Russian roulette

Russian Roulette (also: Russian Roulette ) is a potentially deadly game of chance that is played with a revolver . The barrel of the revolver, in which there is only one cartridge , is rotated so that the position of the cartridge is unknown to those involved. The player now holds the revolver to his temple and pulls the trigger . Depending on the current position of the cartridge, a shot can be triggered, which usually leads to the death of the player. If there are several participants, the same revolver is either given in turn until the shot is fired, or the game is limited to a certain number of attempts, with the drum being rotated again before each attempt.

Due to the way it works, Russian roulette can only be practiced with a revolver . The use of single-shot pistols or self-loading weapons with ammunition feed via a magazine inevitably leads to the triggering of a shot.

history

The first known mention is the short story Russian Roulette by Georges Surdez, published in the American weekly magazine Collier’s in 1937 , in which Russian roulette is attributed to the soldiers of the Russian army in the First World War ; however, there is no evidence that military personnel in the Russian Empire actually played Russian roulette.

Russian roulette later played a role in other fictional works, such as the 1948 American film The Unfaithful ; and soon the term was also used in a figurative sense. Since the middle of the 20th century, individual deaths from Russian roulette have become known again and again. For example, on October 17, 2004, a French police officer shot a colleague in the head while playing Russian roulette.

The forced participation in a Russian roulette, in terms of enhancing the effect of an apparent shooting , as torture variant is known and has, for example, in 1973 in Chile (see torture in Chile ) are used.

Known players

The English writer Graham Greene (1904–1991) stated that as a teenager he occasionally played Russian roulette, but this is questioned in a biography. The actor Jon-Erik Hexum died while filming in 1984. It is believed that he played Russian roulette with a blank cartridge. However, the exact circumstances of his death are not clear. The Argentine cuarteto singer Walter Olmos was probably also killed in a cocaine intoxication in a Russian roulette game in 2002. The Australian criminal and writer Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read describes in his biographies his personal experiences and his winning strategies, consisting of psychology (quote: "Nobody wants to play Russian roulette with a madman") and manipulation with a well-balanced revolver, with which he improved the probability of a shot being released to 1:19.

Probabilities and manipulations

The probability of firing a shot is the number of cartridges divided by the number of chambers in the drum. With a classic six-shot revolver, an inserted cartridge and without turning the drum again in front of the next player, the probability of pulling the trigger for each player is therefore (16.67%). If the first chamber is empty, the probability of a shot on the second actuation then rises to (20%) etc. This results from the probability of that the first one has an empty chamber, multiplied by the probability of that applies to him . The same applies to the third and so on. ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {1} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {1} {5}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {5} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {1} {5}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {5} {6}} \ cdot {\ tfrac {4} {5}} \ cdot {\ tfrac {1} {4}} = {\ tfrac {1} {6}}}$

If six people play (or two people play three rounds) it follows that one of these people will with absolute certainty come across the loaded chamber. If five have already been lucky, the last one knows that there is a cartridge in the next chamber. Of course, this is a great incentive to break the rules of the game and, for example, point the gun at the others, from which a shot can be fired with certainty. This in turn confronts the penultimate with the dilemma of either passing on the weapon and thus risking breaking the rules of the last person or breaking the rules themselves, not passing the weapon on and possibly firing at the last person. In the film Those Going Through Hell (1978) the prisoners use this circumstance to escape: there are three cartridges in the revolver; When no shot is released on the second press, the protagonist knows that he can now fire three shots with a maximum of four presses, thus killing the guards.

This problem does not arise if the drum is rotated again before each actuation. Here the probability before pulling the trigger is the same for everyone , but the probabilities before the start of the game are not the same: for the second, it results from the probability that the first has an empty chamber (i.e. ), multiplied by , for the third the fact that both before him an empty chamber, have times his chance, so and in general for the n th player . With this requirement you are better off if you get your turn as late as possible. Consequently, the probability that a shot will be fired in six rounds is only . It is by no means irrelevant whether the drum is rotated every time and in which order it is played. ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {1} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {5} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {1} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {5} {6}} \ cdot {\ tfrac {5} {6}} \ cdot {\ tfrac {1} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle ({\ tfrac {5} {6}}) ^ {n-1} \ cdot {\ tfrac {1} {6}}}$ ${\ displaystyle 1 - ({\ tfrac {5} {6}}) ^ {6} \ approx 0 {,} 67}$

In risk ethics , Russian roulette is cited as an example (derived from an example by Thomson) for the plausibility of threshold values based on different probabilities.

A manipulation is possible, and there are human factors beyond. The position can be influenced by the selected initial position of the cartridge in the cartridge revolver , the weight of the cartridge that may be felt, the period of rotation at a practiced rotational speed and the spatial alignment of the drum.

With some revolvers, due to the design, the position of the cartridge can be recognized when the drum is turned; this could be clicked into place. Manipulation should be possible by means of an optical control, particularly in the case of tilt barrel models in which the revolver is opened and in the case of swiveling drums that allow multiple loading at the same time. Even if the cartridge itself is not visible, its position can possibly be traced by apparent scratches or the like on the drum. It is also possible that the locking torque of the individual chambers is different, so that the probability is not evenly distributed over all chambers.

The calculation of the probability of a cartridge failing can be neglected due to the low probability, i.e. H. modern production processes have reduced this probability to almost zero. However, it is conceivable that a fuzzy cartridge is used as a hoax or a deft fingers ready sleight used no cartridge and can be presented afterwards anyway. For this reason - as shown in some films - after the first trigger, the gun is pressed again as evidence until the shot is released, this time harmless to people. However, deception through the use of a manipulated revolver is possible here too, in which the penetration of the bolt can be prevented as required; a technical trick attributed to the magician Harry Houdini .

