Brian A
United States
Las Vegas
Nevada
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Even if your group doesn't randomly decide seating position for every game, I imagine many of you have a favored way of selecting the starting player. I would be interested in hearing what others do but I also wanted to share the success I have had with my hands-down preferred method. It is incredibly fast:
Paper Scissors Rock with "odd man wins" criteria. Imagine 5 players playing at once. If the results are...
3 scissors, 1 rock, 1 paper
3 scissors are eliminated because that was the most common choice, paper beats rock, PAPER WINS.
2 scissors, 1 rock, 2 paper
2 scissors and 2 paper are eliminated for, again, being the most common choices, ROCK WINS
3 scissors, 2 paper
Occasionally there will be a tie. 3 scissors are eliminated for being the most common choice and the 2 papers have a tie-breaker.
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Chaddyboy
United States
Olathe
Kansas
Bloooooop.
Bluuuuuurp.
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*you will not get this unless you watch Homestarrunner*
We eat Fluffy Puff Marshmallows to determine the starting player. The first one to eat a million, wins!
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Chester
United States
Temple
Texas
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Well....last game session I threw plastic pigs at each player. Whoever had the red pig thrown at them was the starting player.
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CHAPEL
United States
Round Rock
Texas
"that's a smith and wesson, and you've had your six"
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In the group I play in they use a neat method. They do a RPS like fist but pick a number between 1-5. Then count the (total fingers played)mod(# of players) then count that number past the owner.
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Marc Gilutin
United States
Alhambra
California
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Why the "Spinny Finger of Death" of course!
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Gerald McDaniel
United States
Lakewood
Colorado
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We're old fashioned -- we just roll a die, with ties rolling again until a winner is determined. However, we don't usually do this until we are all seated, and no one wants to give up his seat, so if I don't roll a high number, I'm hoping the person on my right does, because if he wins, I'm second.
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True Blue Jon
United States
Vancouver
Washington
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Mud wrestling
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David Me
United States
Bowling Green
Kentucky
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"Who wants to go first?" First one answering goes.
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Steve Downin
United States
Stockbridge
Georgia
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All of these are also good methods to pick the designated driver when you go out for a night of heavy drinking.
For those of you who are old enough to drink alcohol according to the laws of your home country, anyways.
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J C Lawrence
United States
Campbell
California
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We play the remainder game: Just number the player in rotation starting at 0. On a count of three every player sticks out somenumber of fingers. Sum the total count of fingers, modulo the number of players, the player with the resultant number is the start player.
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Jon
United States
Edmond
Oklahoma
Convention Committee
BGG.CON! BGG.CON SPRING! BGG@SEA!
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fickle finger of fate.
-or-
roll a dX, where X is the number of players, start counting around the table.
-or-
1 bit from each player goes into my hand (big hands required). I shake em up, drop one.
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(when there's only one or two new players who haven't played the game before) person to the right of the new guy goes first.
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Ben Harris
United States
Beaverton
Oregon
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RPS
We use Rock, Paper, Scissors, but a different way then mentioned on the first post. We go until there is a winner, odd person out loses
E.G.
4 players: Rock, Rock, Scissors, Scissors (Both Scissors are out because Rock beats Scissors). If there are 3 different signs at anytime then that is a redo round.
Of course I do not get beat very often because I have read all of the latest strategies: http://tinyurl.com/62jaw
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Dave Kudzma
United States
Millsboro
Delaware
People are...
SPOCKED!!
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We draw lots....at least for the games that have some different colored chits....otherwise its a die roll.
*bling* *bling*
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Mark McEvoy
Canada
Mountain
Ontario
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Usually I decide based on the equipment on hand. If it's a card game with ranked cards, typically a case of dealing one card to each player and highest card is first dealer (and person to left of said player gets first play if that's the game's custom). If the game has dice, pre-announce what players represent what numbers (like "1 or 2, A, 3 or 4, B, 5 or 6, C") and roll once. Other games also work out accordingly (for instance, Modern Art - separate one Gitter and N-1 Yokos, shuffle, have everyone pull a card, whoever pulls Gitter plays first).
