Risk Profile in the "Glass Stepping Stone Bridge" Game

The players are asked to choose a vest numbered from 1 to 16 before they know the rules of the game. The players don’t know the implications of their choice. Two types of behavior become apparent in this process. A small group of players boldly seize the middle numbers which they assume will have a strategic value: these players are risk-loving. The vast majority of players, however, sit back and don’t want to make a choice: they are risk-averse. At this point, to expedite the start of the game, the Front Man reveals that the number the players selected will correspond with the order in which they will play the game: vests #1 and #16 are the last two remaining vests. Nobody wants to play the game first or last, because without knowing the game going first or last is a riskier option. Gi-Hun (Player #456) chooses vest #1, but swaps this for vest #16 at the last minute after another player begs Gi-Hun for the opportunity to go first.