Two-up

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Two-up is a traditional Australian gambling game, involving a designated 'Spinner' throwing two coins into the air. Players gamble on whether the coins will fall with both heads up, both 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.

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[edit] History

The exact origins of Two-up are obscure, but it seems to have evolved from pitch and toss, a gambling game involving tossing a single coin into the air and wagering on the result. Two-up was popular amongst poorer English and Irish citizens in the 18th century. The predilection of the convicts for this game was noted as early as 1798 by the colony's first Judge Advocate, as well as the lack of skill involved and the large losses. By the 1850's, the two-coin form was being played on the goldfields of the Eastern states and it was spread across the country following subsequent goldrushes.

Two-up was played extensively by Australia's soldiers during World War I and games, to which a blind eye was cast, became a regular part of ANZAC Day celebrations for returned soldiers.

As time passed, increasingly elaborate illegal "two-up schools" grew around Australia, to the consternation of authorities[citation needed] but with the backing of corrupt police. The legendary Thommo's Two-up School, which operated at various locations in Sydney from the early years of the 20th century until well after World War II, was one of Australia's first major illegal gambling operations. The popularity of Two-up declined after the 1950s as more sophisticated forms of gambling like Baccarat gained popularity in illegal gaming houses and poker machines (slot machines) were legalised in clubs.

Legal Two-up arrived with its introduction as a "table" game at the new casino in Hobart in 1973 and is still offered in some Australian casinos. Two-up has also been legalised* on ANZAC Day, when it is played in Returned Servicemen's Leagues (RSL) clubs and hotels. Several tourist "Two-up schools" in the Outback have also been legalised. According to the NSW Gambling (Two-Up) Act 1998, two-up in NSW is not unlawful on ANZAC day.[1]

[edit] Rules

Two up is played by players who surround a ring and take turns at being the 'spinner'; 'come in spinner' being the call for another spinner to come forward into the ring. The game is managed by a 'boxer' who oversees the game and betting and a 'ringy' or ringkeeper who looks after the coin tosses in the ring. The spinner offers a bet, which is matched. He then tosses two coins up into the air using a paddle known as a 'kip'. If the coins are both heads (Heads) he wins, if they are both tails (Tails) he loses and if they are one of each (Odds) he throws again. The boxer takes a commission out of the kitty that the spinner wins. The other punters place side bets. [1]

M. G. Heuston, a WWI veteran, described a game that he ran. The spinner needed to toss Heads three times to win, with his bet having to be matched before each throw. Side bets were held on whether the spinner would toss Heads or Tails and 'tail betters' would bet 3/1 against two Heads. The spinner could choose to bet for Tails instead or play sudden death with three coins so that there were no Odds. [2]

In casino play the players gamble against the house and the rules vary along a similar theme. At Star City in Sydney, two-up was removed in October 2003 due to budget cutbacks brought in by Tabcorp, leaving one of Australia's largest casinos without the iconic game. The spinner needed three Heads to win and was paid 7.5/1. Tails or five Odds in a row was a loss. Other players could place side bets on Heads or Tails. The five Odds are the odds in favour of the House which are 3.4% against the Spinner and 3.1% against side bets. [3]. At Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast, the spinner is required to get five heads in a row to win. A loss is three Odds in a row, or Tails. With Odds, all bets are frozen, which means that no-one can change or remove their bets, and new players are not permitted to join. Conrad Jupiters no longer provides two-up on Anzac Day, and is now owned by Tabcorp as well.

[edit] Trivia

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On 17 November 2004, the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, remarked in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly that:

One of the charities most involved in problem gambling, the Wesley Community Legal Service, a body dealing with problem gamblers, has confirmed it has never encountered a problem gambler addicted to two-up. That is an interesting bit of trivia for everyone to take home with them. [2]

In 1978, the Australian group the Little River Band released "Sleeper Catcher", their fourth album. In the liner notes it says:

Sometimes called "Australia's National Game", two-up is a form of gambling which, though illegal, has long been a favourite pastime. The "Sleeper Catcher", an accepted participant in the game, retrieves bets left on the floor by tardy backers.

The movie The Sundowners contains a sequence in which several Australian drovers (one of them portrayed by Robert Mitchum) play a game of two-up, with appropriate bets. One of the players calls out "Fair do's", which translates roughly as "Play fair". Appropriately, the action in the game onscreen is rapid and without hesitations or false starts, but this makes it more difficult for the audience to determine the rules.

They shout 'fair go' not 'fair do' A similar sequence can be found in the 1971 flick, Wake in Fright.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (1926) in A.W. Jose et al.: The Australian Encyclopaedia Vol. II. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 600-601. 
  2. ^ The Game of Two-up. The Australian War Memorial Encyclopedia. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
  3. ^ Two-up. The Wizard of Odds. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.

[edit] External links

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