By Alison

Graham Walker is the managing director of the World Rock Paper Scissor (RPS) Society, founder of the society’s website and co-author (with his brother Doug) of The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide. This coming Saturday (October 22nd), Graham will watch over the fourth annual World Rock Paper Scissors Championships at the Steamwhistle Brewery.
Do you remember the first game of Rock, Paper, Scissors that you ever played?
Like every kid I learned it in the neighbourhood where I grew up. Typical situation too, ball goes over the fence where the mean dog lived and we needed to figure out who had to retrieve it. I learned then and there that good RPS skills can make your life a lot easier.

RPS is generally a pre-game game – how did you get drawn into RPS for RPS’ sake?
At the family cottage on a cold November night in 1994, I played a best of 15 with my brother to see who would have to go out and get more firewood. As the matched developed, I saw patterns in his play and he saw patterns in my game. It was at that point we felt they might be a little more to this game than we have imagined. Soon after that we brought the Society onto the web and we soon were amazed to find out that the game is played in almost every culture in the world by the exact same rules.
What’s the greatest/weirdest/worst/funniest thing you have ever won/lost in a game of RPS?
The weirdest moment was doing an interview on the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships for the Naked News and being challenged to a game of Strip RPS by the interviewer. For many reasons, I am glad I played well that day.
Do you think it’s primarily a game of chance or skill, and at what point in competition does it become primarily about psyching the other guy out?
The game is not random chance because humans are really bad at approximating randomness. There is always something that motivates people to make a certain throw. The trick is being able to force your opponent into making a predictable move. At the higher levels of the game, gamesmanship and psyching out your opponent reins supreme. There is a saying in RPS that the game itself is simple, but it is the gamesmanship that makes it complex.
An Australian friend of mine was telling me recently about the variations to rock, paper, and scissors that they’d throw in on occasion to mix it up a bit, like water or dynamite. Is that just wacky Aussie rules, or is there something to those substitutions? And what would happen if someone pulled out dynamite (but not actual dynamite, since you’d probably have to evacuate the building) during a competition? Is that an immediate disqualification, or would it depend on how good his dynamite sound effect is?
We have heard them all: God, Well, Water, Spock, Texas Longhorn to name a few and of course Dynamite. There are a number of issues with including extra throws. The first is that the game is perfect in its simplicity as is. It has the absolute minimum elements needed to make it a game. If you include a fourth element it will also bring in a throw that wins or loses more often as the others which would destroy the balance of the game. Bringing the elements up to 5 doesn’t actually changing anything, it just makes the matrix larger. At the World Championships this Saturday night (Oct 22) at Steamwhistle Brewery, if a ref catches you throwing any non- sanctioned throw that is grounds for immediate disqualification. With $10,000 in prize money up for grabs you don’t want to be taking those kind of chances.
What’s the typical competitor like? IS there a ‘typical’ competitor, or does the event draw all kinds?
Basically, everyone who walks through the door of the RPS World Championships has three things in common: Rock, Paper and Scissors plus a healthy sense of humour about what they are getting involved in. We have players flying in from all over the world to be a part of this intense social event. Australia, UK, Norway, around 21 US States are sending competitors. People are often surprised that we attract quite a hip crowd. People love the idea that they can literally walk into the event, declare themselves a professional player and potentially walk out as a World Champion (and $7000 richer). Not bad, especially considering you can compete with a beer in your hand.
Has winning an RPS game ever gotten you out of a tight spot?
Well this isn’t a game per-se, but when we sold our book The Official RPS Strategy Guide to Simon and Schuster, you could say that it got us out of a tight spot financially…at least for a short while anyway.
When it comes right down to it, do you prefer rock, paper, or scissors?
I am a Scissors player. Rock is overbearing and Paper is the passive aggressive throw. Scissors are a lot more ingenious or devious and that is how i would characterize my game. Then again am I only telling you that to throw you off your game?