Famous Rock Paper Scissors Moments

The $20 Million Auction (2005)

Japanese electronics magnate Takashi Hashiyama needed to choose between Christie's and Sotheby's to auction his company's $20 million art collection, which included works by Cezanne, Picasso, and van Gogh. He didn't compare fees. He didn't review proposals. He told both houses to play Rock Paper Scissors.

Christie's consulted the 11-year-old twin daughters of their international director. The girls advised Scissors, reasoning that "everybody expects you to choose Rock." Sotheby's considered it "a game of chance" and chose Paper with no particular strategy.

Scissors cut Paper, so Christie’s won the right to conduct the sale. Contemporary reporting described several million dollars in potential fees without establishing an exact amount.

The Federal Court Order (2006)

Lawyers in a Florida federal case couldn't agree on even the most basic procedural matters. U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell had seen enough.

A sitting federal judge ordered grown attorneys who could not agree on where to hold a deposition to meet at a neutral site, or failing that on the courthouse steps, and settle it with one game of Rock Paper Scissors. His order called the dispute the latest in a series of Gordian knots the parties had been unable to untangle without the federal courts. The legal profession had mixed feelings. The RPS community did not. We were thrilled.

The English Football Coin Toss (2018)

Before a Women’s Super League match between Manchester City and Reading, referee David McNamara left his coin in the dressing room and used Rock Paper Scissors to decide the kickoff. The Football Association suspended him for three weeks because the Laws of the Game required a coin toss; BBC Sport later reported that he withdrew his appeal.

Robot vs. Human: The Unbeatable Machine

Researchers at the University of Tokyo built a robot hand that the laboratory reports beat human players every time. A high-speed camera recognized the shape of the human hand as the throw began, and the robot formed the winning gesture faster than a person could notice the delay.

It wasn't really playing Rock Paper Scissors. It was reacting to Rock Paper Scissors. But it raised a genuine question about what "simultaneous" means when one participant can see the future.

Why These Moments Matter

Every one of these stories has the same thing in common: people turned to Rock Paper Scissors because they trusted it. Whether the stakes were $20 million, a federal court case, or rain-delay boredom, RPS was accepted as a legitimate way to settle things. That trust has been built over centuries of global history. Rock Paper Scissors isn't just a game. It's a universal protocol for fairness. And occasionally for deciding who gets the Picasso.