Multiple-interaction kinetic modelling of a virtual-item gambling economy

TL;DR

This paper applies kinetic theory to model and analyze the complex collective behavior of gamblers in a virtual-item lottery market, revealing how simple rules lead to emergent trends.

Contribution

It introduces a kinetic modeling approach to understand multi-agent gambling behavior, bridging microscopic rules and macroscopic market phenomena.

Findings

Kinetic models explain complex gambling trends from simple agent rules

The approach offers insights beyond empirical data analysis

Model captures collective dynamics in virtual-item gambling markets

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of online gambling sites, which made gambling more accessible with a consequent rise in related problems, such as addiction. Hence, the analysis of the gambling behaviour at both the individual and the aggregate levels has become the object of several investigations. In this paper, resorting to classical methods of the kinetic theory, we describe the behaviour of a multi-agent system of gamblers participating in lottery-type games on a virtual-item gambling market. The comparison with previous, often empirical, results highlights the ability of the kinetic approach to explain how the simple microscopic rules of a gambling-type game produce complex collective trends, which might be difficult to interpret precisely by looking only at the available data.