Ballina Information Blog

It used to be called swy, but now it’s known as two-up. It’s a distinctly Australian game, although these days it is mostly illegal — except on Anzac Day.

Criminal fortunes were made from the game, producing underworld legends such as Joe Taylor.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, two-up is thought to have originated in the early 19th century on the Australian goldfields.

The Herald says the game had its hey-day with the Diggers stationed in Flanders in World War I and remained popular with Australian troops during World War II and is an institution in pubs and clubs on Anzac Day. The Herald says:

• Two-up is legal only on Anzac Day except in Broken Hill, Kalgoorlie and casinos.
• It can be played with either two or three coins.
• In Broken Hill the game can only be played legally at the Musicians’ Club and in Kalgoorlie at a designated two-up school.
• The kip is the piece of wood the coins are thrown on.
• The person in charge of the game is called the boxer or ringer.
• A nob is a double-headed coin.
• ‘Come in spinner’ is the call for the coins to be tossed.
• The person who looks out for the police in an illegal game is called a cockatoo.
• In the casino version of the game, punters cannot place wagers with other players but in the Diggers’ version they can bet with as many people as they like.
• The object of the game is to spin a pair of heads.
• The spinner must throw heads three times in a row before he/she collects the winnings.

If you do have a game on Anzac Day, good luck! And remember those Diggers who made the game famous. Lest We Forget.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Ballina. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.