I saw on TV some kid lose convincingly against a RPS champion when the kid had been given a prepared (random) list of moves to make ahead of time. That can’t be explained by strategy—it was either coincidence or it’s possible to cheat by seeing which way your opponent’s hand is unfolding and change your move at the last moment.
The latter is definitely possible. Back when I was still playing RPS as a kid, I was fairly good at it; enough for somewhere upwards of 70% of my plays to be wins.
You don’t want to change your move at the last moment though so much as you want to keep your hand in a plausibly formless configuration you can turn into a move at the last moment. Less likely to be called out for cheating.
I saw on TV some kid lose convincingly against a RPS champion when the kid had been given a prepared (random) list of moves to make ahead of time. That can’t be explained by strategy—it was either coincidence or it’s possible to cheat by seeing which way your opponent’s hand is unfolding and change your move at the last moment.
The latter is definitely possible. Back when I was still playing RPS as a kid, I was fairly good at it; enough for somewhere upwards of 70% of my plays to be wins.
You don’t want to change your move at the last moment though so much as you want to keep your hand in a plausibly formless configuration you can turn into a move at the last moment. Less likely to be called out for cheating.
Or the losers were unintentionally signaling their moves beforehand.