Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Evidence from Blackjack Tables / Bruce Ian Carlin, David T. Robinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carlin, Bruce Ian.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Robinson, David T.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w14955.

NBER working paper series no. w14955

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

Psychologists study regret primarily by measuring subjects' attitudes in laboratory experiments. This does not shed light on how expected regret affects economic actions in market settings. To address this, we use proprietary data from a blackjack table in Las Vegas to analyze how expected regret affects peoples''decisions during gambles. Even among a group of people who choose to participate in a risk-taking activity, we find strong evidence of an economically significant omission bias: players incur substantial losses by playing too conservatively. This behavior is prevalent even among large stakes gamblers, and becomes more severe following previous aggressive play, suggesting a rebound effect after aggressive play.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2009.