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Re:The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors by dood on Wednesday December 19, 2007 @12:49PM (#91201)
Well now everyone knows that rock is the most popular (suggesting you should throw paper), meaning scissors is the best way to start, the smart money will move to throwing rock, which of course means the really smart will start with paper, so to really get the edge you throw scissors. No, wait...

Unfortunately the NS source article is paywalled, so we miss the part where they give the (probably small) improvement in odds that scissors (currently) gives.

The interesting part about RPS for me is the evolutionary/ecological/game-theoretical implications, "Some of the male lizards (call their type "rock") use force, invading the territory of fellow males to mate with females. Others ("paper") favor deception, waiting until females are unguarded and sneaking in. Still others ("scissors") work by cooperation, joining together to protect one another's females. The three types of lizard... are locked in a cyclical sort of standoff. "

[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09rockpaper.html?...]

Also: [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071001145022.ht...]

Re:The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors by euccastro on Thursday December 20, 2007 @12:26PM (#91531)
And this is one of the main reasons why you see thinly disguised RPS game mechanics in most strategy games, esp. multiplayer online games. Cycles of pwn are the easiest way to prevent absolutely optimal strategies (the I Win Button syndrome).
Re:The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors by euccastro on Thursday December 20, 2007 @12:15PM (#91528)
You want to check out Game Theory Evolving, by Herbert Gintis, if you haven't already. It talks about exactly this kind of stuff.
Re:The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors by dood on Thursday December 20, 2007 @01:18PM (#91541)
Looks interesting, thanks!