Plenty of people have made a dumb bet with a friend at one time, but usually the stakes are kept relatively low. However, one man was so confident about his rock, paper, scissors skills; he bet his friend $500K in a best of three match. Luckily for the man, courts have ruled he doesn’t have to pay, after he lost the highly contested game.
Edmund Mark Hooper caught a break this month when courts ruled he didn’t have to pay the $517,000 bet he made over a rock, paper, scissors game in 2011. The Canadian man bet his friend, Michel Primeau, and was forced to take out a mortgage on his home to pay off the debt. However, in 2017 courts ruled the mortgage invalid, due to the bet amount being excessive.
Primeau appealed the decision, but this month courts ruled in favor of Hooper. According to Quebec law, bets are only valid when involving activities “requiring only skill or bodily exertion on the part of the parties,” and not chance. While some would argue rock, paper, scissors is a game of skill, Hooper is happy he doesn’t have to pay a fine, and his skills in the game are no longer in question.
Via New York Post