Two-up is a traditional Australia

n gambling

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...

Digger (soldier)
Digger is an Australian and New Zealand military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. It originated during World War I.- Origin :...

 through the ages.

The game is traditionally played with pennies -- their weight, size, and surface design make them ideal for the game. Weight and size make them stable on the 'kip' and easy to spin in the air. Decimal coins are generally considered to be too small and light and they don't 'fly' so well. The design of pennies that date pre 1939 had the sovereign's head on the obverse (front) and the reverse was totally covered in writing making the result very easy and quick to see. Pennies can often be observed being used at games on Anzac Day, as they are brought out specifically for this purpose each year.


New South Wales


World War I

. Games, to which a blind eye was cast, became a regular part of ANZAC Day

 celebrations for returned soldiers.


 gained popularity in illegal gaming houses and poker machines (slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...

s) were legalised in clubs.


Burswood Entertainment Complex
The Burswood Entertainment Complex is located on the Swan River near the city of Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by Crown Limited. The complex includes a 24-hour casino, seven restaurants, eight bars, a nightclub, two international hotels , a Convention Centre, Theatre and the Burswood Dome...

. Two-up has also been legalised on ANZAC Day, when it is played in Returned Servicemen's Leagues
Returned and Services League of Australia
The Returned and Services League of Australia is a support organisation for men and women who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force ....

 (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.
Term Meaning
Odding Out To spin five "One Head - One Tail" in a row.
Odds or "One Them" One coin lands with the 'head' side up, and the other lands with the 'tails' side up. (Probability 50%)


Casino Odd's
Bet Type Casino Edge Payout Description
Single Head 3.125% 1-1 Spinner spins a pair of heads before a pair of tails or odding out.
Single Tail 3.125% 1-1 Spinner spins a pair of tails before a pair of heads or odding out.
Spinner's Bet 3.400% 15-2 Only available to the current spinner. Spinner spins three Heads or Tails, before either tailing out or getting the other result.
5 Odds 9.375% 28-1 Spinner spins five odds "HT" in a row before either a pair of heads or a pair of tails.


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 the kip 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 other members of the group place side bets (bets against each other) on whether the Spinner will win or lose and the result of the next throw.


Variations revolve around the definition of "win" and "lose" for the Spinner. Some variations include:
  • The Spinner only wins after successive heads, i.e.: three heads are thrown before a tails, with any number of Odds. e.g.: "Odds, Heads, Odds, Odds, Heads, Odds, Heads" would be a win assuming three heads are required.
  • If the Spinner throws successive Odds they lose, i.e.: five Odds are thrown before a tails. e.g.: "Odds, Heads, Odds, Odds, Heads, Odds, Odds" would be a loss assuming three heads are required and five Odds is a loss.

When played in casinos the Spinner's bet is covered by the house, as are the side-bets by the group of punters.

Sometimes three coins are used and the bet then is against the 'spinner' who must head them "I bet he tails 'em" rather than "odds em"

Popular culture

On 17 November 2004, the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr
Bob Carr
Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...

, remarked in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

In 1978, the Australian group the Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

 released Sleeper Catcher
Sleeper Catcher
Sleeper Catcher is the fourth album by the Little River Band, released during 1978. It reached #16 in the United States on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1979. From this album, the band earned its first two "top ten" U.S...

, their fourth album. In the liner notes it says:
The movie The Sundowners
The Sundowners
The Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place...

contains a sequence in which several Australian drovers
Drover (Australian)

 (one of them portrayed by Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum

) play a game of two-up, with appropriate bets. One of the players calls out "Fair Go", which translates roughly as "Play fair". Appropriately, the action in the game on-screen is rapid and without hesitations or false starts, but this makes it more difficult for the audience to determine the rules.

Wake in Fright


The book Come In Spinner
Come In Spinner
Come In Spinner is an Australian novel by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James, originally published in 1951, and set in Sydney, Australia at the end of the second World War.The title refers to a phrase used in the Australian gambling game of two-up....

takes its name from the call.

Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities is a 13-part Australian television mini-series loosely based on real events that stemmed from the marijuana trade centred around the New South Wales town of Griffith. The timeline of the series is the years between 1976 and 1987. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities...

shows men taking part in games of Two-Up in one instance the police enter the establishment in which this is taking place and the contestants run and hide the equipment being used and money being gambled.