This study was designed to explore the risk strategy employed in complex settings by conducting an empirical analysis of 1212 decisions made in the UK offcourse betting market. The decision-making environment chosen for the study is identified as offering the advantages of a naturalistic setting and providing scope for observing risk strategy in a range of alternative- and attribute-based complexity conditions. Specifically, the investigation employs a probit model to test the hypothesis that increasing either attribute- or alternative-based complexity results in the employment of a strategy more averse to risk-taking. The results suggest that this is the case and that complexity associated with alternatives has a particularly significant effect on the way bettors respond to the existence of risk. It is observed that these findings corroborate earlier studies of decision processes and decision outcomes.
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