JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
There's a simple solution to many everyday conflicts. You square up your opponent, raise your fists, and together, you begin a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. This month, the New Jersey Lottery encouraged many such conflict resolutions. It sponsored the three-day Rock Paper Scissors Throwdown with a top prize of $10,000. Brian Cheung of NBC News was there to check it out. Hey.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: OK, I've got a lot of questions about competitive Rock, Paper, Scissors. The first one is this - how is this contest set up?
CHEUNG: Yeah, so it's fascinating. There were hundreds of people at the American Dream Mall. I don't know if you've ever been before.
SUMMERS: No.
CHEUNG: It's this huge mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. And in this atrium, they had set up a stage. There was a big TV screen. There were areas where people could sit and watch. I mean, if you were just walking past, you would think it's a full-on concert. But instead of a concert, it was just people going on stage, playing Rock, Paper, Scissors against each other. You could not have made it up. It was a bracket-style competition - best of five, mano y mano (ph), on stage for all to see. There were three days of competition. It all came down to a final match. In that case, it was best of seven. And all of this, believe it or not, was officiated to make sure, of course, the integrity of the game remained intact.
SUMMERS: (Laughter) OK, so give us the vibes. What kind of people were there?
CHEUNG: I mean, it was full of characters. We saw people dressed up. There was a gentleman that we saw that came in a full tracksuit, wore shades the entire time. There was another man that we met, interestingly, who said he is a psychologist. He put on, like, a lucha libre mask...
SUMMERS: Wow.
CHEUNG: ...And tried to intimidate his competition. He also wore a shirt that said, don't throw rock - also, again, I think, trying to confuse the opponent on the first move. Unfortunately, he lost in that second round.
SUMMERS: I mean, Brian, I'm curious. You've watched a lot of Rock, Paper, Scissors at this point. Is there strategy or competitor analysis or mind games like the guy with a don't throw rock shirt, or people just kind of winging it and seeing what happens?
CHEUNG: With Rock, Paper, Scissors, I think most people think of it as a game of chance. But in reality, that's not the case. There have been some anecdotes out there that because of just the name of the game, Rock, Paper, Scissors, that the first thing you think of is rock. So you could go with paper to try to get at rock, which might be more common. But most people that we talked to at the tournament - where I was asking them, hey, what's your strategy for playing it? - they said they just went with what their heart said.
SUMMERS: OK, so three days of competitive throwing - who was the winner at the end?
CHEUNG: So the winner was a gentleman named Julio Rivera. He is a veterinary technician by trade, and he also told me he did have to tap out of work to go to the finals. He was so nervous going on the stage through every round. He was visibly sweating on stage, not necessarily because there was $10,000 on the line but because it was just such a competitive environment. His opponent in that final match was, like, the stone cold, no emotion type of guy. And Julio was just super, super scared and nervous. And when I interviewed him after he won, he was like, I was just going with my heart, and somehow I won it all, and I'm just relieved that this is over.
(LAUGHTER)
SUMMERS: I have to ask, after being immersed in the world of competitive Rock, Paper, Scissors, are you any good?
CHEUNG: I did play the winner, Julio. We did a quick round, best of seven, and I did beat him four to one.
SUMMERS: Ooh.
CHEUNG: I hit him with a strategy that I saw online called the Avalanche, where you do three rock in a row. Bold move, but it did help me close it out. Of course, I didn't walk home with anything. Julio still had the trophy and still had the check. But I did have that moral victory.
SUMMERS: Yeah. You got some bragging rights, certainly.
CHEUNG: (Laughter) Yeah, exactly.
SUMMERS: That's NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Cheung. Thank you so much.
CHEUNG: Thanks, Juana.
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