Independent on Sunday, The: What it feels like to: Break the bank

Ashley Revell, 32, lives in east London. He used to run a property company with his father and is now a professional poker player

It all started as a drunken conversation: what if I sell everything and put all the money on a single spin of a roulette wheel - red or black? After that, the more I thought about it, the more I was tempted.

I've always been a gambler - it was fruit machines when I was a kid, now it's on-line poker, casinos and football - and I was in a position where I could do it. Most of my friends are married but, at 32, I'm single. If I lost, it wouldn't be too late to build a life again, would it?

So, I cashed in my on-line poker account - which was worth pounds 25,000 - put that with the money that was going to be a deposit on a house, sold my car, Rolex, BMW and shares in my business, and I wired $136,000 (pounds 74,000) to Las Vegas. I followed on with a film crew - I'd told them about the bet and they were making a TV show about it.

On 11 April this year, Easter Sunday, I arrived at the casino. We were being broadcast live, and friends and family flew out to see me play. But I wasn't nervous - by this stage I just wanted to place the bet. We got to the table, sat down, and the guy asks: red or black? I said the first thing that came into my head: red. The ball span, the moment froze. I felt nothing but liberation - either way, my life was going to change in a split second. As the ball hit I thought it was in red, but I couldn't quite see, so I leant forward. It was red seven. All I remember is me screaming and my mum crying.

I won $272,000 (pounds 148,000). Half of it's gone now. The first thing I spent was $10,000 (pounds 5,500) on entry to the World Series poker tournament - I didn't win anything. I bought a bike - a Triumph Tiger. But nothing's matched the buzz of that double-or-nothing bet. I don't think I'd do it again, so I guess nothing ever will. n Christian Broughton