Comments on: The economics of credit card roulette

By: P Johnson

P Johnson — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:52:31 +0000

Are the economics any different then the practice of 6 friends each paying one 6th always? In terms of greedy behavior, every week encourages similar over spending, but the ultimate cost is loss of friends so this behavior is unlikely. How does the lottery part effect the NPV?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:07:08 +0000

Oddly enough, if I know someone else might be paying for my meal I’m more likely to forgo the expensive drink in favor of water, screw the appetizer, and to order a cheaper entree. I’m much freer with my own money than with someone else’s. But maybe I’m just weird.

By: Gas Credit Cards

Gas Credit Cards — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:16:44 +0000

When I go out for dinner with friends, we prefer to have one person cover the bill. It does avoid unnecessary confusion when dividig the bill. Who ever has the right change? Plus the last person to put money in usually gets away with paying less. Next time we go out for dinner, I may suggest some credit card roulette.

By: Juls

Juls — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 22:08:09 +0000

Technically, even if you only end up playing roulette 1/6 of the time, there is still an incentive to spend more, although the magnitude of the increase is diminished. The marginal increase in spending goes to 0 as the probability of playing roulette goes to 0. But of course, if you get too close to 0 the game is no fun.

Given the size of my appetite, I think I would be in favor of this game.

By: Eat Foo

Eat Foo — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 21:44:19 +0000

The economics of credit card roulette

A few months ago, I went out to dinner with two friends and a few other people I’d never met. When the bill arrived, one of the new guys piped up with a question. “Anyone want to play credit card…