Last updated: 2024-07-08.

Black and White Cocks — an apparently un-Googleable name — was a gambling game played in England in the 19th century. In 1838 it was described as a “well-known game of chance”,^A but it seems to have died out before the 20th century.

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The form of the game is still obscure to me, but based upon brief descriptions, it was a gambling game played with a spinning wheel,^B probably much like the game E–O (an early form of Roulette). A table with black and white cocks (presumably roosters) painted on it was used, probably as a staking layout,^C where bets as low as a penny could be placed.^A Like other games of this type, it was played at racecourse meets^D and fairs.^E

An earlier depiction of or reference to the game possibly appears in a satirical depiction of John Byng in the book ⁨A Political and Satirical History of the Years 1756 and 1757⁩ (p. 36). At top left, opposite the EO table, is “Blacks & Whites”.

In an 1877 catalogue of the British Museum^{G[p. 1076]} this is interpreted as a reference to the (in)famous White’s gentlemen’s club and gambling house, but it seems to more straightforwardly refer to the game, especially when positioned in a pair with E–O.