Netflix has taught us with ‘the squid game’ that children’s games are a very serious thing. As we grow, we stop playing most of them, but there is such an entrenched one that we use it when it is time to win a discussion or to decide something quickly: the stone, paper and scissors.
And it is so important that there are even World Cups with thousands of dollars at stake.
WRPSA. In this story, it is difficult to differentiate what is a joke from what is serious. Its YouTube channel looks like a parody, and in the gallery of its website they modify works of art to seem that they are playing this game and have even a section of browser games that they call “simulators”. But no, the World Stone Association, Scissors exists and is not an American, as we might think, but has a presence throughout the world.
The Adventure of World Rock Paper Scissors Association, or WRPSA, began in 2015. It was not born from nothing, but taking the witness of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society that had already celebrated international championships between 2002 and 2009. And both organized tournaments of what you are thinking: stone, paper and scisso best players in the world and giving juicy awards.
Rules. Should we explain how it is played? Basically, participants simultaneously perform one between three gestures: stone (closed fist), scissors (two extended fingers forming a ‘V’) and paper (the palm and all extended fingers. The mechanics is that the stone wins the scissors, the scisso known
However, to compete in international events, at least with the rules of the WRPSA (Lizard and Spock are gestures that are not allowed), there are a number of elements that we must take into account. The first thing is that players must show their gesture at the same time. The hands should be hidden until the gesture is launched, they should look into each other, the best of three, five or seven rounds is played, there is a variant by teams and referees that are responsible for not cheating.
Strategies. This game seems pure random and, obviously, there is a very, very important factor of randomness, but there are also some strategies that can be used to increase the possibilities of victory. Some are logical, such as not always using the same pattern, since it is something that can be used against you. Others have more psychology behind.
For example, research suggests that winners tend to repeat their movements, while losers change to another gesture. Therefore, if you win, you are more likely to repeat the gesture and, if you lose, you can take advantage of the fact that the repetition trend exists in the winning case and trying to anticipate. For example, if they beat you with stone, the opponent may once again use stone, so you would get the victory.
The best play to win? May your tactic be randomly. A Chinese mathematician named Zhijian Wang discovered that the most precise way to win is by choosing a random strategy. He also discovered that the most common pattern among the losing players of his study was precisely the stone, paper and scissors, in loop.
Damage. As a notion in case you want to become a professional, it is not bad, but … Do you earn money? Depends. In the annual edition of the World Rock Paper Scissors Championships of Toronto, a main prize of up to 10,000 dollars is offered. The Rock Paper Scissors League of the United States, which organized events throughout the territory, distributed awards of between $ 1,000 and $ 5,000.
Other minor tournaments offer food checks, gift cards or film tickets for a year, but when a large sponsor gets into the equation, the monetary amount triggers. It was the case of the 2005 “Championship” starring the Bud Light beer brand, which during the Super Bowl of that year gave a million dollars award. In 2006 and 2008 he sponsored the American League with a 50,000 dollar prize to the champion and a pass for the international championship held in China.
Jump to Europe. Some of these championships have been broadcast on television and, apart from the commented, some minor tournaments have been held that have cash awards, but above all they are a drinking food party with a good atmosphere. And in Europe we have not been left out of this peculiar sport.
Perhaps, the most famous league on the continent is organized by Wacky Nation in the United Kingdom, giving prizes of up to 20,000 pounds in the 2019 edition. In Spain, the awards have been somewhat more modest, something curious if we take into account that culturally it is a game that is frequently used to decide something in a simple, fast and fair way.
In 2023, the Polytechnic University of Valencia held the first stone, paper and scissors, a closed competition to its students, with 128 registered and with an award that consisted of a paratrooper experience for two people. Last year, the Caja Rural de Navarra and the General Commission of the University Tent held a tournament with 64 participants and 500 euros of the winner, 200 euros for the second and 50 for the third.
Asia to your roll. But if we were talking about the finals of a World Cup in China before, it is because in Asia, as usually happens, they are at another speed in this type of issues. It makes a lot of sense, in reality, since in China it is where, during the Han dynasty (206 AC to 220 AD) there was a game called Shielddarg It is the predecessor of the current game. China arrived in Japan in the seventeenth century, where it adapted and consolidated with the gestures and rules we use today.
After the 2008 Olympic Games, the Championship of the International Stone Federation, Paper and Scissors with important competitors around the world was held. In Hong-Kong, less serious, a tournament of this game ruled who got an apartment valued at $ 500,000 and in Japan there is a fever for this game.
Since 2009, the AKB48 group organizes an annual tournament in which the winner is crowned as the Janken Queen (as this game is called). It is televised, it has public and the audiences are generous. And, as in Spain, it is a game that is used informally daily. In the end, the prize is more or less attractive, what it is about is to have fun, and a sample is that these events are usually encompassed in an environment of celebration.
But, although in the end these competitions are not so rare, I must confess that when I learned of its existence … I arched an eyebrow. But well, like when I learned that there was a worldwide garbage collection championship. Also in Japan, of course. And, if you are interested, here is the form to get professional.
Images | Caja Rural de Navarra, AKB48
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