Deep in the bush, 7km north of Kalgoorlie, is the original corrugated iron shed and bush ring where enthusiasts gather on Sunday afternoons to play and gamble on Two Up, an ancient game beloved of the ANZACS since WWI.
Kalgoorlie is one of only two destinations (with Broken Hill) where two-up can be legally played all year round.
Two-up has been a traditional gambling game in Australia since it spread around the country with the gold rushes in the second half of the 1800s. It involves a designated "spinner" throwing two coins or pennies into the air. Players bet on whether the coins will fall with both heads (obverse) up, both tails (reverse) up, or with one coin a head and one a tail (known as "Ewan"). 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.
Our crowd contained Thai ladies, Indigenous men, Aussies, and more, sitting on seats around the circle where the Spinner, the person in the middle, used a kip, a flat wooden tablet with slots for two pennies on top, to flip them high into the air. Bets are laid on the coins landing heads up or tails up. Large wads of $50 notes change hands.
So Robert screws up his courage and has a go as the Spinner, forking out $50 to bet on flipping two heads. The chief Two Upper instructs him how to throw. Robert has a valiant try, flips the pennies barely two metres above his head, and the bastard coins land two tails. Apart from dropping a bottle of rum outside the grog shop, that was the fastest he's lost $50 so far in his life!
Next up is a fellow rookie spinner who leaves us all thunderstruck and cheering when he flips double heads, three times in a row, thereby trousering several hundred dollars in winnings.
What a fun afternoon in true Aussie style in the Bush!
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Kalgoorlie, Two Up, Western Australia
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