Patent Application
20110237339
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for playing new pool (billiard) games, and more particularly, to new pool games which incorporate a raised stand located on the playing surface of a pool table.
The origination of pocket billiards can be traced back to Europe in the 1500's. Typically, pocket billiards is played on a rectangular table with a plurality of drop pockets arranged around the playing surface. For example, the pool table 10 can have six pockets 12 arranged around the periphery of the playing surface 24, one in each corner and two on the sides, as illustrated in
Over the years, several pool games have become very popular, namely 8-ball and 9-ball. In 8-ball, the pool balls are divided into two sets, 7 low numbered balls or “solids” and 7 high number balls or “strips”. In addition, there is a an object ball, i.e., the 8-ball. The basic format of this game is that each player is assigned either solids or strips and the player attempts to hit all of his/her assigned balls into the pockets of the pool table. Once a player has successfully hit all of his/her assigned balls into the pockets, the player attempts to hit the 8-ball into a previously selected pocket. The game continues until a player successfully makes the 8-ball in the selected pocket.
9-ball uses 9 balls numbered 1 through 9. The balls are hit in rotation, meaning that they must be hit in numerical order starting with the 1-ball. However, the balls do not need to be pocketed in sequence. As long as the cue ball hits the ball with the correct number first, any ball including the 9-ball may be sunk and the player is allowed to continue their turn. A player wins by legally sinking the 9-ball into a pocket at any point during the game.
After playing 8-ball and 9-ball over and over again, some players will want some variety in the games they play so they will look for new games to play. Over the past decades, people have devised many variations of known pool games. One problem with many of these new games is that pool players consider the games to be too gimmicky or introduce too much luck into the game which goes against the basic principles of pool which require skill and concentration.
Thus, there is a need for new pool games and apparatus which overcomes the problems cited above.
It is therefore a feature and advantage of the present invention to provide new pool games and apparatus to be used in these games which require skill and strategy.
According to one aspect of the invention, a method for playing a game on a pool table is disclosed. The method is comprising of the steps of: placing a plurality of pool balls in a starting position on the playing surface of the pool table, wherein the plurality of pool balls is comprised of an object ball and a plurality of different sets of pool balls; alternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein each player attempts to hit balls from a set of pool balls assigned to that player into pockets in the pool table using a pool cue and a cue ball; and hitting the object ball into an indentation on a top level of a raised stand located on the playing surface of the pool table once a player has hit all of their assigned balls into the pockets, wherein the game ends when the object ball comes to rest in the indentation on the raised stand.
According to another aspect of the invention, a gaming device to be used on a playing surface of a pool table for playing a game of pool is disclosed. The gaming device comprises: a raised stand located on the playing surface of the pool table, the raised stand having sloped sides that lead from the playing surface up to a top level, wherein the top level comprises an indentation in which a pool ball can come to rest after advancing up the sloped sides.
According to another aspect of the invention, a pool table is disclosed. The pool table comprises: a substantially flat playing surface; a raised bumper system surrounding the flat playing surface; and at least one raised stand on the playing surface, wherein the at least on raised stand has sloping sides that lead up from the playing surface to a top level, wherein the top level comprises an indentation in which a pool ball can come to rest after advancing up the sloping sides
According to another aspect of the invention, a method for playing a game on a pool table is disclosed. The method is comprised of the steps of: placing a plurality of pool balls in a starting position on a playing surface of the pool table; and alternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein each player attempts to hit a ball from the plurality of pool balls into an indentation on at least one raised stand located on the playing surface of the pool table by hitting a cue ball with a pool cue.
According to another aspect of the invention, a computer readable medium storing code for simulating a pool game is disclosed. The code comprises: code for placing a plurality of pool balls in a starting position on the playing surface of the pool table, wherein the plurality of pool balls is comprised of an object ball and a plurality of different sets of pool balls; code for alternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein each player attempts to hit balls from a set of pool balls assigned to that player into pockets in the pool table using a pool cue and a cue ball; and code for hitting the object ball into an indentation on a top level of a raised stand located on the playing surface of the pool table once a player has hit all of their assigned balls into the pockets, wherein the game ends when the object ball comes to rest in the indentation on the raised stand.
