The 2005 Christie’s–Sotheby’s rock-paper-scissors case remains one of the most unusual examples of decision-making in elite commercial history. According to widely repeated accounts, Japanese executive Takashi Hashiyama, acting on behalf of a major corporate art owner, asked the two leading auction houses to settle a high-value consignment decision through a simple game after finding their proposals equally persuasive. At first glance, the case appears trivial, playful, or ev