The English illusionist Derren Brown takes the manipulation so far that he seems to read the mind of a volunteer in order to finally know exactly in which chamber he has put the cartridge. Attempts to manipulate blank cartridges involve considerable dangers, since a shot on the sensitive temple can result in serious injuries.

Film, music and literature quotes and art

In the 1840 novel, A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov (Book 4, The fatalist ) is the Serbian lieutenant Vulich in a camp after a discussion on the predetermination of fate a bet one if a randomly picked out gun is loaded or not, and fires it against his temple as a test. Vulich wins, but a second attempt with the same pistol shortly afterwards shows that it was actually sharp - the bullet lands in the wall. In the novel, the behavior is perceived as eccentric, there is no mention of a custom widespread in Russian officer circles.

In the Mexican feature film El Topo from 1970, Russian Roulette is used as a religious cult in the sense of a proof of God , the cult ends with the death of a little boy.

In the American film The Going Through Hell (1978), such games are shown in several scenes. The soldiers of the Viet Cong force the captured Americans to gamble and bet money. The life-threatening game is used as torture. In one of the Americans involved, this leads to trauma . That is why he does not return home after the escape, but becomes a professional player in Saigon . Spectators bet money on the death or survival of the players who compete in a duel. A special feature of the film is that the player's chances of survival are drastically reduced by using several balls in the drum.

The song " My Last Words " by the US metal band Megadeth is about a person who plays Russian roulette and realizes that this may be his last deed.

In the Spanish-Peruvian film The Gorge of the Wolves (OT: La Boca del Lobo ) (1988), the deadly game serves as a showdown at the end of the film.

The New Zealand comedy Meet the Feebles (1989) satirizes the portrayal of Russian roulette from the US film The Through Hell .

In the movie Arizona Dream (1993) Grace ( Lili Taylor ) and Axl ( Johnny Depp ) play Russian roulette; when Axl pulls the trigger several times without a shot being released, Grace snatches the gun from him.

In the film Léon - The Professional (1994), Mathilda ( Natalie Portman ) plays Russian roulette to force Léon to train her. Before the fatal shot is fired, Léon intervenes.

In the film 187 - A Deadly Number , the two protagonists end up playing Russian roulette and are killed in the process.

In the third season of the TV series 24 , Jack Bauer ( Kiefer Sutherland ) and Ramon Salazar play a Russian roulette game as part of a prison break.

In the action thriller The Bloody Path of God 2 (2009) there is a Russian roulette between Ottilio Panza ( Daniel DeSanto ) and Noah MacManus ( Billy Connolly ).

In her music video for Russian Roulette (2009), Rihanna plays Russian roulette against a man and wins.

In the darkly humorous comedy God Bless America , the two main characters play Russian roulette in a defused version by holding a toy revolver to their heads. If the cartridge ignites, a balloon bursts next to the player's head.

In the film 13 Tzameti (2005, remake 2010: 13 ), the protagonist gets into a society that bets on the survival of Russian roulette players.

In the 2nd episode of the 2nd season of the Netflix series House of Money , the protagonist plays Russian roulette with the captive leader of the group.

In the comedy " American Pie Presents: The College Clique ", a Russian roulette takes place between two duelists as part of a contest between two student associations. The duelists shoot themselves in the mouth with a special pistol. The loser of Russian Roulette receives a load of horse semen injected into his mouth.

Speech images

The term “playing Russian roulette” is often used colloquially for taking particularly risky measures (see “playing with fire” or “playing va banque ”). Russian roulette also serves as a metaphor for unjust randomness:

"It is as if a great war would not end with an intellectual trial of strength at the conference table, but with a game of Russian roulette between selected corporations on both sides."

- Peter Ustinov on the introduction of penalty kicks in football in 1970

Variance reduction in Monte Carlo simulations

In applied mathematics, "Russian Roulette" describes a technique of reducing the variance in Monte Carlo simulations .

literature

LB Shields, JC Hunsaker, DM Stewart: Russian roulette and risk-taking behavior: a medical examiner study. In: American Journal of Forensic Medical Pathology. 29 (1), Mar 2008, pp. 32-39.

Web links

Wiktionary: Russian roulette - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ "Did the Russians ever play Russian roulette?" At www.straightdope.com (English)
↑ The unfaithful on www.imdb.com
↑ Police officer killed colleagues - seven years in prison. (spiegel.de)
^ Graham Greene 1904-1991. ( Memento of February 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) at www.bbc.co.uk (English)
↑ Graham Greene Biography. ( www.netglimse.com ( Memento from August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ); English)
^ Judith Jarvis Thomson: Imposing Risk. In: Mary Gibson (Ed.): To Breathe Freely . Rowman & Littlefield, Totowa 1985, pp. 124-140.
^ Karl Wald: The father of the penalty shootout. (stern.de)

[Straight_Dope-1] "Did the Russians ever play Russian roulette?" At www.straightdope.com (English)

[2] The unfaithful on www.imdb.com

[3] Police officer killed colleagues - seven years in prison. (spiegel.de)

[4] Graham Greene 1904-1991. ( Memento of February 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) at www.bbc.co.uk (English)

[5] Graham Greene Biography. ( www.netglimse.com ( Memento from August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ); English)

[Thomson-6] Judith Jarvis Thomson: Imposing Risk. In: Mary Gibson (Ed.): To Breathe Freely . Rowman & Littlefield, Totowa 1985, pp. 124-140.

[7] Karl Wald: The father of the penalty shootout. (stern.de)