Rock Paper Scissors International World Championships

Festival Location: Toronto, Canada

Festival Type(s): Bizarre Festivals, Bizarre Sports Events

by © Paul Dodson 2009

If you thought rock, paper, scissors was purely a decision-making aide employed by simple souls at loggerheads, think again my friend. In downtown Toronto at least, rock paper scissors is bona fide high stakes competition.

Come October every year contestants from as far abroad as Scotland, Germany and Australia arrive at Toronto's Kool Haus to play for the CAD $10,000 in prize money and the chance to be crowned International Rock Paper Scissors Champion.

The basic rules are simple enough, paper covers rock, rock blunts scissors and scissors cuts paper. But just to make things abundantly clear the official rules go on to state that "any use of dynamite, bird, well, spock, water, match, fire, God, lightning, bomb, Texas Longhorn, or other non-sanctioned throws, will result in automatic disqualification".

Think you got the goods? How hard can it be? Work your way through the qualifying rounds and you could find yourself within striking distance of the RPS World Crown. At a mere 20 bucks entrance fee it's got to be worth a shot. The words World Champion are gonna give a lift to even the swankiest curriculum vitae.

Still undecided on whether you should make the trip to Toronto for this year's event? Grab a mate; I know the perfect way to arrive at that final decision.