Fallacy Bias in Casino Gaming An Observational Study of Non-Asian and Asian Roulette Gamblers

Abstract

Fallacy bias is salient in gamblers’ minds and plays a crucial role in motivating gamblers to bet. The bias stems from people’s misconception that independent outcomes are autocorrelated. It makes an indirect but significant contribution to the revenue of casinos. However, from the perspective of corporate social responsibility, casinos should not indulge the bias. To strike the balance, casino practitioners need to understand the triggering factors of fallacy bias and whether the bias varies with gamblers’ characteristics. While gamblers’ racial difference in fallacy bias remains unknown, this study adopted non-participatory observation and analyzed the bets of 501 non-Asian and 206 Asian Roulette gamblers in an Australian casino. Results showed that non-Asian players had a stronger tendency towards gambler’s fallacy than their Asian counterparts. The influences of length and frequency of the latest outcome on the betting decisions did not vary with race. The findings provide useful implications for casino management.