Can a computer program play tic-tac-toe without ever losing? You write a script in MATLAB that first detects wins, ties, and losses on the game board. Then you build a random player that places marks in random spots. Next you program a "smart player" using roughly 300 if-then statements. Each statement counters a move that could lead to a loss. The smart player always goes second. Against the random player the program won 80 percent of 10,000 games and tied the rest. Against three human players it never lost. Humans tied 86 percent of their games and lost 14 percent.