Odds and evens

Odds and evens is a simple game of chance and hand game, involving two people simultaneously revealing a number of fingers and winning or losing depending on whether they are odd or even, or alternatively involving one person picking up coins or other small objects and hiding them in their closed hand, while another player guesses whether they have an odd or even number. The game may be used to make a decision or played for fun. The finger game is also known as swords, choosies, pick, odds-on poke, or bucking up. This zero-sum game, a variation of the ancient morra and par-impar, is played in Europe, the US, and in Brazil, especially among children. History This game was known by the Greeks (as artiazein) and Romans (as ludere par impar). In the 1858 Krünitzlexikon it says: "The game Odds and Evens was very common amongst the Romans and was played either with tali, tesseris, or money and known as "Alea maior", or with nuts, beans and almonds and known as "Alea minor"."