According to another aspect of the invention, a computer readable medium storing code for simulating a pool game is disclosed. The code comprises: code for placing a plurality of pool balls in a starting position on a playing surface of the pool table; and code for alternating turns between a plurality of players, wherein each player attempts to hit a ball from the plurality of pool balls into an indentation on at least one raised stand located on the playing surface of the pool table by hitting a cue ball with a pool cue.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
According to one embodiment of the invention, at least one raised stand is placed or attached to the playing surface of a pool table. The goal of the new pool games described below is to hit one or more pool balls into an indentation on the raised stand or stands. The specifics of the raised stands will now be described followed by a description of some of the new pool games which can be played using the raised stand or stands.
As illustrated in
The indentation 28 can be a dip in the top level 26 with sloping sides or the indentation 28 can be a hole with substantially vertical sides as illustrated in
The raised stand 20 may be constructed with various diameters and height. Furthermore, the indentations can have various diameters and depths, wherein the larger and deeper the indentation, the easier it is for a ball to come to rest in the indentation. According to one embodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameter of approximately 4 inches with a substantially circular hole approximately 2.75 inches in diameter. According to one embodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameter of approximately 5.5 inches with a substantially circular hole approximately 4 inches in diameter. According to one embodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameter of approximately 7 inches with a substantially circular hole approximately 5.5 inches in diameter. According to one embodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 has an outer diameter of approximately 13.5 inches with a substantially circular hole approximately 12 inches in diameter. The raised stands 20 described above can have heights ranging from 0.125 to 1.5 inches but the invention is not limited thereto.
The raised stand 20 can be constructed out of many materials comprising at least one of metal, metal composite, plastic, wood, stone, glass, resin and/or rubber, but the invention is not limited thereto. The raised stand 20 can also comprise lights and/or sound making devices, wherein the lights flash and/or the sound making devices make sounds when a ball comes to rest in an indentation on the raised stand 20. For example, the weight of the ball (or composition of the ball) can close a switch which completes a circuit which activates the lights and/or sound devices, but the invention is not limited thereto. The lights and/or sound devices can be arranged in any pattern and can be composed of any number of lights and/or sound devices.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the raised stand 20 may have a plurality of indentations 56, 57, 58 on the top level 26, as illustrated in
The raised stands described above can be used to play a variety of new pool games. Some of these new pool games will now be described below but the invention is not limited thereto.
According to one embodiment of the invention, a single raised stand is used and is located on the playing surface of a pool table. For example, a raised stand 20 is placed approximately in the middle of the pool table 10 as illustrated in
The first set of games to be described are a variation of 8-ball with the incorporation of the raised stand into the game. To begin the game, a plurality of pool balls are placed (racked) in a starting position on a first spot 50, but the invention is not limited thereto. As illustrated in
In all of the versions of the game described above (using 15, 9 or 7 balls), the pool balls are divided into a plurality of sets. First, an object ball, for example, the 8-ball, is designated. The remaining even number of balls are then divided into two sets, for example, solids and strips. The object of this first set of games is to hit the object ball onto the raised stand with the correct speed so that the object ball comes to rest in the indentation on the raised stand. If the object ball is legally hit onto the raised stand and the object ball comes to rest in the indentation on the raised stand, the player who hit the object ball is declared the winner of the game.
To begin play, a player is selected to take the first shot, wherein the player hits the cue ball with a pool cue from behind the second spot 52 to break apart the racked pool balls. If one of the pool balls goes into a pocket during the first shot, the first player is awarded that set of balls and the other player is awarded the other set of balls. If more than a single ball is pocketed, the player is awarded the set of balls corresponding to the set with the most balls that went in the pockets. If no ball are pocketed or if the same number of balls from each set are pocketed, no set is awarded until the next ball is hit into a pocket. In the alternative, one of the sets of balls can be assigned to each player before play begins. If the object ball is hit into a pocket on the break, the object ball is placed on the first spot 50 and the game continues. If the object ball ends up in the indentation on the raised stand on the first shot, that player is declared the winner.
