Every Anzac Day, two-up returns to the pubs. According to the Australian Financial Review, it’s the most profitable day of the year for many pub owners, with queues wrapping around city blocks before the first call of ‘come in spinner’.
That’s a lot of people waiting to watch someone toss two coins.
It also says plenty about us. Australians like a game they can see with their own eyes, run by someone standing right there. That same instinct sits behind the popularity of live dealer tables, where a real person shuffles, deals and spins on camera while you play from home. At the VoltRush live casino, for example, blackjack, baccarat and roulette tables are streamed in HD, so you can follow every card and every spin as it happens.
So where did our love of a visible ‘fair go’ begin? Below, you’ll see why the spinner and the dealer have more in common than you’d expect, what worldwide play data reveals and where real-dealer games are heading next.
Ask any Aussie what makes a game feel right and you’ll probably hear some version of ‘a fair go’. The phrase has deep roots. Honorary Associate Professor Bruce Moore of the Australian National University traces it to the Queensland shearers’ strikes of the 1890s. In time, it attached itself firmly to two-up, a game that players celebrated as “the fairest of gambling games”.
The game itself goes back further still. RSL Queensland explains that two-up likely grew out of ‘cross and pile’, an 18th-century coin game played in England and Ireland. Settlers brought it with them, and it found a natural home here.
Moore explains why it still holds such a special place for us:
“The cultural importance of the game has much to do with the association between two-up and the development of the Anzac legend.”
That link to the Anzacs gives the game its warmth, while its rules give it trust. There’s nothing hidden in two-up. The coins sit on the kip, the spinner sends them skyward and everyone in the ring watches them fall. You don’t need to take anyone’s word for the result because you saw it land.
A live dealer table follows the same principle. When you can watch the cards come out of the shoe or see the ball drop into its pocket, the outcome feels earned and open. It’s the same reason we’ve trusted two-up for generations: the game happens in plain view.
Of course, the coins are only half the story. The person throwing them is the part we remember.
Every two-up ring has its spinner. They step into the centre, take the kip and hold the crowd’s attention until the coins leave their hands. Think of a live dealer as today’s version of that role. Each one sets the pace, runs the game and delivers the moment everyone’s waiting for.
Even the famous call has a story. Moore’s research shows that ‘come in spinner’ didn’t become part of the game until the Second World War. His book explains 140 words and phrases unique to two-up, which tells you how much ritual can grow around one person and a couple of pennies.
That ritual was always social. Writing in The Conversation, Moore describes two-up as a shared physical activity that bonded soldiers together. By the 1930s, playing outdoors after the Anzac Day march had become a firm tradition.
Here’s how the two settings line up:
At the two-up ringAt a live dealer tableThe spinner tosses the coinsThe dealer shuffles, deals or spinsThe kip and pennies are in full viewCards, shoe and wheel are shown on camera’Come in spinner’ starts the roundThe dealer calls the end of bettingThe crowd gathers around the ringPlayers chat with the dealer and each other
The personality behind the table counts for a lot, and the industry knows it. In its Q2 2026 results, live casino supplier Evolution’s chief executive pointed to “continued demand for native-speaking tables”, as reported by UKTN. Chances are you’ll enjoy a dealer who sounds familiar, much like a local spinner who knows half the crowd by name. At a good live table, the dealer’s hands and voice carry each round, so the game moves at the pace of the person running it. Funny how a call from the 1940s still sets the rhythm.
So is this a uniquely Aussie preference? The worldwide numbers suggest plenty of other players feel the same.
Looking past our own pubs and clubs, real-dealer games hold a strong share of online play worldwide. Three figures stand out:
That appetite now reaches beyond classic table games such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat. Live game shows such as Crazy Time and Lightning Roulette sit alongside blackjack and roulette at VoltRush, bringing a host, a big wheel and plenty of crowd energy to your screen. It’s the dealer-led idea stretched into entertainment, and it still depends on a real person keeping things moving.
All of which raises a question. When almost a third of a worldwide industry depends on people dealing cards on camera, what are you and other players really paying for? The answer takes us back to the outback.
Two-up has always found new places to be played. In Kalgoorlie, the bush two-up ring dates back to the Second World War, as ABC News reported. Families have kept it going, passing the tradition down from one generation to the next.
On Anzac Day, the game turns up in pubs and RSL clubs right across the country. RSL Queensland notes that entry fees often go towards veteran welfare, which gives every toss a sense of purpose.
Live dealer tables are finding new forms too. Evolution released 113 new games in 2025, including its first speed game show, according to UKTN. Mordor Intelligence also reports that suppliers are investing in new studios and partnerships, including streams from well-known venues, to make the experience feel as authentic as possible.
That variety is easy to explore at VoltRush, where a library of more than 7,000 titles puts live studios right beside the pokies. You can move from a quick spin to a seat at a dealer’s table without leaving the site, which suits you if you like a bit of both in one evening.
Think about how far the ring has travelled. It started in a dusty paddock, moved to a pub courtyard and now fits on the phone in your hand. Through all of it, the crowd still gathers around one person calling the game, and that part never seems to change.
Look back over two centuries of Australian play and the same three threads keep showing up. We trust what we can see, so a fair go has to happen in plain view. We remember the person running the game, whether they hold a kip or a deck of cards. And wherever the game travels, the crowd follows.
In a way, each live dealer table is a small Anzac Day ring that stays open all year. The coins have become cards and the courtyard has become a studio, yet the moment that holds everyone’s attention still comes from a real pair of hands.
Looking ahead, you can expect more tables hosted in players’ own languages and more creative game show formats, given the demand suppliers are already reporting. Each one will still be built around a person you can see and hear.
If you’d like that ring feeling on an ordinary Tuesday night, VoltRush’s live lobby keeps real dealers at the centre of every round. Set yourself a budget before you sit down, treat it as entertainment and bet with your head.
After more than two centuries of trusting the toss, why would you want your games any other way?
Advisory Notice: Remember that gambling is entertainment, not a moneymaking strategy. Fix a budget beforehand that you’re okay losing, and set your boundaries early. If chasing losses or a sense of pressure to keep playing creeps in, that’s the moment to pause. Free and confidential support through Gambling Help Online is there whenever the fun turns to stress.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
