
The Iocaine Powder Strategy in RoShamBo - bryanrasmussen
https://web.archive.org/web/20160819141717id_/http://www.ofb.net/~egnor/iocaine.html
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klenwell
There was an amusing comment related to this over on the Metafilter thread on
this earlier today which included this impressive detail:

 _Naturally, we did what any self-respecting half-in-the-bag Americans would
do upon meeting so-called champions of the rock-paper-scissors arena on the
streets of a foreign nation, and challenged them to a duel on the spot. We
proceeded to go a spectacular 0-24 against our fellow countrymen, before
realizing that maybe there 's more to the metagame than we had previously
considered._

[https://www.metafilter.com/181225/Iocaine-
Powder#7714208](https://www.metafilter.com/181225/Iocaine-Powder#7714208)

Any competitive RoShamBo players here willing to share their metagame
strategies?

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inflatableDodo
>Any competitive RoShamBo players here willing to share their metagame
strategies?

Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

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cbluth
I came here to say this

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inflatableDodo
Ha Ha! You fool, you fell victim to one of the classic blunders...

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IvyMike
An excuse to post my favorite RoShamBo scene ever:
[https://vimeo.com/210145683](https://vimeo.com/210145683) , from the show
Patriot. (There's a lot of context that's missing but it's hopeless for me to
try to explain it. I highly recommend the show.)

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chrisan
I guess this shows my ignorance, I had no idea rock paper scissors was called
this. I only knew of the South Park version
[http://southpark.cc.com/clips/103724/rochambeau](http://southpark.cc.com/clips/103724/rochambeau)

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sameyolo
I was trying to think how iocaine powder would help in this scenario when I
clicked in. Shows how our vernacular was shaped a bit though.

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Lowkeyloki
I understand this meta-strategy on an intellectual level, but I'd find it
easier to fully understand with a concrete example or an interactive example.
It mentions that this meta-strategy only works if your opponent's strategy is
consistent. I'd like an interactive version to play with to show that. Also,
I'm curious how this strategy fairs against itself.

The only winning move is not to play. ;-)

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Lowkeyloki
Kudos to the submitter. It got me to watch WarGames again. (Even though tic-
tac-toe is the metaphor used in the movie, not rock-paper-scissors.)

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Lowkeyloki
Perhaps the title should include (2016) as that is when this archive snapshot
is from. It's unclear when the page was originally created.

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LocalH
A cursory Google search for the title of the paper points to around 2000

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gmiller123456
Ok, but what if your opponent also uses the Iocane Powder Strategy? Just the
assumption they can puts you back at square one.

"You are using the Iocane Powder Stragety against me."

"I found it appropriate considering the terrain."

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PlasticTank
The actual contest sounds really fun, does anyone know where can I find more
of this "competitive" programming?

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cesarb
Another one I know of is Core War:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War)

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whoopdedo

        > History matching: This is easily the strongest predictor in Iocaine Powder's arsenal,
        > In fact, it looks for the longest match to recent history; a repeat of the 
        > last 30 moves is considered better than just the last 3 moves.
    

So LZW is a way to win at roshambo.

