Credit Card Roulette - To Play or Not to Play?
Well, I survived New Orleans! And I must say, Las Vegas has nothing on them. Never have I seen so much beauty and filth all packed into the same town, it was awesome. And now, 48 hours after all that beer and sight seeing and music and voodoo and bonding, it's back to good ol' reality. And it's a good thing too cuz my body can't take it any more ;)But before we close out this chapter, allow me to share an interesting concept with you all. We were divvying up our dinner bill Saturday night when a friend said something about playing "Credit Card Roulette". Come again? Were my boys about to talk finance for once? Well, not exactly, but it was still pretty exciting to learn about. Urban Dictionary has it a bit differently, but according to my friends it goes a little something like this:
Credit Card Roulette: A game to see who's going to pay the bill. You take everyone's credit cards, put 'em under a napkin, and then mix them all up so you can't tell whose is whose. Then, someone (usually the waiter) randomly selects one of them and pulls it out to declare the "winner". Except in this case, you do NOT want to win, because the "winner" is the chosen one to pay the entire bill!So why on earth would you participate in such a thing? Well, for one the odds of getting a free meal are totally in your favor. If there's a total of 6 of you playing (as we did), you only have a 17% chance of taking the fall and paying up! Not too shabby odds if you ask me. Of course, the more people you have playing the bigger the bill ;) And in our case Saturday night, it was a hefty $240 ticket without even taking on the tip yet. It's definitely not for the faint of heart...nor apparently us since we all politely declined.
I must admit, though, I was pretty tempted. I wonder what would happen if I bring this up at our next PF Happy Hour? Haha...so what about you all? Am I the only one who's never heard of this before? Drop me a line and let me know. In the meantime, I have to get back to replenishing my body with massive amounts of water & vegetables before I keel over...this body ain't the same as it used to be.
Labels: cockamamy indeed, credit cards, travel
posted by J. Money at
12:09 PM
29 Comments:
Wow, I've never heard of this either, but it sounds intriguing. Still, I know I would never participate just because chances are that I would have had the meal or whatever planned out and budgeted, and in the event I lost it would completely blow the budget. The stress of that chance just wouldn't be worth it.
Aww man I hate when this game comes up...we do it every time we have a boys weekend! I am about 6-0 so I know my number is going to be called here in the next couple trips. Since I've never lost I am always the guy saying "lets not do this", but usually get outvoted. You must have some frugal friends(which is nice) because I always seem to be odd man out with my friends.
I have heard of it and have joked with friends in the past to do it, but have never actually played. Personally that is stressful enough for me. Could be fun to do at the happy hour Thurs though, although for some reason a group of PF bloggers talking about frugality won't be up to it. After enough drinks though maybe things will change.
I've heard of it and think it's a terrible plan. I don't want to pay for everyone and I sure don't want to feel guilty that someone else ends up paying my share.
My nephew is an MLB player. He and his fellow pitchers go out together and play credit card roulette regularly, for much more expensive meals than you had. It it is irresponsible but they have more money than New Orleans has beaded necklaces and hookers so it works out.
We played this regularly in college... But it basically evened out in the end, because if you lost, you had immunity the next couple of times...
Mr. GoTo knows the only person/people who should/would play this - as long as those guys are paying their bill responsibly! I have very very very bad luck and so everyone would want to play with me, but I would decline. Even thought I also seem to be always throwing in more than my share to make sure the waitstaff are covered, so a 1/6 chance of being stuck with 100% of the bill instead of 20% is still not good odds! Anon.Michelle (name/url doesn't seem to work for me
My roommates and I use to play this every meal for like a year straight. It definitely encourages you to eat your fair share!
We always played the first person picked had to leave the tip, the last person had to pay for the meal!
HA! What a gambler! I knew you had a gambling streak in you, deep down. You wanted to play and win! (I would have been rooting for you.) Would I play? Eh... probably not. I'd be too steamed about being stuck with the bill for anyone else's stupid drinks and whatnot.
wow, I've never heard of this before, and in my opinion, doesn't seem like a good idea! I'd hate to be the one stuck with the bill!! Plus I usually make pretty frugal decision when I go out in order to keep my portion of the bill rather small, so I'd hate to have to pay for everyone if I hadn't let myself partake in the spending quite as much as the others did!
No very budget friendly but I suppose if you win, you then have a budget surplus to sock away. lol (for the record I have never heard of this either)
Can you play with Visa debit cards? (Sorry bro, you know I had to ask.) LOL
Did you benefit from playing Credit Card Roulette? Any free dinners for J?
Some coworkers used to do this with bar tabs. When you're talking a couple of pitchers it's not that bad. It also helps if you play with the same group over and over, becuase eventually it should even out.
Personally, I'm way to faint of heart, especially when we're talking big tabs.
wow, i've never heard of this either. i'm not sure if i could stomach the game; my friends and i like really good food at really good restaurants. if the bill was $50 or less (which means lunch with just 3 or 4 of us), we could probably play. i'll let you know if i ever engage;-).
I've never heard of it... sounds risky. But I guess if you play enough, it will work out in your favor more times than not (or maybe that is falling into the trap that every Vegas gambler falls into of assuming that the odds aren't independent each time)
Never heard of it either, but here is a simple expected values equation:
Assumptions are:
Number of people = 5
Each person spends $15
E(x)=.8($0)+.2($75)=$15
So what does that tell us? Based on the probabilities... it makes no sense to play... IF EVERYONE GETS THE SAME PRICED MEAL!
So where does that lead us? The only time it makes sense to play is if you are one of those people who gets more than the average at the table. If you get less, you should never play. If you get the average, you still shouldn't play.
