Cashing in on Russian Roulette

A Wall Street bond trader woke up from a strange dream. In her dream, she had placed an ad online that said, "Let your wishes come true, come to the offices of TrueOp and find out how to make $50,000 a click. A good way to make the cash that will pay off your credit cards and give you the chance to support your loved ones in the way they deserve."

When the first candidate showed up, he was handed a gun and told to play Russian roulette, to spin the drum of the revolver. He was told that each click of the trigger would put fifty thousand dollars into his pocket, and he would know within a fraction of a second whether or not he had won.

"But what if the hammer hits the chamber with the bullet?" he asked. He was assured that this would never be a problem, because he could not lose. In the "unlikely" event that he lost, he would never know about it. And -- his survivors would receive a nice bonus after modest funeral expenses were deducted.

When the bond trader woke up, she was puzzled. The dream did not make sense -- who would say yes to such a primitive proposal? And what is more, how would the event's organizers get paid?

When she arrived at the office, she shared her dream with a trusted colleague. Her colleague, a champion trader, became quite excited. He told her that she had stumbled on a gold mine.

After a bit of brainstorming they came up with a way to cash in: They would enlist candidates in daredevil contests in which a big cash prize would be awarded after each successively more dangerous task. The challenges would become so dangerous that the contestants' odds for survival became negligible. Whenever a contender bit the dust, the traders got their bonuses.

How were the contests organized? If, for example, a daredevil were to sky-dive repeatedly into mountainous, rocky terrain , he would first be asked to sign a release in which he would acknowledge his awareness of the danger. Once the fearless challenger met his demise, he would be remembered for his outstanding courage.

As for the traders, they would earn regal revenue from multiple insurance policies written on the life of each contestant.