What is two-up?
Two-up is a traditional Australian game played with two coins. A player, called the spinner, tosses both coins into the air together, and the others bet on how they will land. It is closely linked with Anzac Day, when playing it is permitted in many parts of Australia even where other gambling is restricted.
The three results
| Result | Name | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Both heads | Heads | 25% |
| Both tails | Tails | 25% |
| One of each | Odds | 50% |
Each coin is fair and independent, so there are four equally likely outcomes: heads-heads, tails-tails, heads-tails and tails-heads. The last two both count as "odds", which is why that result is twice as likely as either of the others.
How a round usually goes
- The spinner puts two coins on a small flat board, called a kip, and tosses them high.
- Players call heads or tails before the toss.
- If the coins land as two heads or two tails, that call wins.
- If they land as odds, nobody wins and the spinner tosses again.
Traditional versions have extra rules, such as the spinner needing to throw a number of heads in a row. These vary from place to place, so follow the rules of whoever is running the game.
Play it for fun with no money
You can try the two-coin toss on our coin flip page. Set the number of coins to 2 and press flip. Count the results over a few dozen tosses and you will see odds come up about half the time.
Why odds come up so often
Many people expect two matching results more often than they get. The reason is that a head and a tail can happen in two ways, so it takes half the probability. For the full set of numbers on more flips, see the coin flip probability chart.
Last updated 2026-10-18.