• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 10:56
CEST 16:56
KST 23:56
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 244
Community News
Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon?93Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)9Weekly Cups (August 24-30): Patches' balance mod takes over3New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery!45Weekly Cups (August 17-23): Zerg dominate the week6
StarCraft 2
General
Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) SC4ALL: II Winner Will Earn a Spot at HSC 30! Nexon wins bid to develop StarCraft IP content, distribute Overwatch mobile game Weekly Cups (August 24-30): Patches' balance mod takes over September World Ranking: herO leads, Serral climbs
Tourneys
2026 GSTL Announcement Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly SC2 INu's Battles#20 [BO.9]
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 542 The Ascended Mutation # 541 Binary Choice The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 540 Dodge This
Brood War
General
Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon? Pros React To: Calm's Big Brain Play Vs Mini New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery! [ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro16 Group A [ASL22] Ro24 Group F [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Brood War in Budapest ! WORTEX 2026 BW Finals
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Replay Review Process - What do you do? Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Diablo IV EVE Corporation [Maplestory Hardcore] Let's Play~!! General RTS Discussion Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread UK Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
F* the Children and Get Off …
TrAiDoS
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Regacy Esports: The Bh…
regacyesports
LOCKPICKING NOOB
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4693 users

Games of skill versus games of chance

Blogs > SOB_Maj_Brian
Post a Reply
Normal
SOB_Maj_Brian
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States522 Posts
April 21 2011 07:31 GMT
#1
So I was a little bored, and I discovered an interesting paper (while preparing to write a final paper about internet poker and jurisdiction over the individual players and companies) about using statistical models to determine whether a game is one of chance or is one of skill or more skill and less chance or vice versa, the authors use an index of 0-1 (link here).

This determination is especially relevant to the law, because there are a lot of gaming statutes that read something like:

“it is not allowed to exploit games with monetary prizes if the participants in general do not have a predominant influence on the winning possibilities, unless in compliance to this act, a licence is granted”

So say you start a casino and you offer put up a roulette wheel, well now you need a license because the participants do not have a predominate influence on the winning possibilities.

Now say you organize a chess (a game with no random elements) tournament, well here the participants do have a predominate influence and you don’t need a license; i.e., feel free to organize as many chess tournaments as you want.

Consider a third game, you organize a tournament of rock-paper-scissors, suppose a beginner strategy is to play 1/3 rock, 1/3 paper, 1/3 scissors (this beginner won’t play rock 100% of the time), then statistically the optimal player cannot play any better than the beginner. In effect, this game requires no “skill” and rather more of a game of chance.

Basically the authors conclude that the more moves involved in a game (in poker the more betting rounds), the more skill is injected into the game and the more variance between beginner strategy and expert strategy.

Of course Starcraft, is not just about strategy, it requires physical feats (imagine running), and you are free to organize as many running tournaments for money as you want, so a game like Starcraft wouldn’t need a license under such a regime.

Final note:

I find SSRN to be a great FREE resource, about a wide-variety of topics, most of them cutting edge and all very well cited. Anyone, who is writing final papers or doing research this is a great place to start!! I recently put my article up there, but it would probably bore the crap out of you all (it’s about patent law and the pharmaceutical industry) still feel free to read it link here and give feedback if you want. Already some professors from other universities, have emailed me out of the blue, about my paper, which I thought was pretty damn cool of them. So if you are trying to get published academically, you might want to consider this website.


Mikilatov
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States3897 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 07:39:15
April 21 2011 07:38 GMT
#2
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.
♥ I used to lasso the shit out of your tournaments =( ♥ | Much is my hero. | zizi yO~ | Be Nice, TL.
Azzur
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Australia6267 Posts
April 21 2011 07:43 GMT
#3
Scissors / paper / rock can be a game of skill. I believe there are tournaments where successful players can exploit the psychology of it.
CDRdude
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
United States5625 Posts
April 21 2011 07:46 GMT
#4
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.
Force staff is the best item in the game.
whiteLotus
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
1833 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 08:19:36
April 21 2011 08:17 GMT
#5
sorry but i still cant agree that poker is game of the skill i have been playing poker over 3 years, online winings 100k+ in PS, and 50k+ in william hill, i think big factor in poker is luck doesnt matter how F skilled you are if all you get is 55o or something similar, and your oponents get top pairs.
The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame
LastWish
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
2015 Posts
April 21 2011 08:18 GMT
#6
Competitive games always have metagames - the playstyle a person uses according to his/her history or a statistical probability of a population(for example ICCUP D+ level player) using a certain strategy.
Let's take two examples :
1. Chess - is 100% skill, because you have all the information and the moves are always deterministic
Even in chess you can use metagame knowledge to your advantage so you beforehand anticipate your opponent moves and prepare follow-ups for them.
2. Rock-paper-scissors - is 100% luck, because you don't know what move your opponent will use(unless you're a medium and read his mind).
The opponent's history(if known) now tells you for example how frequently he uses Rock in first round etc. Very important knowledge because humans tend to have styles in everything.
- It's all just treason - They bring me down with their lies - Don't know the reason - My life is fire and ice -
Deja Thoris
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
South Africa646 Posts
April 21 2011 08:47 GMT
#7
On April 21 2011 17:18 LastWish wrote:
2. Rock-paper-scissors - is 100% luck, because you don't know what move your opponent will use(unless you're a medium and read his mind).
The opponent's history(if known) now tells you for example how frequently he uses Rock in first round etc. Very important knowledge because humans tend to have styles in everything.


