Russian Roulette

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 or her 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 only one in n chance of hitting the loaded chamber, where n is the total number of chambers in the cylinder. So, for instance, in a revolver that holds six rounds, the chance is one in six; for a revolver that holds five, the chance is one in five.

Read more about Russian Roulette:  History, Notable Incidents, In Magic and Mentalism

Famous quotes containing the word russian:

    Of all my Russian books, The Defense contains and diffuses the greatest “warmth”Mwhich may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract chess is supposed to be.
    Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)