They've got the game in hand

by Steve Friess
Chicago Tribune

LAS VEGAS -- Back in his bachelor years, John Heflin and his pals did it to decide who would make the late-night burrito run. Later, the man from La Grange Park, Ill., and his wife would do it to determine who would change the baby's diapers. Sometimes nowadays he'll make his kids beat him at it if they want cookies.

But not even Heflin could have imagined that something as seemingly frivolous as a round of rock, paper, scissors could earn him a trip to Las Vegas and a shot at $50,000.

"I'm not nervous about anything because it's not a serious thing," said Heflin, 35. "I'm just going out there with 17 of my friends, and I told them if I win, I'll pay for their trips. It's all fun."

Heflin better watch out, then. This weekend's 2007 USARPS Tournament Finals has brought together more than 300 regional rock, paper, scissors finalists from across the nation, including five from the Chicago area. Each won a free contest at their neighborhood bar and then triumphed again at a competition among several area winners to earn the chance at the league's ultimate prize.

Rock, paper, scissors has a league? Believe it. The 16-month-old USARPS League was founded by co-commissioner Matti Leshem, a 44-year-old Hollywood producer who never plays a round of the classic conflict-resolution game for less than $100 a "shoot," as a round is called.

He's a lifelong player who discovered that there was a professional Canadian league and decided to start one here. He has written a set of rules, trained referees and has unsuccessfully petitioned the International Olympic Committee to make it an event. This is such a serious activity -- Leshem says it's a sport -- that a paramedic will be on hand for the contests at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino this weekend because wrist and shoulder injuries often occur, he said. ESPN will air footage this summer.

"I'm singularly focused on rock, paper, scissors; it's the thing that brings me the most joy in life," said Leshem, an Israeli-born American citizen. "People don't realize that there are hundreds of thousands of people playing professionally, millions playing it semiprofessionally."

While it's hard to verify those figures, such leagues have existed around the world for years, and a World RPS Society has existed since 1918.

Poker star Phil Gordon holds a World Series of Rock-Paper-Scissors at the annual World Series of Poker each year with a $500 buy-in and a $10,000 prize. In 2005, a Japanese art collector famously used the game to decide which of two top U.S. auction houses would get to sell one of his Cezannes.

Leshem's league is blossoming largely because of its main sponsor, Bud Light, which is the engine behind the national tournament. The beer's brewer, Anheuser-Busch, last year hit upon the league as it sought unusual new marketing tactics. Beer distributors organized the tournaments that yield the regional finalists, and Anheuser-Busch puts up the prize money and picks up the tab for each finalist and a guest to fly to Vegas and stay for three days.

This is the second year for the tournament, which runs through Sunday. In addition to the $50,000 first prize, the runner-up gets $5,000. Plus two finalists will be chosen at random for a contest for a free car. All told, the promotion is costing the company at least $400,000.

"We asked ourselves, 'What do we want to do to get the attention of young contemporary adults?' and we came up with this," said Rick Leininger, Bud Light brand director. "Some people get really serious about it, but they have a lot of fun at it too. Some people dress up in costumes as scissors and rocks. A lot of people bring strategy."

Yes, there are strategies. Folks like Leshem and Heflin insist that it's not merely a game of luck but a matter of reading an opponent, much as in poker.

"Sometimes, with certain people, you can watch them and tell what they might throw and try to counter it," said Robert Asztalos, a 28-year-old electrician from St. John, Ind., who is one of only two 2006 finalists returning to Vegas for this year's finals. "In one case, I noticed that all someone did was throw rock then paper then scissor."

Their finalist status turned Asztalos and Heflin into small-time celebrities in their circles. At Finley Dunne's on Chicago's North Side, Heflin says he's frequently challenged by people who want a crack at the regional champ; he almost always wins, he says, and it's good practice for the Vegas event.

Asztalos, who had never played before he wandered into his first tournament in 2006 at a Hooter's restaurant in Schererville, Ind., admitted he was nervous. He got knocked out in the first round last year.

"You want to win. There is a little bit of pressure," he said. "I know it sounds weird. But it's nerve-racking and mentally exhausting to try to anticipate what someone's going to do."

Leshem has lofty goals for the sport and his league.

"Like most people, I started playing as a child, but where I was growing up it wasn't just to decide who's going to get the ball from the neighbor's yard, it was who's getting the ball in the Palestinian neighbor's yard, so there was a sense of danger associated with it," he said. "I want to see Palestinians and Israelis playing rock, paper, scissors instead of throwing rocks. Imagine if we could solve our political differences in this country just by playing this game?"