Wacky Nation’s Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship
When: 19th November 2016, 6pm – 10pm
Where: The Green Man, No. 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EJ
£: Costs £15.50 – £16.50 to enter the championship and competitors must register in advance. Free to watch. Suitable for adults only
What is it?
The 10th UK Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship will take place in London on Saturday 19th November.
There will be 250 individual contestants taking part on tables around the venue. Contestants will be eliminated in a knock-out tournament format, until there is one eventual competitor left to be crowned UK champion. The winner will bag a £100 prize, as well as a trophy 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.
Alongside the main tournament, players may gamble any denomination of ‘RPS pounds’ against another player in a game of Challenge Rock Paper Scissors. The stakes will get higher as the evening goes on, and the person with the highest amount of RPS pounds at 10pm will be the winner. The winner will receive £25 in prize money.
On entry into the championship, each competitor will receive £3 worth of free RPS fun money. So every player should have at least one go in the main tournament and at least three games of the RPS Challenge.
This year there will also be some 10th anniversary celebration games including RPS Intro and an international tournament.
More info: www.wackynation.com/currentevents/ukrps