Australian soldiers playing two-up during World War I in 1917

1850s-Today

Tuesday, April 25, Australians will be spotted throughout the local pubs playing two-up. Anzac Day, when military war veterans are honored, is the only time this game of chance is allowed legally.

Two-Up is believed to have spread in Australia’s gold fields in the 1850s and become popular among soldiers, or “diggers” in Australian parlance, during World War I.

It’s a version of heads or tails in which two coins are flipped. Bets are placed on whether they’ll both land on heads or tails. Players must gamble against one other, not against the house.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons: by unknown Australian official photographer 

1907-1918

In 1918, the United States Army requisitioned Le Casino Municipal de Beausoleil, in France on its border with Monaco, for a YMCA center for World War I infantrymen on leave. In the main former gambling room, food was served to doughboys, including American-style bacon and eggs in mornings and, on Sunday afternoons, housemade donuts.

Between 1914 and 1918 the French had used the Beausoleil casino as a hospital. When the gaming house had opened originally in 1907, it’d offered baccarat and petits-chevaux.