Columnist Susan Snyder: A little Ginger goes a long way

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2002 | 8:22 a.m.

Ginger, the Tropicana's tick-tack-toe-playing chicken, is carting her nuggets to Laughlin.

"She's moving. She's coming to Laughlin, and it's important. She's a celebrity," said Kerry Broz, spokeswoman for the Ramada Express Hotel and Casino, Ginger's new digs.

Make that, new scratch.

Ginger is set to open in Laughlin Dec. 24, but will likely take Christmas off and return to work Dec. 26, Broz said.

(Christmas, as you can imagine, can be quite emotional for a chicken with all that bird-stuffing business.)

Ginger debuted in May at the Las Vegas Tropicana's "Amazing $10,000 Chicken Challenge." People waited up to an hour in line to play tick-tack-toe against her. Or it.

Whatever.

The grand prize for beating the chicken at her, or its, own game in Laughlin will be $5,000. But Broz said that is not a reflection on Ginger, nor is it meant to imply she is now paltry, poverty-stricken poultry.

"We don't want to say Ginger is being demoted," she said.

Never bruise a tender chicken or a chicken's tenders, or something. It's probably bad luck.

"She's going to come out here to enjoy the fabulous waters and some of the friendliest folks in Nevada," Broz said.

Friendly, until they realize they are playing against a computer and not really against the little hen behind the glass. But fret not. Some players at the Tropicana watched half a dozen matches and likely lost as many before figuring it out. These are the kind of people who get angry but forget why by the time they figure out who to tell.

The chicken is taking along 14 understudies -- Gingerlike stand-ins, who will help fill out the shifts. Her handler, however, will work seven days a week (and likely eat chicken salad on every break, as a subtle reminder of who is in charge).

"She does require a certain amount of down time," Broz said. "She's a diva. No question about it."

Well, I might question it. After all, a glass case and a computer game is the only thing standing between Ginger and a bun with a pickle.

But you have to hand it to Broz, who is taking her chicken challenge like a trooper. Think about it. You're sipping coffee at your desk one morning, and the boss comes up and says, "I have a new assignment for you!"

Broz said it didn't ruffle so much as a feather.

"In marketing you never say never," she said. "The 'Why did the chicken cross the road?' jokes are already rolling in."

Funny, because the Ramada Express is the only casino on the non-river side of the highway through Laughlin. It is, indeed, on the other side of the road.

As for when Ginger pecks her last game in Las Vegas, the Tropicana hasn't said. Casino officials didn't call back with that information by deadline.

Maybe they're chicken. Maybe the sky is falling.

Maybe they have better things to do than talk about the fate of a fowl who in any other place would be on the buffet, rather than gambling next to it.

The buffet. That raises another interesting question. Will Ginger be offended or inspired by the feast's offerings?

"We haven't really thought about what's on the buffet yet," Broz said.