If the game is 100% luck then knowing his first round history won't help at all. By admitting knowing his history is important you are contradicting your assertion rock paper scissors is 100% luck aren't you?
Mikilatov
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States3897 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 09:12:57
April 21 2011 09:01 GMT
#8
On April 21 2011 17:47 Deja Thoris wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 17:18 LastWish wrote:
2. Rock-paper-scissors - is 100% luck, because you don't know what move your opponent will use(unless you're a medium and read his mind).
The opponent's history(if known) now tells you for example how frequently he uses Rock in first round etc. Very important knowledge because humans tend to have styles in everything.


If the game is 100% luck then knowing his first round history won't help at all. By admitting knowing his history is important you are contradicting your assertion rock paper scissors is 100% luck aren't you?


Yeah it's quite contradictory.

Also, you don't necessarily even need to know that specific person's history.

For example, you could perhaps, through extensive research, find that it's slightly less (or slightly more?) common for a large group of test subjects to repeat the same symbol (paper/scissor/rock) twice in a row. Therefore you could play slightly better odds overall by using this knowledge on any opponent.
♥ I used to lasso the shit out of your tournaments =( ♥ | Much is my hero. | zizi yO~ | Be Nice, TL.
Melange
Profile Joined April 2011
United States39 Posts
April 21 2011 09:16 GMT
#9
I prefer games of thrones
leetchaos
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States395 Posts
April 21 2011 10:01 GMT
#10
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
Show nested quote +
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 10:39:36
April 21 2011 10:19 GMT
#11
rock-paper-scissor is almost 100% luck and the psychology is pretty much bs if you don't have a huge data base.
Also even if you have a data base the other player could also know his own tendencies and play the exact opposite if there is money on the line.

Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game

( Cool read for people who don't know a lot about probabilities / game theory ). You can't solve rock-paper-scissor.
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
shurgen
Profile Joined October 2009
350 Posts
April 21 2011 10:28 GMT
#12
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
April 21 2011 10:31 GMT
#13
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
GoTuNk!
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
Chile4591 Posts
April 21 2011 10:59 GMT
#14
On April 21 2011 17:17 whiteLotus wrote:
sorry but i still cant agree that poker is game of the skill i have been playing poker over 3 years, online winings 100k+ in PS, and 50k+ in william hill, i think big factor in poker is luck doesnt matter how F skilled you are if all you get is 55o or something similar, and your oponents get top pairs.


You are obviously a troll cause no online poker player who is a winner would ever call poker a game of luck in the long run. Poker is a game with small edges and high variance imo.

I mean:

http://www.pokertableratings.com/stars-player-search/nanonoko
ondik
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Czech Republic2908 Posts
April 21 2011 12:52 GMT
#15
On April 21 2011 19:31 Boblion wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?

If you are saying there's no skill involved in RPS you are quite clueless. It's like saying to a poker reg when he makes continuation bet with nothing against passive fish that it's pure luck that he won. There are different suequences, strategies, tells, ways to force either of RPS etc. Of course, if you play randomly, you are guaranteed to have 50/50 w/l ratio in long run, but this fact doesn't matter at all as at RPS tournaments everyone plays to win.
Bisu. The one and only. // Save the cheerreaver, save the world (of SC2)
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 13:48:06
April 21 2011 13:44 GMT
#16
On April 21 2011 21:52 ondik wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 19:31 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?

