Secret of Rock, Paper, Scissors Revealed

MOST of us know that rock blunts scissors, scissors cut paper and paper covers stone. What is less well-known, however, is how to win the popular playground game.

 
Now stalwart players have come up with a strategy - start with scissors.

 
Research shows that stone is the most popular of the three possible moves in the game of quickfire hand gestures.

 
If your opponent expects you to pick rock, they will choose paper. Therefore, by going with scissors, you will win, because scissors beat paper.

 
The scissors strategy is so successful that it secured auction house Christie's a £10 million ($25 million) deal in 2005.

 
A wealthy Japanese art collector could not decide which firm of auctioneers should sell his cache of Impressionist paintings. Torn between Christie's and rival auction house Sotheby's, he asked them to play rock, paper, scissors to decide.

 
Christie's consulted employees and settled on scissors on the advice of a director's 11-year-old daughters.

 
The girls, who regularly played the game at school, reasoned that "everybody expects you to choose rock".

 
This would lead to Sotheby's choosing paper, to beat rock, meaning Christie's should opt for scissors. As predicted, Sotheby's went for paper - and lost the deal to Christie's scissors.

 
While scissors may be the best move to start a game, there are various ways of securing success once play is going.

 
This week's New Scientist magazine suggests: "You could try the double bluff, where you tell your opponent what you are going to throw then do it.

 
"No one believes you'll do it, so they won't play the throw that beats the throw you are playing."

 
Alternatively, you could go for the move that would have been beaten by your opponent's previous move.