A new study suggests most gamblers are responsible enough to take smaller risks after a big loss, while also reducing their exposure when betting with ‘house money’.

A survey of over 5k horserace bettors drawn from Finland’s former horse betting monopoly Fintoto – since unified along with Finland’s two other gaming monopolies under the Veikkaus brand – has poked holes in the prevailing wisdom that gamblers are prone to ‘chasing losses’ to compensate for a recent losing wager.

The survey, which was conducted by the University of Eastern Finland Business School and published in Management Science, found that “bettors become more cautious after losses,” according to co-author Niko Suhonen. The findings run contrary to earlier studies involving increased risky behavior following losses by investors in the financial and housing markets.

The bettors in the survey were also likely to increase the size of their wagers following a winning bet, but the size of these followup bets didn’t exceed the amount recently won. In other words, bettors were keen to bet with ‘house money’ so long as they weren’t jeopardizing their original bankroll.