As a founder member of SPaStIC many years ago (Scissors Paper Stone Irish Committee) I was involved in regulating the rules of scissors paper stone in Ireland many years ago. For those who doubt you can see references to SPaStIC on the global governing body for Scissors Paper Stone/Rock Paper Scissors: (see http://www.worldrps.com/links.html)
Indeed one of our fonder memories was when we received a message from the guru of global RPS Master Roshambollah praised our website on the worldrps site (see this post: http://www.worldrps.com/wwwboard/messages/1620.html).
Anyway I thought it might be useful to collate the official Irish rules on this thread for anyone who enjoys a game now and again. As an affiliate member of the Worldrps (who orgainse the world championships which is televised in the US) the rules set in place by SPaStIC are the official rules for local play. All local games should be decided according to these rules:
Rules of the Game [Paragraph 4 of SPaStIC Constitution]
1 All matches must involve a minimum of 1.78 persons and a maximum of 2.9 persons.
2 Matches are played over a sudden death or three-legged-affair basis.
3 The duration of the match must be agreed in advance by both competitors unless an acknowledged norm has developed between the players.
4 In the event of a tie the match is immediately replayed over the same basis as the previous encounter.
5 The following moves may be played by the competitors:
Scissors
Paper or
Stone
6 A scissors is deemed the victor against paper and defeated against rock.
7 A scissors against a scissors is deemed a tie.
8 A paper is deemed victorious against rock.
9 A paper must be played with a minimum of four parallel fingers held preferably parallel to the floor. Provision is made for certain throwers to play a paper vertically perpendicular to the ground, though this practice is deemed inelegant.
10 Unless stipulated otherwise a player must pull three primes before pulling the move of his/her choice.
11 Priming speed is discretional and both players must make an effort to prime at a speed realistically attainable by their opponent.
12 The rules of World RPS shall be broadly adopted in relation to matters not addressed in this Constitution, although the Committee reserve the right to adjudicate on local interpretations of those rules.
13 Eye contact (or the lack of it) is expressly not an issue to be addressed by these rules and is entirely discretional.
14 Following through the motions and carrying out an animation of victory (i.e. thumping your opponents scissors) is entirely legal and members who complain of sore fingers will be suspended from play for a week.