When: 16th April 2016, from 6pm
Where: The Green Man, No. 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EJ
£: Costs £13.50 – £16 to enter the championship. Free to watch
What is it?
The International Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship will take place in London on Saturday 16th April 2016.
Participants of the championship choose a country to represent and then battle through seven rounds to be crowned World Champion. The winner will bag a £100 prize, as well as a gold medal and a bottle of champagne.
Most people are familiar with the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but for those who aren’t, the idea of the game is for two people to go head to head, using one hand to imitate either a rock (clenched fist), a piece of paper (flat hand) or a pair of scissors (two fingers in a V shape). Rock beats (blunts) scissors, paper beats (wraps) rock and scissors beat (cuts) paper.
Perhaps surprisingly the game is not just about luck and avoiding elbow cramp. It’s very similar to poker with a lot of bluffing and putting out mixed signals. For the experienced player there are well-known gambits (three pre-determined throws) that are adopted in tournaments globally, including the Avalanche (three successive rocks) and the Fistful o’ Dollars (rock, paper, paper). There are the less well-known ruses of cloaking and shadowing, and of course the more dubious tactic of psyching out opponents.
If you are thinking of taking part, here are Wacky Nation‘s 5 Tips to Win at Rock Paper Scissors:
1. Surprise your opponent – if you’re big, scary and muscular, throw paper.
2. Wear fancy dress to confuse your opponent – i.e. a scissors themed fancy dress and throw paper.
3. Wear sunglasses – to prevent your opponent from studying your eyes.
4. Try reverse psychology – tell them what you are going to throw and let them figure out if you will.
5. Scissors is statistically the least thrown – therefore paper is statistically the safest throw.
More info: www.wackynation.com