h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Florida State Fair is here in Tampa again. Florida always has the first State Fair of the year. I remember the chicken, and attend the fair each year hoping for a rematch.

It was over 30 years ago and very cold. My young son was in tow. A little sign on a small tent said “beat the chicken at tic-tac-toe and win $10. The game cost $.25 to play. The chicken always goes first. We entered the tent and put down a quarter.

I was a little high but initially confident of my ability against a mere bird-brain.

However, this bird was a smart little pecker. I lost the first game and tied the second. I began to consider the work of Pavloff and B. F. Skinner. After an hour, and ten dollars worth of quarters, I lost or tied 40 games. Apparently there is a winning tic-tac-toe algorithm that a chicken will learn for a suitable positive reinforcement..

Each year I go back hoping to spot the tent and have a rematch with the chicken.

This year I Google and learn that the chicken has graduated from State Fairs and moved to Las Vegas. Currently Ginger is playing for $10,000 stakes. Beat the chicken and win $10,000. The chickens are trained by one Bunky Boger at the Arkansas Chicken University.

It turns out that there are a flock of 16 chickens named “Ginger” which have collectively lost only five games. My guess is that losing “Gingers” end up with a form of early retirement.

For a rematch, I’ll have to go back to Vegas.

http://www.nationalreview.com/23dec02/stuttaford122302.asp

http://pilarski.casinocitytimes.com/articles/11831.html

http://pilarski.casinocitytimes.com/articles/16032.html

Do they offer any tips?! It's hard to believe they could have trained the chicken to do something a human couldn't figure out after a few games.

How many times have you been told not to play with your food.

Here's what you do, see...

*looks around furtively*

...Chickns are easily flustered. All ya gotta do is play some fiddle music. To a chickn, a fiddle sounds just like a chickn being tortured. They hate that.