Russian Roulette

Sushi Girl kills Duke.

Sushi Girl kills Duke by russian roulette.

Overview

Russian roulette 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 his head, and pulls the trigger. "Russian" refers to the supposed country of origin, and roulette to the element of risk-taking and the spinning of the revolver's cylinder being reminiscent of spinning a roulette wheel.

Because only one chamber is loaded, the player has a one in n chance of hitting the loaded chamber, where n is the number of chambers in the cylinder. So, for instance, for a revolver that holds six rounds, the chance is one in six. That assumes that each chamber is equally likely to come to rest in the "correct" position. However due to gravity, in a properly maintained weapon with a single round inside the cylinder, the full chamber, which weighs more than the empty chambers, will usually end up near the bottom of the cylinder, altering the odds in favour of the "player" - but only if the cylinder is allowed to come to a complete stop before the cylinder is relatched.

Most revolvers actually have "cylinder stops" that would keep the cylinder in place. "Cylinder stops" do not allow the cylinder to rotate out of place.

History

The term "Russian Roulette" originated in an eponymous 1937 short story by Georges Surdez:

'Did you ever hear of Russian Roulette?' ... With the Russian army in Romania, around 1917, some officer would suddenly pull out his revolver, put a single bullet in the cylinder, spin the cylinder, snap it back in place, put it to his head and pull the trigger.

Legal status (USA)

As participating in a game of Russian roulette is considered to be a grossly reckless risk to human life, most common-law jurisdictions in the United States would support a finding of depraved-heart murder (or equivalent) or conspiracy to commit murder for persons who join a game of Russian roulette in which a participant dies. This notably occurred in Commonwealth v. Malone, 47 A.2d 445 (1946), in which a Pennsylvania teenager's conviction for murder as a result of shooting a friend during a game of Russian roulette was upheld.

In pop culture

Russian roulette has been portrayed in many different works of modern culture.

• Russian roulette was made famous worldwide with the 1978 film The Deer Hunter, which features three soldiers who are captured during the Vietnam War and forced to play Russian roulette as their captors gamble on the results. Their captors demand an especially brutal variation of the game: the game is played until all but one contestant is killed. The game takes place in a bamboo room above where the other prisoners are held, so that the losers' blood drips down on future contestants. 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.
• Russian Roulette is also a game show on GSN where players risk elimination for each wrong answer.
• In a 2006 episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Russian roulette is featured at the episode's end. Frank Reynolds leads a group of Vietnamese gamblers into the basement of Paddy's Pub. The scene mimics The Deer Hunter in its portrayal of the game.
• In 2008, 10 Years released a song called "Russian Roulette" on their album "Division".
• In 2009, Rihanna released a song called "Russian Roulette".
• In 2010 the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops featured characters being forced to play Russian roulette, heavily inspired by the scene from the The Deer Hunter.