ANZAC Day

Yesterday was ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day in Australia and New Zealand. This is the Australian version of Memorial Day. Throughout the country, thousands of people attended Dawn Services and parades to mark the occasion.

I did not attend a Dawn Service as, it happens at dawn. I did watch a few of the west coast ones on TV, and they are quite moving. A good combination of religious and patriotic, not heavy on either side.

After the dawn service, its a public holiday so...people drink. A lot. I went with a few mates to the Labour Club and the place was packed on a Wednesday afternoon. I mean, packed. The Labour Club is a members only club where people can go and eat, drink, gamble, or just watch some TV. I go as a guest of someone, and have enjoyed my trips to the club.

The main attraction of the day is a game called two-up. Its pretty much simplest gambling game ever. You have a guy whose the spinner. He has a small wooden bit that has three coins on them. The spinner flicks the coins into the air, and which ever face is showing twice...that side wins.

So, people bet on this. People will say, "10 dollars on head!" and they'll find someone who wants to place ten dollars on tails. The spinner does his thing, and whoever wins the toss keeps the money.

I was told that Australians played this game in the trenches in WWII, betting cigarettes, which makes the game make a bit more sense. Add to the fact that its only legal on Anzac Day and you get a lot of people cheering on coins.

The best part is, anyone can be the spinner. You just get in line and you get to do it. Here's where the game becomes awesome. When you're the spinner you put down a bet, say ten dollars, that you will toss heads. This is called the pot. Someone in the crowd matches the pot. If the spinner throws heads...he keeps the money and gets to spin again. Throw a tails, and the spinner loses the money and can no longer be the spinner.

First time I spin...heads. I get to keep going. Now, the money isn't mine yet. To collect it, I need to throw three heads in a row. But, each time, the value of the pot increases. So, my ten dollar bet was now twenty.

I have to add, the best part of two-up is that every roll (or toss, spin, hand, I heard it called all these things) half the crowd cheers and the other half groans. Its awesome.

I throw heads again. Its up to forty. Then, some bloke makes a side bet on the pot, adding another 20 bucks to the equation.

"COME ON SPINNAH!!!" yells the Ringmaster. Thats my cue.

I step in the ring, the crowd is cheering (I'm not joking, they love their two-up) and flick the coins in the air. The Ringmaster looks over the coins...

"HEADS!"

Now, I'm not known for my math skills, but I do know that probability was about to go to tails. I had won three in a row, and even though I could keep spinning and collect money at a reduced percentage if it came up tails, I decided to keep the 100 bucks and buy more beer.

Later on in the evening I was joking around with some Aussies about Anzac Day and I said, "So basically, you remember your vetrans as early as possible and then get pissed and gamble for the rest of it?" I fully expected to hear, "Nah, its much more then that," but the general consesnsus was, "Yup."

So, I spent ANZAC Day in a fantastic mood, which is how most of the people I saw spent it. A good day though. I think it beats the American Memorial Day tradition of camping any day of the week.

Come on spinner,

Alan