Rock, Paper, Scissors in action
When: 3rd November 2018, 6pm – 10pm
Where: Knights Templar Pub, 95 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1D
£: It costs £14.50 to enter
What is it?
The inaugural European Rock Paper Scissors Championships will be held in London on Saturday 3rd November, with participants representing countries from across Europe in a fiercely contested knockout tournament.
Competitors have already entered from Scotland, Wales, England, Sweden, Germany, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Tunisia and Finland, including four national champions.
The popular knockout tournament will see more than 150 competitors battle it out to be crowned the 2018 European Rock Paper Scissors Champion and walk away with a £100 cash prize, a bottle of bubbly and some mild adulation from the crowd.
The game of Rock Paper Scissors is increasingly popular across Europe, with national tournaments now taking place in the UK, Sweden, Finland, Hungry and the Czech Republic.
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 beats (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 many psychological methods used to put off their opponents. There may not be too much to the game, but people will always go to extreme lengths to gain that extra advantage.
Here are a few tips for playing the game:
1. Men are more likely to throw a rock on their first throw – if you play a bloke, throw paper first.
2. If you come up against an experienced opponent, throw scissors. They will never throw rock first.
3. Scissors is statistically the least thrown of the three moves, therefore paper is statistically the safest throw (but not if everyone follows tip no. 2).
4. Use a gambit. A gambit is a strategic three-throw sequence, decided on beforehand. There are eight popular gambits including ‘Fistfull O’ Dollar’ (Rock, Paper, Paper) and ‘Avalanche’ (Rock, Rock, Rock). The point of the gambit is to avoid becoming too reactive and there are tactical advantages for deploying gambits against the right opponent.
5. Study your opponent. Do they look aggressive or passive? Can you imagine them throwing a rock or are they more a paper type?
6. Taunt the opponent! Tell them what you think they will throw and they may throw the opposite. Tell them what you will throw and expect them to think you’re bluffing.
7. Try mind tricks. A recent study on decision-making in Rock, Paper, Scissors found that players often imitate their opponents’ last moves. Human mimicry seems to be involuntary.
Alongside the main tournament at this year’s championships, there will also be the return of the popular RPS Challenge, allowing individuals to play against anyone in the room, using a stake of fantasy money.
As the night goes on, the money stakes will get bigger and bigger with some people betting hundreds of pounds of RPS fun money on one match. At 10pm the tension and excitement will notch up a gear as the two competitors with the largest amount of money battle it out to find the ultimate RPS Challenge Champion.
More info: www.wackynation.com/our-events/eurorps and www.facebook.com/UKRockPaperScissors
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