The Bob's Burgers rock paper scissors game is from season 3, episode 20, "The Kids Run the Restaurant," where Louise runs an underground kids' casino in the basement and plays a high-stakes series against the landlord, Mr. Fischoeder. It is one of a handful of screen and sports moments where the game carries real stakes, and below I cover the best documented ones, with the details checked.
Bob's Burgers: "The Kids Run the Restaurant"
In this season 3 episode, Louise turns the restaurant basement into a casino where kids and adults gamble on children's games, rock paper scissors among them. Mr. Fischoeder plays Louise repeatedly and wins, running up money he says the Belchers owe him.
The payoff is a proper strategic read. Bob's fingers are stitched up after an injury, and Louise bets that Fischoeder will assume Bob physically cannot make scissors, so he will throw paper expecting at worst a tie with rock. She is right. It is a good example of the only real skill in the game: predicting what your opponent thinks you can or will do. For more on that idea, see our psychology page.
Baseball: the rain-delay games
"Baseball rock paper scissors rain delay" searches usually mean one of three real events.
| When | Who | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2015 | Arizona Diamondbacks vs Philadelphia Phillies (MLB) | During a 77-minute rain delay at Citizens Bank Park, the two teams' official Twitter accounts played rock paper scissors. The Diamondbacks won the online game; the Phillies won the baseball game 7-5. |
| 16 May 2015 (college) | Louisiana-Lafayette vs Louisiana-Monroe | The two college teams passed a rain delay with a dance-off and a rock paper scissors contest, which Louisiana-Lafayette won. It was widely shared by ESPN and others. |
| May 2018 (high school) | North Haven vs Amity, Connecticut | With a Southern Connecticut Conference quarterfinal repeatedly rained out, the teams settled it with rock paper scissors. North Haven won 5-4 after 11 rounds, clinched by Luca Lawrence's scissors over Peter Spodnick's paper. |
The Connecticut game drew national coverage, including from NPR, partly because nobody was sure it would count. Contemporary reports said the conference commissioner still had to rule on whether the result could stand, and I have not found a clear record of the final ruling, so I will not claim one. It is a good reminder that if a game might decide something official, agree in advance that the result will be accepted. Our tournament guide covers that.
Kaiji (2009)
The Japanese film Kaiji (released in Japan on 10 October 2009, directed by Toya Sato, starring Tatsuya Fujiwara) adapts Nobuyuki Fukumoto's gambling manga. Its first big game is "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors": each player gets 12 cards, four each of rock, paper and scissors, plus three star tokens, and must use up their cards while protecting their stars. Limiting the supply of each throw changes the strategy completely, because counting what is left starts to matter. It is the most interesting fictional variant of the game I know.
Squid Game season 2 (2024)
In the first episode of Squid Game's second season, the Recruiter forces two captives into "rock paper scissors minus one." Each player shows two hands, then withdraws one after seeing the opponent's, and the loser faces a round of Russian roulette. The game within it is a genuine strategic variant, even if the stakes are not something anyone should copy. See our page on variations for safer versions.
The Big Bang Theory (2008)
"The Lizard-Spock Expansion" (season 2, 2008) is where millions of people first heard Sheldon explain Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock. The five-throw game was created earlier by Sam Kass and Karen Bryla to cut down on ties; the show made it famous. Our Lizard Spock guide has the full rules.
The auction decided by scissors
Not a film, but it is often told like one. In 2005, the Japanese company Maspro Denkoh could not choose between Christie's and Sotheby's to sell its art collection, with a Cezanne as the centrepiece, and asked the two houses to settle it with rock paper scissors. Christie's asked around for advice, including from a colleague's 11-year-old twin daughters, who suggested scissors. Christie's threw scissors, Sotheby's threw paper, and Christie's got the consignment. More stories like it are on our famous moments page.
FAQ
What Bob's Burgers episode has rock paper scissors?
Season 3, episode 20, "The Kids Run the Restaurant."
Did an MLB game use rock paper scissors in a rain delay?
Not to decide the game. On 17 May 2015 the Diamondbacks and Phillies played it on Twitter during a rain delay; the baseball result was unaffected.
Was a baseball game ever decided by rock paper scissors?
A 2018 Connecticut high school playoff game between North Haven and Amity was settled that way after repeated rain-outs, though whether the result was officially allowed to stand was in question at the time.
What movie has a rock paper scissors card game?
Kaiji (2009), with its Restricted Rock Paper Scissors game.