How do I use the same variable between buttons?

Question

I've created a rock paper scissors game in java, but I don't know how I could use the same variable to work between 3 different buttons (rock, paper scissors). I use if loops for win loss and tie in each button so I could easily just add 1 to a variable but I'm not sure how to make it work everywhere in my code and if that is something even possible.

if (playerChoice.equals(randomChoice)) //If player chose the same thing as the computer
{
    //TIE
    System.out.println("user tied"); //Tie the game with output message in console
    lblGameStatus.setText("The game tied!"); //Output to the user for the result of the game
}
if (randomChoice.equals("paper")) //and if the computer chose paper
{
    //ROCK VS PAPER
    System.out.println("user won");//The player wins, with output message in console
    lblGameStatus.setText("You Won!"); //Output to the user for the result of the game
    
}
else if (randomChoice.equals("scissors")) //if the computer chose scissors instead of paper
{
    //ROCK VS SCISSORS
    System.out.println("user lost"); //the computer wins, display output message in console
    lblGameStatus.setText("You Lost!"); //Output to the user for the result of the game
}