Thursday, July 12, 2007

Rock Paper Scissors Strategery


The USARPS (America's official Rock Paper Scissors league, obviously) recently named a new champion (ht Freakonomics Blog). Jamie Langridge marched to victory through a field of 300, all winners of satellite tournaments around the country, while the nation watched on ESPN2 (well it probably got higher ratings than Gore's Live Earth). Langridge took home the $50,000 prize by employing a "complex reactive" strategy. Apparently there is a lot of strategy going on, while acting random doesn't seem like a bad idea either. Jamie set up opponents by using runs of repeated throws and by using a lot of rocks early and then knocking them out with scissors. Click here to join the league. Here's their pitch: "Too short for the NBA? Too scrawny for the NFL? Too drunk for the PGA? Forget them. The USARPS League welcomes you with open fists."

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