Red or Black

Red or black are the two main alternating colours on a European roulette wheel, with only a solitary green zero spoiling the pattern. Leaving the zero out of the equation, betting on red or black gives the player a roughly even chance of winning. The colours of the suits in a traditional deck of playing cards are also red or black in equal number. It is for these reasons that the term ‘red or black’ is sometimes used to describe an equally balanced win or lose scenario.

There is something about red or black and similar even money shots which human beings find very appealing, especially in the context of making decisions. When faced with a difficult choice between two options where equally strong arguments can be made for both of those options (or where one doesn’t care too much about the outcome), stepping back and allowing fate to decide which route to take is a way – though not necessarily the most sensible way – of choosing one over the other.

Red or Black alternatives

For example, a person might toss a coin, assigning heads to one outcome and tails to the other, and adhere to the outcome without emotion. Or, if there happened to be a roulette wheel or deck of playing cards in the vicinity, one might assign outcomes to red or black and allow to fate to decide the way ahead in that manner.

Allowing fate to determine the way forward is something that suits some people more than others. Many people are only happy if they think things through logically and make a decision based on objective rationality. Others are just as happy to throw rationality out of the window and to make not just minor decisions based on red or black outcomes, but to use the red or black approach to change their entire lives.

Example of Red or Black in action

Ashley Revell is an example of the latter type. In 2004 Ashley decided to sell all of his possessions, including the clothes from his wardrobe, and bet every penny of the proceeds (which amounted to £76,840) on a single spin of the roulette wheel. The event was recorded in a television documentary called Double or Nothing for Sky One, and the bet was placed at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Ashley knew from the outset that he would bet on red or black, but which of those colours to opt for was decided only at the moment of placing the bet. He bet on red.

The idea here was simple: if Ashley lost the red or black bet then he would start his life afresh, unencumbered by the possessions of his past. If he won the red or black bet then starting his new life would be made easier with double the amount of money at his disposal. The bet was struck, the roulette wheel was spun and fate put the ball in the well of red number 7, giving Ashley a new fortune of £153,680.

Whilst we would never recommend that anyone repeats this type of double-or-nothing gamble, making relatively trivial decisions by allowing fate to determine whether it favours red or black is an approach that many people will continue to take. Of course, if a roulette wheel is used and fate chooses the green zero then those people will be left just as uncertain as they were at the outset…