RSL club given permission to continue Anzac Day two-up tradition

Members of Geraldton Returned and Services League sub branch and other RSL clubs in WA have been given the go-ahead to play two-up tomorrow, April 25, to continue an Anzac tradition.

Geraldton RSL president Ian Heberle said the club had observed the tradition of playing two-up on Anzac Day for many years.

“I think it is a tradition that’s got to be kept alive. It’s one of the things that the (armed) forces have always done. It’s symbolic of camaraderie among soldiers. It gets a lot of support,” he said.

Members of the public are welcome to watch Geraldton RSL’s game at Birdwood House, 46 Chapman Road. The game will start about 1.30pm and children who attend must be supervised by an adult.

Racing and Gaming Minister Colin Holt granted permits to 46 RSL clubs, and the Rockingham sub branch of the Naval Association of Australia, to play two-up on their premises tomorrow.

Mr Holt said the State Government was committed to ensuring the proud Anzac Day tradition lived on. As in previous years, the clubs were not charged a fee for the two-up permits.

According to the Department of Racing and Gaming, two-up has intricate rules but the basic premise is to bet on whether tossed coins will fall heads or tails up. Traditionally, imperial currency was used because the larger pennies spin better than decimal coins.

The person who runs the game is known as the boxer and the person throwing the coins is the spinner. Bets are placed and the boxer will call, “come in, spinner”, a phrase which has become widely used in Australia.

Traditional games also had a ‘ringy’, or ringkeeper, who kept the coins between tosses while the boxer organised the next spinner and people placed their bets.

The two coins are placed on the back of the spinner’s hand and thrown in the air, however, some RSL clubs still use a traditional kip — a piece of wood with hollowed out penny-sized circles in which the coins are placed.

Contemporary Anzac Day services commemorate the service of all past and serving Australian defence personnel and campaigns.

Anzac Day service details were published in Friday’s edition ofThe Geraldton Guardian .