Two-up is a wartime gambling game in which two coins are tossed in the air and bets are laid as to whether both will fall heads or tails uppermost.

"They played two-up in the trenches in World War I to alleviate the stress of war and to build morale," Bendigo RSL two-up caller Sam McGowan said.

Read more: Anzac Day 2019 in Bendigo and central Victoria: Follow it live

"Every veteran knows two-up and it's part of the whole atmosphere of Anzac Day. We remember our veterans and we remember the solemn stuff and the occasion and commemoration.

"But a lot of it is the atmosphere of veterans getting together and getting back to that comradery that we had when we were in the service."

Mr McGowan served in the Australian Navy from 1994-2000. He has been calling the Bendigo RSL two-up game for the past six years.

"The other boxer in the ring is also an ex-navy person and it takes us back," Mr McGowan said. "It's good fun."

Bendigo RSL President Peter Swandale said the traditional gambling game played a special part in Anzac Day.

"Two-up has been played in the RSL since 1916," he said. "It's ingrained in our traditions and it's an opportunity for us on Anzac Day to have a flutter and to enjoy each other.

"It brings the community together, the old two-up."

Mr Swandale said days like Anzac Day were a time for people to "come together".

"It's an opportunity for us to catch up with some old mates," he said. "It's also a time to stop and remember our veterans."

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