Pitch and toss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pitch and Toss is a simple coin game, known by this name in England since at least the 18th century. It is often played in playgrounds.
[edit] The Rules
Any number of players line up a fixed distance away from a wall. The players each take a coin of common denomination and take turns tossing them towards the wall. The objective is to toss the coins such that they land as close to the wall as possible. Some forms of Pitch and Toss require the coin to hit the wall to be a valid throw.
In most variations this is a gambling game, with the winner collecting all the losing players' coins from the ground. Other variations include the game ending in "tips", where where the player whose coin lands closest to the wall collects all of the coins and flicks them all into the air. Before the coins land, the player would shout "heads" or "tails" and be entitled to claim those coins landing the corresponding way. The remaining coins (if any) would then be gathered by the player whose coin landed second closest to the wall, who would repeat the tossing and calling of heads or tails. This process would continue until all the coins have been picked up.
[edit] Popular Culture
The game is referred to in Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If'
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss;'
