Tic Tac Toe Chicken Challenge

I have never seen this in person. Are the chickens allowed to act independently, or are the handlers actually directing the play?

Here is a Q/A describing the set up from Mark Pilarski's column in the Casino City Times:


"Dear Mark,
I'm not sure if my Uncle is pulling my leg, but he said that there is a casino that offers you the opportunity to play Tic-Tac-Toe against a chicken. I thought a chicken dinner bet was sufficient enough to prove him wrong. Do you mind dispelling his preposterous claim? Mary H.

While paying off your losing wager to your Uncle, Mary, you certainly won't be gobbling on Ginger, the chicken extraordinaire that two casinos that I know of have used to cook the goose of many intrepids who wanted to go up against a live chicken. They are the Tropicana in Atlantic City and the Trump 29 Casino in Palm Springs, not unknown Poultry Farms.

Furthermore, Mary, the ha-ha bettor is not playing against some dumb, clucking capon. Ginger, along with 14 other rotating hens (some of her understudies won't work either late-swing or graveyard shift) is well educated, reward-trained, that is, using methods popularized by psychologist B.F. Skinner, at the Boger Chicken University in Springdale, Arkansas.

Known as the "Tic-Tac-Toe Chicken Challenge," this specific tic-tac-toe match-up has casino patrons challenging a chicken in Tic-Tac-Toe for $10,000. The object of the game remains the same as what we all learned as kids: the first player to get three marks in a row wins; but the house has a built-in advantage (they wouldn't have it any other way, of course) since the chicken always goes first. Another understated casino edge is that the chicken is probably smarter than a lot of people we all know.

If you ever plan to join the line of daily contenders at either casino, if you don't mind, Mary, the historical odds will have me betting on the chicken. Ginger has played for more than three years at the Tropicana and has lost only five times."

If the rules allow one player, i.e., the chicken (1) to always go first and (2) to make that first move in the center, then it is a very trivial set of moves for that player to win most games and tie the rest. The second player must be quite careful to be able to avoid a loss and just hope for a tie. Obviously from the historical results, a chicken can be trained to play this very simple set of steps.

Of course, two humans playing this game would not permit rules (1) and (2) to exist, but I assume that is how the casino keeps Ginger out of the loss column.

I've seen this at the Global Gaming Expo and the Ramada in Laughlin. At the Ramada there was a gigantic line to play it.

There is a chicken in a booth that evidently pecks at a board to make his move. This board is unseen to the players, so you have to take it on faith that you're actually playing against the chicken. My guess is a simple program advises the chicken on where to move with a light on the square to peck.

I think I would disagree with Doc a bit on tic tac toe strategy. Two decent players will tie almost every time.

Quote: Wizard

I think I would disagree with Doc a bit on tic tac toe strategy. Two decent players will tie almost every time.

Agreed, sort of. However, if you allow rules (1) and (2) from my earlier post, the advantage to one player is tremendous. I think it is plausible that even a chicken could be trained not to lose with that advantage. In other words, I do not automatically assume that the operators of the game are cheating by using a program as you suggest. Chickens aren't all that bright, but they do alter their behavior based on experience.

The original post notes the small number of historical losses by the chicken but avoids the topic of whether humans actually lose very often. In contrast to your "decent" players, I suspect it would not be unusual for a naive player, perhaps a child relatively new to the game or a drunk adult, to lose some games and, of course, never win.

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Quote: Wizard

I've seen this at the Global Gaming Expo and the Ramada in Laughlin. At the Ramada there was a gigantic line to play it.

There is a chicken in a booth that evidently pecks at a board to make his move. This board is unseen to the players, so you have to take it on faith that you're actually playing against the chicken. My guess is a simple program advises the chicken on where to move with a light on the square to peck.

I think I would disagree with Doc a bit on tic tac toe strategy. Two decent players will tie almost every time.

Wizard is right here. This is such an illusion of chance. After the player selects his choice, the chicken gets to choose. A light pops up indicating on the board where the chicken is suppose to peck. You are not allowed to tap the glass to try to scare the chicken into tapping another square or you will be disqualified.