Rock paper scissors is often used as a fair choosing method between two people, similar to coin flipping, drawing straws, or throwing dice in order to settle a dispute or make an unbiased group decision.

Unlike truly random selection methods, however, rock paper scissors can be played with some degree of skill by recognizing and exploiting non-random behavior in opponents.

", almost exclusively localized in the United States to Long Island and some parts of New York City), a version where players say “Scissors!

Li Rihua's book Note of Liuyanzhai also mentions this game, calling it shoushiling (t. 手勢令; s. 手势令), huozhitou (t. 豁指頭; s. 豁指头), or huaquan (划拳).

[19] Hand-games using gestures to represent the three conflicting elements of rock, paper, and scissors have been most common since the modern version of the game was created in the late 19th century, between the Edo and Meiji periods.

[22] By the early 20th century, rock paper scissors had spread beyond East Asia, especially through increased Japanese contact with the west.

[4] A 1921 article about cricket in the Sydney Morning Herald described "stone, scissors, and paper" as a "Teutonic method of drawing lots", which the writer "came across when travelling on the Continent once".

The first passage where it appears says "In order that no feelings might be involved in any way over which car we other girls traveled in, Nyoda, Solomon-like, proposed that she and Gladys play 'John Kempo' for us.

In 1927 La Vie au patronage : organe catholique des œuvres de jeunesse, a children's magazine in France, described it in detail,[32] referring to it as a "jeu japonais" ("Japanese game").

However, it is possible to gain a significant advantage over a non-random player by predicting their move, which can be done by exploiting psychological effects or by analyzing statistical patterns of their past behavior.

[citation needed] The "rock" move, in particular, is notable in that it is typically represented by a closed fist—often identical to the fist made by players during the initial countdown.

This can likewise be used to deceive an anticipating opponent by keeping one's fist closed until the last possible moment, leading them to believe that one is about to throw "rock".

[44] In 2012, researchers from the Ishikawa Watanabe Laboratory at the University of Tokyo created a robot hand that can play rock paper scissors with a 100% win rate against a human opponent.

The game is a minor part of porn culture in Japan and other Asian countries after the influence of TV variety shows and Soft On Demand.

In a longer version of the game, a four-line song is sung, with hand gestures displayed at the end of each (or the final) line: "Jack-en-poy!

[54] Any variation of rock paper scissors is an oriented graph, where the nodes represent the symbols (weapons) choosable by the players, and an edge from A to B means that A defeats B.

This variant was mentioned in a 2005 article in The Times of London[61] and was later the subject of an episode of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory in 2008 (as rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock).

[63] The common side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana) exhibits a rock paper scissors pattern in its mating strategies.

The theory for this finding was demonstrated by computer simulation and in the laboratory by Benjamin Kerr, working at Stanford University with Brendan Bohannan.

[70] The general nature of this basic non-transitive model is widely applied in theoretical biology to explore bacterial ecology and evolution.

[73] In 2006, American federal judge Gregory Presnell from the Middle District of Florida ordered opposing sides in a lengthy court case to settle a trivial (but lengthily debated) point over the appropriate place for a deposition using the game of rock paper scissors.

Instead, the Court will fashion a new form of alternative dispute resolution, to wit: at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006, counsel shall convene at a neutral site agreeable to both parties.

[76]In 2005, when Takashi Hashiyama, CEO of Japanese television equipment manufacturer Maspro Denkoh, decided to auction off the collection of Impressionist paintings owned by his corporation, including works by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh, he contacted two leading auction houses, Christie's International and Sotheby's Holdings, seeking their proposals on how they would bring the collection to the market as well as how they would maximize the profits from the sale.

In Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the player has to win games of rock paper scissors against each boss to proceed.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, the three basic actions used during battles are described in their respective rock paper scissors system: attack, defense, and grab.

The 2019 event was won by Ellie Mac, who went on to pick up the cash prize of £20,000 but was unable to double her earnings in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

The inaugural Budweiser International Rock, Paper, Scissors Federation Championship was held in Beijing, China after the close of the 2008 Summer Olympics at Club Bud.

The largest rock paper scissors tournament hosted 2,950 players and was achieved by Oomba, Inc. (USA) at Gen Con 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on 17 August 2014.

Jackpot En Poy is a game segment on the Philippines' longest running noontime variety show, Eat Bulaga!.