Question of the Day - 14 July 2022

As is usually the case with these things, the precise origin of the phrase hasn't been, and probably never will be, determined. 

The most common story, which most of our online sources copied pretty much verbatim, is that the phrase stems from one of the original loss-leader meal deals: a three-piece chicken dinner with potato and veggie that cost $1.79. Given that a standard table-game bet in those days was $2, when you won your $2 bet, you'd earned the equivalent of the chicken dinner (with a little change thrown in, perhaps for a tip).

However, David Guzman, author of the little book A Guide to Craps Lingo from Snake Eyes to Muleteeth, claims that it originated with back-alley gamblers during the Great Depression, when desperate gamblers bet whatever little money they had in their pockets to try and win a full chicken dinner.

Meanwhile, in the blackjack-team movie 21 with Kevin Spacy and Kate Bosworth, the narrator claims that a Chinese dealer at Binion's was first credited with the phrase in the mid-'60s: "He shouted it every time he dealt himself a blackjack."   

Who knows? The movie explanation is pretty obviously a Hollywood invention; the other two explanations are similar enough not to be of much concern. 

Believe it or not, "Winner winner chicken dinner" was trademarked by Raising Cane's, the chicken fingers fast-food chain. It was registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in July 2013. 

Finally, the phrase became popular with younger players in 2017, due to the popularity of the video game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). Apparently, the game's developer liked the sound of it and included it as a sort of reward when a player solved the notoriously difficult game.