The biggest deal ever settled by rock paper scissors is the 2005 contest between Christie's and Sotheby's for the right to sell a Japanese company's Impressionist collection, valued at around $20 million. Christie's threw scissors, Sotheby's threw paper, and Christie's got the sale.
A handful of other well-documented cases exist, most famously a 2006 order from a US federal judge. Below I stick to cases I could verify from news reports and court records. Older pages on this topic, including some previously on this site, talked about "million-dollar jackpots" and an underground betting scene. I could find no evidence for either, so they are not here.
Christie's vs Sotheby's, 2005
What happened. Maspro Denkoh Corp., a Japanese electronics company, decided to sell its art collection, which included works by Cézanne, Picasso, Van Gogh and others. Its president, Takashi Hashiyama, could not choose between the two leading auction houses. When neither would back down, he asked them to settle it with rock paper scissors.
How it was played. It was not a live hand game. Each house wrote its choice on paper, and the choices were submitted to be compared.
The preparation. This is the part that makes the story. Sotheby's treated it as pure chance; a representative later said they had not given it much thought. Christie's took it seriously. Among the advice it gathered was from 11-year-old twins, Flora and Alice, who argued that rock is too obvious and that scissors beats paper, the throw a cautious opponent might expect to be safe.
The result. Christie's chose scissors, Sotheby's chose paper, and Christie's won the consignment. At Christie's May 2005 sale in New York, Cézanne's Les grands arbres au Jas de Bouffan alone sold for $11.8 million.
The lesson. Christie's did not have a magic throw. It had a reason to expect the other side to avoid the "obvious" rock, and it picked the counter to the expected alternative. That is exactly the kind of reasoning our psychology guide and strategy guide cover.
A federal judge orders a game, 2006
What happened. In Avista Management, Inc. v. Wausau Underwriters Insurance Co., a case in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, two lawyers could not agree on where to hold a deposition. Their offices were in the same Tampa building, a few floors apart.
The order. In June 2006, Judge Gregory Presnell, clearly tired of the dispute, ordered counsel to meet at a neutral site, or failing that the steps of the federal courthouse in Tampa, and play one game of rock, paper, scissors. The winner would pick the deposition location.
The result. The order made international news. The lawyers settled the location between themselves before the game was played, which was presumably the point.
Actual prize money in organized RPS
Real tournaments did pay real money, just not millions.
| Event | Top prize | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| USA Rock Paper Scissors League championship, 2006 | $50,000 | Won by Mario Anastasov at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas; aired on A&E. |
| USA Rock Paper Scissors League championship, 2007 | $50,000 | Won by Michael Federico; aired on ESPN2. |
| World RPS Society championships, Toronto | A few thousand dollars | Held in the 2000s; the last was in November 2009. |
Both organizations are defunct. WRPSA does not run prize tournaments; we offer free online play and a free event hosting tool for your own brackets.
Everyday deals
Beyond the headline cases, rock paper scissors is used constantly to settle small matters: who pays for coffee, who drives, which team kicks off. A throw is fast, cheap and hard to argue with, because both sides agreed to the method before they knew the result. The same property is what made it acceptable to a company president and a federal judge.
A note on betting: wagering money on any game carries risk, and I do not recommend it. If you want a stake, play for bragging rights.
For more stories, see our famous moments page.
FAQ
Did Christie's really win an art sale with rock paper scissors?
Yes. In 2005 Christie's won the Maspro Denkoh consignment by choosing scissors against Sotheby's paper.
Did a judge really order a rock paper scissors match?
Yes. Judge Gregory Presnell of the Middle District of Florida issued the order in June 2006. The parties resolved the issue before playing.
What is the biggest prize ever won at rock paper scissors?
The largest verified prizes I found were the $50,000 championship prizes of the USA Rock Paper Scissors League in 2006 and 2007.