If you are saying there's no skill involved in RPS you are quite clueless. It's like saying to a poker reg when he makes continuation bet with nothing against passive fish that it's pure luck that he won. There are different suequences, strategies, tells, ways to force either of RPS etc. Of course, if you play randomly, you are guaranteed to have 50/50 w/l ratio in long run, but this fact doesn't matter at all as at RPS tournaments everyone plays to win.

I'm clueless really ?
Dude you are the one comparing poker to RPS
LOL.
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
ondik
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Czech Republic2908 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 14:01:03
April 21 2011 13:58 GMT
#17
On April 21 2011 22:44 Boblion wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 21:52 ondik wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:31 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?

If you are saying there's no skill involved in RPS you are quite clueless. It's like saying to a poker reg when he makes continuation bet with nothing against passive fish that it's pure luck that he won. There are different suequences, strategies, tells, ways to force either of RPS etc. Of course, if you play randomly, you are guaranteed to have 50/50 w/l ratio in long run, but this fact doesn't matter at all as at RPS tournaments everyone plays to win.

I'm clueless really ?
Dude you are the one comparing poker to RPS
LOL.

No, I compared one very specific situation, is it so hard to understand? How about you react to other things I wrote? Right, because you know nothing about it and don't want to be proved wrong.
Bisu. The one and only. // Save the cheerreaver, save the world (of SC2)
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 14:00:06
April 21 2011 13:59 GMT
#18
On April 21 2011 22:58 ondik wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 22:44 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 21:52 ondik wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:31 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?

If you are saying there's no skill involved in RPS you are quite clueless. It's like saying to a poker reg when he makes continuation bet with nothing against passive fish that it's pure luck that he won. There are different suequences, strategies, tells, ways to force either of RPS etc. Of course, if you play randomly, you are guaranteed to have 50/50 w/l ratio in long run, but this fact doesn't matter at all as at RPS tournaments everyone plays to win.

I'm clueless really ?
Dude you are the one comparing poker to RPS
LOL.

No, I compared one specific situation, is it so hard to understand?

I think you need to learn some maths sorry.
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
Kenpachi
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States9908 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 14:01:01
April 21 2011 14:00 GMT
#19
Rock-Paper-Scissor: If you know the person well, you can predict his first move cause its usually the same :o.. if not, go paper. most people choose Rock > the other two
Nada's body is South Korea's greatest weapon.
ondik
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Czech Republic2908 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 14:02:58
April 21 2011 14:02 GMT
#20
On April 21 2011 22:59 Boblion wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 22:58 ondik wrote:
On April 21 2011 22:44 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 21:52 ondik wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:31 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?

If you are saying there's no skill involved in RPS you are quite clueless. It's like saying to a poker reg when he makes continuation bet with nothing against passive fish that it's pure luck that he won. There are different suequences, strategies, tells, ways to force either of RPS etc. Of course, if you play randomly, you are guaranteed to have 50/50 w/l ratio in long run, but this fact doesn't matter at all as at RPS tournaments everyone plays to win.

I'm clueless really ?
Dude you are the one comparing poker to RPS
LOL.

No, I compared one specific situation, is it so hard to understand?

I think you need to learn some maths sorry.

WTF has this to do with anything? I need to learn maths to know I should probably conbet into passive fish? Really?
Bisu. The one and only. // Save the cheerreaver, save the world (of SC2)
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
April 21 2011 14:04 GMT
#21
On April 21 2011 23:02 ondik wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 22:59 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 22:58 ondik wrote:
On April 21 2011 22:44 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 21:52 ondik wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:31 Boblion wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:28 shurgen wrote:
On April 21 2011 19:01 leetchaos wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:46 CDRdude wrote:
On April 21 2011 16:38 Mikilatov wrote:
Hm, I wonder how 'predominant influence' is determined.

I mean, if you were really good at psychology/reading people, you could perhaps turn the 33.33333% chances in rock paper scissors to 34-35%, or something. If the odds were set on 33.33333%, you could effectively have an 'predominant influence' on winning in such a game.

I feel that I have to bring this up:
In 2008, Sean "Wicked Fingers" Sears beat out 300 other contestants and walked out of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino with $50,000 after defeating Julie "Bulldog" Crossley in the finals.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors#Tournaments

The amount of cash involved in this melts my mind.


Someone has to win. The question is can the same people win or make it to the final rounds with reliability.


Well just looking at the link, it appears that some of the same players do keep on winning.

I personally believe that RPS is a `skill` game at the higher levels, although it is definitely of the most luck-affected games out there.