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SAKURA in KYOTO 2018 Back to Kansai
England
York
North Yorkshire
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bits
If each player has coloured bits, like oh I don't know, the camels in Durch die Wuste say      , all you do is take one for each player, shake them in your hand (the bits, not the players), then drop one randomly. Hey ho and nonny nonny ney, you have your start player.
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Jerry Dziuba
United States
Scurry
Texas
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Id method
Whomever is me goes first.
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♪ Isaäc Bickërstaff ♫
United States
Greer
South Carolina
Entropy Seminar:
The results of a five yeer studee ntu the sekund lw uf thurmodynamiks aand itz inevibl fxt hon shewb rt nslpn raq liot.
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Wow, you guys have a lot of complicated methods for choosing a start player! Does that leave much time for the games?
We usually do what has already been stated -- rolling a die, picking a piece, the Mystical Spinning Hand of Omaha, or what the rules advise.
Speaking of what the rules advise, I have TWICE been picked to go first, once on the basis of Finstere Flure's start-player rule (he who looks most like a monster), and another time on the basis of Cartagena's start-player rule (he who looks most like a pirate). I'm miffed....
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S W E E T !
United States
West Lafayette
Indiana
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We drive down to the local playground and play a quick game of HORSE. Winner gets to go first, unless he/she only won by one letter, in which case we turn to an Ultimate-Fighting-Championship style martial arts tournament. Last one standing goes first. After the paramedics are done, of course.
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Alex Rockwell
United States
Lynnwood
Washington
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Interesting, I have played a different version of multiplayer RPS:
Everyone reveals, then the most common symbol wins, and eliminates the others. Your way is simpler, I think. But it kindof makes it into a voting game...the majority stays around. Of course, if only 2 symbols show, the one that beats the other is the one that stays around.
The best way to do it is probably to have everyone roll a die, largest non-duplicated number goes first!! Only ever takes one roll.
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Scott Russell
United States
Clarkston
Michigan
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RSP
Whoever is defeated the most is out.
So RRSSP, the rocks go again because they were only defeated once while the scissors and paper were defeated twice. RRRSP, the scissors only are out.
Can take a while and we call those epics! 
Some guys really hate RSP and we draw pieces if available. We also will use the youngest rules if we have a player(s) that aren't adult.
And for Harry Potter games, we let my daughter (born on Aug. 10) go first.
BTW, Alex, what if everyone rolls the same number? (Seems like it could take more than one roll)
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Alan Faller
United Kingdom
Brighton
East Sussex
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We usually play a hand of poker to decide who goes first, the dealer being determined by a game of chinese checkers.
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Sally Mittler
United States
Santa Fe
New Mexico
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still random enough...
We often do this: on the count of one, someone chosen says a name of a player at the table, and someone else says a number. You start with that person and count to the last number- that person starts.
EEENNY MEEEENY MIIIIIINY MO...javascript:emoticon(document.MESSAGEFORM.body,' ')
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Michael Nerman
Canada
Winnipeg
Manitoba
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Wang-ho
I've been known to do the thing where everyone holds out fingers and you count from the owner. We call it wang-ho, and you say "1-2-3 Wang-ho", with people putting out their fingers on the "wang-ho".
For Carcassonne: H & G, we've taken to each grabbing three tiles and whoever has the most animals son his or her tiles wins.
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Paul Kidd
Australia
Brisbane
Queensland
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Choose a piece
Some method of choosing a coloured bit, usually.
In Puerto Rico I take it a step further by laying out a barrel in front of each seat (one coffee, one tobacco etc) and then each player draws a barrel and has to sit in that exact seat. Coffee starts. That way the player order as well as the start player is randomized.
Yeah, yeah, it's just a game, but still.
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Tim Franklin
United Kingdom
Braintree
Essex
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Quote: Speaking of what the rules advise, I have TWICE been picked to go first, once on the basis of Finstere Flure's start-player rule (he who looks most like a monster), and another time on the basis of Cartagena's start-player rule (he who looks most like a pirate). I'm miffed....
I like seeing what the designer has come up with as a method, especially where they've tried to tie it to theme. Your two examples above are good ones - Reef Encounter has "player who most recently went swimming", Ticket to Ride has "most well-travelled player", etc.
Maybe I'm just easily amused though 
TTFN,
Tim.
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