Is Russian Roulette Russian?

Russian roulette is a deadly game of chance in which a player loads a single bullet into a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against their head, and pulls the trigger. The name “Russian” roulette was first used in print in 1937, when an American journalist named George Sullivan wrote about the game in the New York Evening Post.

Sullivan’s article described how Russian soldiers would sometimes play the game to relieve boredom during long stretches of garrison duty.

Despite its name, there is no evidence that Russian roulette originated in Russia. In fact, the earliest known reference to the game comes from an 1844 short story by Alexandre Dumas, which is set in Russia but does not mention Russians playing the game.

Dumas’s story is about two Frenchmen who challenge each other to a duel with pistols. They agree to load just one bullet into each gun, spin the cylinder, and then take turns firing at each other until one of them is dead.

Although Russian roulette may not have originated in Russia, it has been associated with Russia ever since Sullivan’s article popularized the game in the West. Perhaps this is because Sullivan’s article was published during a time when tensions between the United States and Soviet Union were running high.

The Cold War rivalry between these two superpowers made anything associated with Russia seem sinister and dangerous.

In recent years, Russian roulette has been thrust back into the public spotlight thanks to a number of high-profile incidents involving celebrities and other notable figures. In 2007, actor Steve-O from the television show Jackass filmed himself playing Russian roulette with a live revolver on an episode of his MTV show Steve-O’s Wild World.

The following year, American singer Rihanna released a song called “Russian Roulette” that topped charts around the world.

Despite its dangerous reputation, Russian roulette is not as deadly as it seems. If all six chambers of the revolver are loaded with bullets and the player spins the cylinder randomly before each pull of the trigger, then the probability of dying from Russian roulette is 1/6, or about 16 percent. This means that if you played Russian roulette 100 times, you would only be expected to die once.

Of course, this assumes that you are using a perfectly functioning revolver and that you are spinning the cylinder correctly so that it is truly random. In reality, both of these factors are often not taken into account, which can increase the odds of dying from Russian roulette significantly.

So is Russian roulette really Russian? There is no definitive answer, but given its name and origins in popular culture, it seems likely that at least some people believe it is.