Normally I’d feel a smidge uncomfy loitering in the middle of a circle of roaring, rowdy, drunkpots (unless I’m one of them) but here I am, looking quite happy and serene. Gathering all my courage I had a go at being the spinner in an Anzac day game of two-up. Never having played it before I was a touch overwhelmed at first, but it ended up being SO much fun. I’m a bit of a hermit usually but, I don’t know, there was some kind of gambling and alcohol fueled ancient tribal connection thingy going on here (all mixed up with a certain depth of feeling due to it being Anzac day, and the nostalgia of re-enacting an Old Thing)
For those from far-away lands who don’t have the foggiest notion of what I’m on about here is a wikipedia explanation of the game:’Two-up is a traditional Australian gambling game, involving a designated ‘Spinner’ throwing two or three coins into the air. 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’
