Day 27

As a kiwi living in Australia, ANZAC Day is one time that regardless of what soil I'm standing on, I'm still proud and humbled by those brave young men who fought wars in countries so far from our own, and still continue to.  I had a Great Uncle Samuel James Treloar who died in France during World War 1, and as a young girl I was given an embroidered postcard he'd sent home from the war, which sadly I lost many years ago.

But one of the phenomenons that is totally Australian is ....Two Up

So what the bloody hell is Two Up?

Two-up is a traditional Australian gambling game, involving a designated 'Spinner' throwing two or three coins into the air. Traditionally, these coins are pennies.  Players gamble on whether the coins will fall with both (obverse) heads up, both (reverse) tails up, or with one coin a head, and one a tail (known as 'Odds'). It is traditionally played on ANZAC Day in pubs and clubs throughout Australia, in part to mark a shared experience with Diggers through the ages.  A person is selected as the Spinner (generally greeted to loud calls of "Come in Spinner!" by the rest of the players). The Spinner will be tossing the coins in the air using a kip which is a small piece of wood on which the coins are placed before being tossed. One coin is placed heads up, the other tails up.until they win or lose.

The basic format of the game:

Two heads means the Spinner wins.

Two tails means the Spinner loses.

Odds "One Them" means the Spinner throws again.

The Spinner is required to place a bet before their first throw that must be covered (equalled) by another player. If the Spinner wins they keep the bet and cover, otherwise it goes to the player who covered the bet. The Boxer takes a commission out of this bet. The unspoken rule is if an old guy with medals loses, you don't take your winnings of him, or you discretely give it back.  Nice.

Lest we forget.