Arkansas Blog

HOT SPRINGS NEWS RELEASE

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — The tournament bracket is filling
up for Arkansas’ first U.S.A. Rock Paper Scissors League (USARPSL) sanctioned tournament on March 31, at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Sixteen “open division” slots in the tournament finals will be chosen beginning at 5 p.m. on March 31. At 7:30 p.m. the finals will begin to determine the Arkansas winner who will advance to the nationaltournament in Las Vegas that will determine the best Rock Paper Scissors player in America, according to said Steve Arrison, executive director
of the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Forty-eight Arkansas finalists are being determined in contests already being conducted by sponsor Bud Light in Garland County entertainment venues.

The public is invited to enter the contest to pick 16 open division competitors , Arrison said. Competitors for the open slots will pay a $3 entry fee that will be donated to Garland County Relay for Life. Registration for the open division will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the
Convention Center.

“Rock Paper Scissors competition has become the hottest thing going in the world of non-professional sports, and Hot Springs is excited to be able to host the first sanctioned tournament in Arkansas,” Arrison said.

The winner of the Hot Springs tournament will receive a $1,000 prize and a trip for two to Las Vegas for a chance to play in the national tournament for a $50,000 top prize. The second-place winner in Hot Springs will win $500

There is no charge for watching the competition and anyone, regardless of age, may come to watch, Arrison said.

Marty Coco, president of Coco Beverage, whose Bud Light brand is sponsoring the Garland County tournament, said, “This is great family-oriented competition, and Coco Beverage is pleased to be able to sponsor the Garland County tournament. This is going to be one of the
most entertaining events we’ve ever had in Hot Springs, which is already known across America as a great place for fun competitions such as our Running Of The Tubs bathtub races, our World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade and similar events.”

The March 31 Garland County RPS Tournament will consist of 64 Rock Paper Scissors players competing in a classic tournament ladder structure. Anyone 21 or older may enter the open competition

According to the USARPSL, Rock Paper Scissors competitions began “over 6.3 million years ago in East Africa when prehistoric men became bipedal.” The League says the earliest version was known as Rock Rock Rock and sometimes resulted in the death of competitors from exhaustion, as there was no way for one or the other to win. It says advances in the
game included Rock Tablet Spear (which also had a fantasy league) and Rock Papyrus Knife.

Eventually, America became the homeland of RPS, according to the League and the most important advance in the long history of the game took place in January 2006 when the USARPS League was formed. The League says American players continue to embody the ideals of the sport: “Aggression, cunning and intensity.”

“We expect the Garland County Tournament to produce all three of these traits, along with a great deal of plain old fun,” Coco said.

For more information call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.