Staring Contest: Official Rules

The most common question regarding the staring contest thus far has been "What are the rules?"

So, here they are:

Official Staring Contest Rules

Two combatants will sit across from one another at a conference table. A referee will count down from three (3) and at that point the contest will begin.

Contestants must stare at their opponent until a judge rules that the contest is over.

A judge will deem the contest over when:

• One contestant laughs;
• One contestant looks away from their opponent; or
• One contestant blinks twice.

To be clear: A contestant will be allowed one blink. If a contestant blinks, a judge will call a fault, and the contest will continue. If at any point that same contestant blinks again, he or she loses and the contest is over.

Contestants shall not touch each other. All manner of distraction, attempts to make opponents blink, and attempts to make opponents laugh are allowed and, indeed, strongly encouraged; however any physical contact between contestants will be deemed an immediate disqualification for the contestant who initiated the contact.

Matches will be timed. Results will not be based on total time, only the ability to outlast your current opponent, but stats will be kept in the interest of recognizing those contestants who could keep their eyes open the longest (and the shortest) amount of time.

This will be a single-elimination tournament. Once a contestant loses, he or she is out of the tournament, and the winner advances to the next round. The number of rounds will be decided based on how many entrants there are.

(example of bracket size for 16 competitors)

Two days prior to the contest (December 8th), first round match-ups will be posted to this blog.

Inter-office wagering is strongly encouraged, however, The Ontario Staring Contest League Association (OSCLA) strongly frowns upon contestants wagering on their own matches and such behaviour will be punished accordingly.

For any in-game discrepancies or arguments, the referees' decision is final.