$ , or about $66.5\%$ . More generally, for a revolver with $n$ chambers, the probability of the revolver having fired after $k$ pulls is $1-(\tfrac{n-1}{n})^k$ , as this would be an instance of a geometric distribution where the success probability is $\tfrac{1}{n}$ .

The average number of pulls for the gun to fire is $n$ in this variant (six pulls, for a six-shot revolver).

= Chamber only spun once =

With this variant, turn order has no effect on the all-game loss probability, which remains the same for all players, but influences the single-pull probability, which increases with each pull.

Given a six-shot revolver, at pull $k$ (starting from 0), the fact that all $k$ previously tested chambers were empty reduces the total number of possible locations of the bullet to ${6-k}$ , and the loss probability is therefore $\tfrac{1}{6-k}$ . The single-pull loss probabilities for each of the six players are hence, in order, $16.7\%$ , $20\%$ , $25\%$ , $33.3\%$ , $50\%$ , and $100\%$ to 1 decimal place.{{cite web|date=1 June 2015|title=Abnormal risks| url=http://statisticalideas.blogspot.com/2015/06/abnormal-risks.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191106183440/https://statisticalideas.blogspot.com/2015/06/abnormal-risks.html|archive-date=6 November 2019|access-date=21 June 2017| website=Statistical Ideas}} More generally, for a revolver with $n$ chambers, the loss probability at pull $k$ (starting from 0) is $\tfrac{1}{n-k}$ .

However, since, like in the re-spinning variant, all players only come into the game if and when each of the players before them has caught an empty chamber, the all-game loss probability for player $k$ is

$\tfrac {1}{n-k} \cdot \prod_{i=0}^{k-1} \frac {n-i-1}{n-i} = \frac {\cancel {n-1}}{n} \cdot \frac {n-2}{\cancel {n-1}} \cdot ... \cdot \frac {\cancel {n-k}}{\cancel {n-k-1}} \cdot \frac {1}{\cancel {n-k}} = \frac {1}{6} \approx 16.7\%$

for $k>0$ and $\frac {1}{n-k} = \frac {1}{6} \approx 16.7\%$ for $k=0$ . Hence, the all-game loss probability for all players is $16.7\%$ to 1 decimal place.

The probability of the revolver having fired after six pulls is $\tfrac 66$ or $100\%$ in this variant (meaning the revolver will fire within six trigger pulls). And, more generally, after $k$ pulls, it is $\tfrac{k}{n}$ .

The average number of pulls for the gun to fire is $\tfrac{n+1}{2}$ in this variant (3.5 pulls, for a six-shot revolver).

Books and films

The Deer Hunter is a 1978 war drama film about three of Slavic-American steelworkers in the Vietnam War that imprisoned by the Viet Cong are forced to participate in Russian roulette while the jailers bet.

13 Tzameti is a 2005 dark psychological thriller by Georgian Babluani. Thirteen men undergo series of Russian roulette, arranging into a circle and pointing at the man in front of them (American remake in 2010). 'Tzameti' is the Georgian word for thirteen.

Live! is a 2007 mockumentary-thriller where a TV network executive tries to produce a reality show where contestants play Russian Roulette.

In Death Is a Problem for the Living (Finland, 2023) two men, one a gambling addict and the other with 15% brains left, start a hearse business, but end up in a criminal organization that runs an illegal Russian roulette game show.