The first time I heard of credit card roulette was probably about 8 or 9 years ago. I'm not ahead of the curve on much...and I'm not sure what it says about me that this is the sort of thing I know about.

I'm not a gambler, either, so I also wouldn't play. But the impression that I have is that it's pretty much always associated with drinking. I think after a few drinks it probably seems like a better idea than it does sober...

Done this a few times, usually when it's 3-4 people and a small bar tab under $50. Do it enough with the same people, and you're bound to come out even. I lost once, you get a little bitter at first but you get over it quickly.

My friends and I do it a lot when we go out. We only do it when we go to relatively cheap places for lunch.

We do it more for fun than the chance for free food. It's a chance to give the payer a hard time about it until the next time we play. It's also a chance for us to have one last laugh before heading home for the night. It should only be done with a group of close friends though.

my brother and his buddies used to do this years ago, but they also made a lot more money than i do and they would do it enough where it would all pretty much even out...in theory.

Uh-uh - no way, no how. Never heard of it, definitely not going to try it.

My friends and I all seem automatically to be you-pay-for-what-you-eat types, so I've never had any tension over paying the bill - except for the fact that so many of us work in the humanities and have to dust off our math skills when we add up our shares.

Come to think of it, I wonder if there's no conflict over paying because we're all lefty humanities types, not so very motivated by money, so nobody's trying to "win" by making others pay or look like the big shot by over-paying? There's a hypothesis to start an argument!

I have done it with friends when we go to dinner at out of town sporting events. It can be anywhere from $300-$1000. But it is usually like 4-8 people playing roulette. And if the bill is VERY LARGE, we draw 2 cards. For a while, one friend always seemed like he lost...like 3-4 times in a row.

I can't think of a single thing that isn't more fun when you have a bet riding on the outcome. (Which, fundamentally, is what games like credit card roulette or paycheck poker are.) That would include paying the bill for dinner.

You must have to have a gambler's mentality to enjoy such a ...well, gamble!

Were I to suggest this to the folk with whom I regularly eat out, they would stop eating out with me. My immediate thought was the only people who would do this are late 20's Y chromosome types who are now out of work because their brokerage firms are out of business. They also don't see what's wrong with any Ponzi scheme.

I've played four or five times. The first few times I played (starting about three years ago), I won. It was awesome. I played again this fall at a wedding, and I lost big. I guess you could say I'm even.

It's an ultimately harmless way of making something mundane (paying a bill) into something interesting.

By having the waitress hold the cards behind her back, eliminating people one by one, tension builds. It's a momentary distraction.

That square from the last thread getting all morally superior because "some people are having are hard time" really needs to lighten up.

AK, you might want to walk a mile in the other person's shoes before suggesting that they "lighten up."

Dahlink,

That's besides the point.

I played the game when I didn't have enough money to pay my bills. I play the game now that I'm finally able to save a little bit of money (even though I still probable don't make any more than the waiter or waitress of the meal I'm paying for). The bottome line is, it is a GAME, and anyone who doesn't understand that needs to lighten up. So, in this instance, you should lighten up, Dahlink.

We're talking about paying the check at a restaurant. This isn't a matter of being a big shot or showing how much dough you have. It's a mere instance to turn something mundane into something fun.

Relax, you lunatics.

It is a great game. Losing isn't all that awful. Better to spend money on food and drinks with your friends than sending to B'OB or O'Malley.
Robert the Single One probably wants the winners of CC Roulette taxed at 40% Federal; 6% state, and 7.6% FICA.

I think "lighten up" is good advice for everyone all the time..

Robert the Single One probably wants the winners of CC Roulette taxed at 40% Federal; 6% state, and 7.6% FICA.

An interesting jump. [I had a number of additional comments written, but after looking at each in Preview, I decided it wasn't worth the effort.]

I think this is hysterical. I'm a little too protective of my money to suggest this everytime I go out, but in the right context I'd probably throw my card in.

I hate the check splitting headache, so the idea of having it taken care of would be nice, but it would really depend on the company I was with. I wouldn't want someone who was financially strapped to feel pressured into it and then get stuck.

Maybe a more financially sound way to play would be to split the bill evenly (or everyone pays for their meal, whichever) and then play CCR to determine who pays the tip. That seems like it would satisfy the gambling/fun part without overdrawing someone's account.

We've all got cell phones, right? Don't most of them have calculator programs?

I'm dyscalcic, and I don't find it that hard to split a bill.

Every summer a group of Loyola grads go to Buffalo for a weekend of schenannegans (known as Buffest) where one of the key stops is for Wings at Duff's. Credit Card Roulette has been played there for around 5 years with the last card out revealing the "winner" who needs to cover the whole bill. It's a great way to get free food (if you're lucky)

Hall of Shame Moment - I don't know how to use the calculator on my cell phone. (here's where my son would chime in with "awww you're old!")

We've all got cell phones, right? Don't most of them have calculator programs?

LG phones even have a tip calculator where you can put in the number of ways to split it and an exact tip percentage, like 17 % if you want.

My Motorola phone only has a calculator. grrrrr.

Yeah, Joyce, but you went to school before they allowed calculator use, so you can probably figure a tab without one.

Lissa - that is quite true. I used to count out change when I worked in my first jobs too. Another lost skill!

but you went to school before they allowed calculator use, so you can probably figure a tab without one

But I never have a slide rule when I need one.

When we go out with other people, we just give all of the cards to the server and split the bill evenly [give or take that odd penny]. somehow, it always seems that the other folks spent more than we did, but who cares? I mean, they're friends after all.

I wonder what's next, putting all the of thehouse keys or car keys in the pot to see who goes home with whom? Oh, I forgot that that's sooooo 70s.

Hal, I would really love to see the reaction if you whipped out a slide rule to figure a bill. Preferably in someplace hipper, like XS or something.

Maybe we could get jl to film it.

Lissa, the young pups probably wouldn't know what a slide rule is.

Hal,
I know what they are and still have two of my old ones: The full-size, hang-from-your-belt kind, and the pocket protector size. Don't know why you need it for tips. I just visualize the decimal point in the total moved one place to the left, and double it. Voila! 20%. Addition of this amount for the tip will be left to the student as an exercise.

just visualize the decimal point in the total moved one place to the left, and double it. Voila! 20%.

Actually, that's how I do it as well. And the slide rule doesn't help one bit for addition.

R-i-E and Hal: So you pay tip on the tax, too?

Bucky, the amount of the tax is down in the noise when computing the tip. In Maryland, the tax is 6%. On a $100 total food and drink bill the tax is $6.00. The difference in the tip before and after the tax is $1.20 ($20 = 20% of $100 - $21.20 = 20% of $106). If that means I am tipping at 21.2% so be it.

RiE - I use the same method to figure out the tip. Bucky, the thought that I'm tipping on top of tax never honestly entered my mind. At any rate, most servers deserve my 20 (and up) percent and I'm glad to give it to them. The few that don't still (almost always) get 15% - and that's still on top of the tax, so I guess they're still getting tipped rather generously.

I use the same method, mostly, and I tip on the tax, too. As RiE points out, it is too trivial to be worth my time.

I do vary it a bit more, though. When I was young, 10% was standard and a 20% tip meant you were trying to impress a girl or you got amazing food and service. I realize those days are gone, but if the service is really bad (or I see something like my server treating polite young people badly), I'll tip as low as 5%.

I also tend to tip higher in family owned and run small places than in chains.

(Waving a white flag of surrender...) OK, tipping on the tax isn't worth worrying about.

Getting back on point, that is why I only do it with close friends who want to do it. If anyone objects, we don't do CCR.

I think it's good clean fun among friends.