Number of people = 3
Person 1 Spends $10, Should not play
Person 2 Spends $15, Should not play
Person 2 Spends $20, Should play
Total bill=$45
E(x)=.66($0)+.33($45)=$15
..I'm a dork.
I've heard of it, but it's definitely not a game I care to take a chance on, especially after a long weekend of carousing. And $250 before tip isn't a small price tag, either. 17% is just enough of a chance for me to get screwed because my family has a saying, "if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all." I tend to steer clear of games of chance that could cause a potentially large outlay of cash. Call me frugal, call me whatever, but I'm just not adventurous in that way.
The odds are never in my favor (lottery, Vegas or other gambling), so I'd have to pass on this game!
@Money Beagle - For sure, exactly the reason I didn't participate ;)
@Atlas@mymoneyshrugged - Haha, yeah your time is almost here!!! 6-0 is awesome man, you lucky bastard.
@Craig - You know i'll be at least trying it... Maybe for like 1 round of drinks so you better agree to it! haha...
@Megan - Never thought about that "feeling guilty" part, but I agree that come into play here.
@Mr. GoTo - Nice. I think I'd get along well w/ your nephew :)
@Chris Mycoskie - Immunity. I like it! I could be more tempted w/ that in play.
@Anon.Michelle - Sorry the name/url isn't working, weird :( but yes, I'd agree that a little irresponsibility comes into play here, even though it would be a nice rush. Not that I'd know....yet.
@Baker @ Man Vs. Debt - That's not a bad way of doing it at all. I'd be down w/ paying the tip more than the entire meal...but you're right in that people probably WOULD eat/drink more than normal in this case - I don't like that at all, esp as one who's frugal and watching what he spends on his meals and such (unlike my boys who are perfectly fine w/ $40 steaks). I guess if it's brought up at the END of the meal though, like in our case, no one would have changed their eating habits.
@444 - I'm a gambler here and there, sure thing....wasn't feeling lucky when this one came up though.
@MK - Yeah, exactly...there's a lot of variables that come into play here.
@Enemy of Debt - You and your debit cards :) But yes, that would indeed work so i'll be sure to put you down whenever we meet up for drinks! haha....and nope, never plaid but I'm still itching to - just when the stakes are much lower.
@sara l - For sure. Doing w/ the same people makes a biiiig difference.
@Ms. MoneyChat - Yes, please do! It looks like everyone who has tried around here has been winning a lot :)
@Coupon Artist - I'm thinking the same thing here, they've got to be on our side.
@MLR - Ahhahahhaha....you are one awesomely nerdy person, I love it! Great breakdown....although admittingly I have a hard time following it. So glad you left that summary at the end! Thx for leaving this.
@Kristy @ Master Your Card - How about I call you smart :)
@RainyDaySaver - At least you *know* that you have bad luck and don't mess around - much more than I can say for some others out there.
I have played this game many of times! It is truely a rush if I must say. The few times I played were pretty tame: once a $75 breakfast tab between 4 of us which I lost and then another time was a $575 bar tab between 10 us which I won, but we all ended up chippin in like a bunch of busters!
It serves its purpose but only at the right time and place, I will gladly throw my hat out of this ring these days. Too rich for my blood!
@ J Money --
The expected values equation is useful to evaluate odds/prizes.
So say I offer to let you spin a wheel that has 3 prizes.
Prize 1 = $10, with a 60% chance
Prize 2 = $100, with a 35% chance
Prize 3 = $1,000, with a 5% chance
E(x)=.6(10)+.35(100)+.05(1,000)=6+35+50=$91
So, as the contest operator, I need to charge over $91 per entry to make money in the long run. As a contest entrant, it is not in my best interest to play unless the price of entry is less than $91.
The contest operator could EASILY sell the tickets for $100 claiming that 2 out of the 3 prizes guarantee you break even or make money. And each person who buys that line of reasoning is giving him $9, essentially.
I've never heard of this before, but I'd be too chicken to play no mater how the math works out. My luck sucks, that's why I watch my friends gamble and don't join in. I guess I'm lucky because if I had ever won at gambling, I'd probably think I knew what I was doing, become addicted, and lose everything.
-1MansMoney
I saw this in a movie or TV show, but can't remember the name of it...it would be exciting, but I wouldn't do it. I like cheap thrills--I only played the nickel slots when I was in Vegas...
Oh, p.s. I'm glad you had fun in New Orleans! i've always wanted to go... :)
Never heard of it and definitely would not play! If we had the money, I wouldn't mind doing it if we frequently went out with the same group of people, though. Of course, that all assumes that we actually go out with groups of people and we don't, 'cause we're boring like that :p
I feel like I/We should try it out at least once and see what happens ;) def. on a smaller scale though so no one gets screwed over. And MLR, loving those breakdowns. All smart up in here!
I like this idea. And as a former restaurant server, I would be thankful for the guy/gal at a big table who would step up and pay the whole thing. Nothing is more painful than splitting checks (at least where I worked).
I would definitely take my friends up on this game. I pay too much already.
Good call. I always cringe when I have to ask the waiter/waitress to split the tab 10 ways, but at the same time it saves soooo much money for me since I don't have to cover any of my rag tag friends ;) Plus, I have to think they'd get more of a tip doing it this way, right? would be a cool idea to explore...
I completely agree that Vegas has nothing on New Orleans. Not even close!
Also, as a former waitress and bartender, don't ever feel bad about asking to have you bill split. There are circumstances where it's a pain, but any watress/waiter is quite happy to split bills 50 ways if you want -- as long as you tip well!
well that's always good to hear! thx my friend :)
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