The players alternate turns hitting the cue ball in an attempt to hit their assigned balls into the pockets of the pool table. When a player hits one or more of their assigned balls into a pocket, the player receives another turn. Once the player has hit all of their assigned balls into the pockets of the pool table, the player then attempts to hit the object ball into the indentation in the raised stand 20. According to one embodiment of the invention, the player can hit the object ball directly with the pool cue when attempting to hit the object ball into the indentation. Alternatively, the player must hit the cue ball into the object ball to hit the object ball into the indentation in the raised stand. The first player to legally hit the object ball into the indentation on the raised stand is declared the winner of the game.
According to one embodiment of the invention, a player may attempt to hit the object ball onto the raised stand using the cue ball at any time during the game. If the player is successful in hitting the ball into the indentation in the raised stand, the player is declared the winner of the game.
According to one embodiment of the invention, any balls other than the object ball hit into the indentation in the raised stand can be considered as a scratch and the ball is placed on the first spot 50 and that player loses his turn. In the alternative, any ball hit into the indentation in the raised stand can be considered as pocketed and the ball is placed in a pocket and the player receives another turn.
According to another embodiment of the invention, when a player is attempting to hit the object ball into the indentation on the raised stand after pocketing all of their assigned balls, the object ball must come into contact with the raised stand or else the player is penalized. For example, the player may lose the game if the object ball does not hit the raised stand. Alternatively, the player must place one of their pocketed balls back on the first spot 50 if the object ball does not hit the stand. According to another embodiment of the invention, a player loses the game if the object ball is pocketed at any time during their turn.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a variation on the 9-ball game is disclosed incorporating the use of a raised stand. In regular 9-ball, players attempt to hit the balls in rotation, that is they must be targeted in numerical sequence starting with the one ball. It is important to note that the balls do not necessarily need to be pocketed in numerical sequence. As long as the correct ball is truck first by the cue ball, any ball can be pocketed and the player is awarded another turn. The game continues until a player pockets the 9-ball. According to this embodiment of the invention, instead of pocketing the 9-ball to win the game, the players must hit the 9-ball into the indentation in the raised stand to win the game. As in the traditional game, a player can win at any point in the game by successfully hitting the 9-ball into the indentation in the raised stand so long as the cue ball strikes the correct ball first. In another embodiment of the invention, the 9-ball can be stuck directly with the pool cue if all of the other balls have been pocketed.
According to another embodiment of the invention, all of the pool balls must be hit into a single indentation in the raised stand. The traditional 8-ball and 9-ball game rules can be used except that the balls must be hit into the indentation on the raised stand rather than the pockets of the pool table. In one embodiment of the invention, the raised stand has an indentation 102 which is large enough to hold all of the pool balls 104 and the pool balls are not removed from the raised stand when they are successfully hit onto the raised stand as illustrated in
According to another embodiment of the invention, the above described games can be played with a plurality of raised stands located on the surface of the pool table. The raised stands can have the same shape and size or have different shapes and sizes. In addition, raised stands may be placed near or on top of the pockets 12 of the pool table. In this embodiment, pool balls must be hit into the indentations on the raised stands rather than in the pockets 12. Furthermore, the object ball can be hit onto any of the raised stands or only onto a specific raised stand to win the game.
According to another embodiment of the invention, players can play a game where they are awarded points for successfully hitting pool balls into indentations on one or more raised stands. The raised stand 20 can have a plurality of different sized indentations as illustrated in
According to another embodiment of the invention, all of the games described above and obvious variations thereof can be played with a multilevel raised stand as illustrated in
According to another embodiment of the invention, a new pool table design will now be described. As illustrated in
According to another embodiment of the invention as illustrated in
In another embodiment of the invention according to
In another embodiment of the invention according to
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirits and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