Some people win twice at the lottery in their life. Are they skilled or just lucky ?

If you are saying there's no skill involved in RPS you are quite clueless. It's like saying to a poker reg when he makes continuation bet with nothing against passive fish that it's pure luck that he won. There are different suequences, strategies, tells, ways to force either of RPS etc. Of course, if you play randomly, you are guaranteed to have 50/50 w/l ratio in long run, but this fact doesn't matter at all as at RPS tournaments everyone plays to win.

I'm clueless really ?
Dude you are the one comparing poker to RPS
LOL.

No, I compared one specific situation, is it so hard to understand?

I think you need to learn some maths sorry.

WTF has to do with anything? I need to learn maths to know I should probably conbet into passive fish? Really?

I have no idea why you are talking about poker. What is an RPS passive fish ?
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
ondik
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Czech Republic2908 Posts
April 21 2011 14:22 GMT
#22
conbet=continuation bet, you may have heard about it.

There's no such thing as passive fish in RPS, but as I said, there are certain sequences that people does and it's quite easy to exploit it if you know the sequences and know how to react (ideally you can ignore one of RPS what leaves you either with draw or win). You also adjust your strategy to history you have with your opponent, you can find certain patterns he does and use it to win. That's the same as if you play HU in poker and have a read on your opponent - let's say you know that when he bets flop, check-raises turn, and allins river, he's bluffing most of the time, then you can use this knowledge and exploit it (and beat him).
Bisu. The one and only. // Save the cheerreaver, save the world (of SC2)
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 15:34:54
April 21 2011 15:28 GMT
#23
Poker is sequential game with multiple options.
( different positions, different hands, bets etc... ).
I don't know how it is related to RPS.


Also even if you try to find some patterns it will takes you an incredible ammount of data to be sure that your opponent is more likely to pick R, P or S.
And as i said before...

On April 21 2011 19:19 Boblion wrote:
Also even if you have a data base the other player could also know his own tendencies and play the exact opposite if there is money on the line.

fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
des
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
United States507 Posts
April 21 2011 15:35 GMT
#24
On April 21 2011 22:59 Boblion wrote:
I think you need to learn some maths sorry.


now I'm curious what your math background is
my larvae bring all the zerg to the yard
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-21 15:55:30
April 21 2011 15:42 GMT
#25
On April 22 2011 00:35 des wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2011 22:59 Boblion wrote:
I think you need to learn some maths sorry.


now I'm curious what your math background is

Undergrad stuff, you don't need a Ph.D to understand that RPS is all about luck


Edit: also if you are worried about making "patterns" just bring a dice with you.
Now you are invincible in the long term !
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Weekly
11:00
#103
WardiTV1077
IntoTheiNu 1005
OGKoka 332
Rex128
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Serral 1195
Lowko459
OGKoka 338
Rex 128
SHIN 46
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 6164
Mini 574
Light 247
hero 220
Zeus 212
Stork 196
Soulkey 147
Snow 118
Barracks 94
Sea.KH 92
[ Show more ]
ToSsGirL 76
Hyun 71
Yoon 71
PianO 44
Sharp 34
Mong 34
soO 31
Terrorterran 22
Free 17
Shine 16
Sacsri 16
scan(afreeca) 12
ajuk12(nOOB) 7
Britney 0
Dota 2
qojqva3297
Dendi1666
syndereN520
BananaSlamJamma284
Counter-Strike
shoxiejesuss1592
kRYSTAL_207
x6flipin144
Other Games
singsing2001
hiko1011
B2W.Neo941
Liquid`RaSZi860
crisheroes395
Liquid`VortiX302
Hui .186
ArmadaUGS109
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV74
StarCraft: Brood War
Kim Chul Min (afreeca) 16
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• mYiSmile114
• Gemini_19 5
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV507
League of Legends
• Nemesis1911
Upcoming Events
Monday Night Weeklies
1h 4m
Afreeca Starleague
19h 4m
Leta vs ggaemo
Jaedong vs Queen
GSL
20h 4m
PiGosaur Cup
1d 9h
Kung Fu Cup
1d 20h
Replay Cast
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
Escore
3 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
3 days
[ Show More ]
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Shopify Rebellion Sundays
6 days
Spirit vs Mixu
Clem vs TBD
RSL Revival
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
WardiTV Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-02
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - TRS
RSL Revival: Season 6
Calamity Invitational
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: King of Kings
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
SC4ALL II: Brood War
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.