Odds and evens (hand game)

Odds and evens
Three rounds of the game, showing two, three and four fingers.
GenresHand game
Players2
Setup timeNone
Playing timeInstant
ChanceNone
SkillsPsychology

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.[1] This zero-sum game, a variation of the ancient morra and par-impar,[2] is played in Europe, the US, and in Brazil, especially among children.

  1. ^ Cohon, Jared L (2004). Multiobjective Programming and Planning. Courier Dover Publications. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-486-43263-2.
  2. ^ "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities". www.perseus.tufts.edu. 1890. Retrieved 2016-02-06.