NOEL KING, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Noel King. A Canadian man who bet half a million dollars on a game of rock paper scissors probably won't have to pay up. The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled this month that the excessive debt violates local gambling law. This case goes back to a 2011 game and has been slowly making its way through the courts. At one point, roshambo loser Edmund Mark Hooper took out a mortgage to pay the winner. Could they not settle their differences with, say, a coin toss? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.