Anzac Day is set to look a little different at a major Sydney venue with the traditional game of two-up scrapped.
The game in which pennies are flipped in the air and players bet on whether they land heads or tails was popular with diggers and is by law only allowed to be played in NSW on Anzac Day, Victory in the Pacific Day and Remembrance Day after 12pm.
The North Bondi RSL Club, that hosted bustling crowds partaking in the game in previous years, has decided to do away with it this year so as to maintain a family atmosphere, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The club’s CEO Blake Johnson said veteran members had requested the change.
‘On past Anzac Days, when the club commenced two-up mid-afternoon, the environment became significantly more rowdy and most younger families left the venue,’ he said.
He said this year the club instead wanted to focus on respectful connections between ‘veterans, families and the wider community’.
Vietnam veteran Michael von Berg MC OAM told Daily Mail Australia that ‘two-up is a wonderful old tradition that goes back to World War I’ and that it should be upheld.
‘Anzac Day in recent years has become much more of a family focused day and while I appreciate what they’re trying to do and wouldn’t necessarily disagree with the intention, surely there’s another option,’ the war hero said.
Crowds are seen at the North Bondi RSL for a dawn service on Anzac Day 2022
Two-up involves throwing a ‘kip’ with pennies in the air and bets are places on how they will land
North Bondi RSL has said they will not be having games of two-up this year
‘That club has quite a big floor space, perhaps they could set up the game in a different area away from families.’
He pointed out that RSL clubs in NSW are privately owned hospitality businesses and are not owned or run by RSL sub-branches.
‘There’s growing concern about gambling in RSL clubs with the poker machines, these run all year round and yet a once-a-year game of two-up gets cancelled.’
Clubs cannot keep any percentage of two-up bets but Mr Johnson said the move might result in less patrons.
‘We anticipate that not offering two-up may result in some small reduction in revenue on the day, but our families are more important.’
The club is affiliated with the North Bondi RSL sub-branch which was founded by some of the original members of the Rats of Tobruk who defended the Libyan port of Tobruk from the larger German forces in World War II.
The club is informally known as Tobruk House or the Rat House in honour of them.
The sub-branch will hold its Dawn Service on Friday on Bondi Beach.
Other Sydney venues that will host games of two-up on Friday include the Harbord Diggers on the Northern Beaches, The Newport, the Royal Hotel in Paddington and Forrester’s in Surry Hills.
The game can also be played in NSW on Victory in the Pacific Day (August 15) and Remembrance Day (November 11) – but only after noon
Two-up explained: How to play
Two pennies are used to play two-up. The tails are often marked with white crosses
These rules can be used to govern the playing of Two-up, but are not mandatory.
The decision of the ringkeeper will be final
The ringkeeper shall select a spinner by offering the kip clockwise around the ring and shall hand the kip to the first person who accepts it
There shall be two sets of seven pennies held by the ringkeeper. The spinner shall select two pennies from one of the sets, thrown down inside the ring by the ringkeeper
Only two pennies shall be used
A change of pennies shall be at the discretion of the ringkeeper
The tail side of pennies will be marked with a white cross
The spinner shall place pennies tails up on the kip
The spinner shall select two other pennies from the remaining five of the set after throwing three consecutive pairs of heads. The ringkeeper shall retain the winning two pennies and throw down the balance of the set for the spinner to make the selection
The spinner cannot take a dividend before three consecutive heads are thrown
In the event that the spinner throws tails, the spinner shall lose the total of the moneys in the centre and the right to spin
The ringkeeper shall declare a spin invalid by announcing ‘no spin’ or ‘barred’
Centre monies shall be set in full before any side bets may be made
Only the spinner shall be permitted within the boundaries of the ring during play
A spinner after throwing three consecutive pairs of heads may withdraw from the centre
No person under the age of 18 years shall be permitted in that area of the Two-up premises where the game is being conducted while the game is being conducted and played
Unseemly conduct or offensive language shall not be tolerated
The spinner shall hand the ringkeeper the amount of money the spinner wishes to spin for, the ringkeeper shall hold that money and the equivalent amount from a tail bettor to cover the bet
Source: Liquor and Gaming NSW
