GB2133704A - Board game apparatus for simulating the game of snooker - Google Patents

Abstract

A board 1 has play locations (11) for ball markers 2 in positions corresponding with the initial positions of the red and colour balls for a game of snooker, and selection means 3,4,5 randomly represent the potting of balls, foul strokes and being snookered. There are store locations 13 to receive the ball markers as they are removed from the play locations during a game, and also scoring means 15 to indicate the running scores of players. The selection means comprises three spinning wheels on the board each having pockets 19,21,22 marked to indicate the various possibilities for the selection process and an associated ball 6,7, 8 which randomly settles in the pockets on spinning the wheel. One wheel is used to determine whether a red ball is potted and the colour ball to be potted after a red, a second wheel is used to determine whether colour balls are potted, and the third wheel determines whether a snooker situation is overcome. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Board game apparatus for simulating the game of snooker This invention relates to apparatus for playing a board game which simulates the game of snooker.

Snooker is enjoyed by many people both as players and as spectators. There are people, for example handicapped and invalid people, who would like to play the game but have to be content with watching others playing it.

It is the intention of the present invention to provide apparatus for enabling the game of snooker to be closely simulated without the physical involvement which the real game entails, and which, whilst it may be used by a wide range of people, may enable some of those people who can only watch the real game to play a game which it is hoped can create at least some of the enjoyment and excitement of playing the real game.

The present invention consists in apparatus for playing a board game which simulates the game of snooker, comprising a board on which are play locations adapted to receive ball markers in positions orientated to correspond with the positions of the red and colour balls in their initial settings for a game of snooker, a set of markers representing the aforementioned balls, and selection means for randomly representing the potting of the aformentioned balls, foul strokes or being snookered, and thereby whether points are gained by players.

Store locations may be provided on the board as well to receive ball markers removed from the play locations during a game following selections representing potting of scoring balls. There may also be scoring means on the board to indicate the running scores of players during a game.

The board may be of any convenient size. It is desirable for it to be portable and able to be stored away readily. Ideally it is arranged to be placed on a table for use. It may possibly be made small enough to be carried in a pocket. it may be foldable to make it more compact for storing away. The board may be made of plastics, for example as a moulding, or of wood or metal, or a combination of materials, as desired.

Preferably the ball markers are pegs and the play locations are defined by holes or sockets to receive the pegs. The ball markers may be of, or have parts on them of, colours corresponding to those of the snooker balls they represent If store locations are provided on the board they will preferably be holes or sockets similar to the play locations.

It is possible for the ball markers and the locations to take other forms. For example, the markers may be balls and the locations may be holes or hollows in which the balls seat.

The random selection means may conveniently comprise one or more wheels or other suitable spinning devices rotatably mounted on the board which operate in conjunction with an associated element or elements to provide the required random selection as a result of spinning the devices. In the case of a wheel or wheels, for example, a ball may be provided to co-operate with the or each wheel, and be caused to be received randomly into any one of a plurality of receptacles, for example pockets or the like, either on the wheel itself or around the periphery of the wheel, which are individually marked by colouring, signs or wording to indicate the various possibilities they represent for the selection process.In a preferred embodiment there are three wheels arranged to spin about vertical axes, each wheel being formed with hollows in its upper surface to define pockets to receive a ball associated with the wheel. One of the wheels has its pockets variously marked for the random selection for representing in the simulated game of snooker whether: a red ball has been potted, and if so which of the colour balls the player is expected to score off next; a foul stroke has been made, or an opponent has been snookered. A second one of the wheels has its pockets variously marked for the random selection for representing whether a colour ball has been potted; the colour ball has been struck but not potted; there has been a foul stroke, or an opponent has been snookered.The third wheel has its pockets variously marked for the random selection for representing whether: a player has escaped from a snooker; there has been a foul stroke following a snooker; a ball is potted following a snooker, or an opponent has been left in snooker.

It is possible that other forms of random selection means may be provided, for example suitably marked dice or cards.

Scoring means of indicating the running scores of players during a game may comprise pegs which can be inserted in numbered holes or sockets in the board. Alternatively the scoring means may be similar to those generally used in a real game of snooker comprising cursors or like pointers which can be moved along numbered scales. There are other possibilities, for example numbered discs or rollers which can be set to indicate the scores.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example, and rules for playing a game will be explained, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus in accordance with the invention, and Figure2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The apparatus comprises a rectangular board 1, a set of ball marker pegs 2, three wheels 3,4 and 5, and associated balls 6,7 and 8 respectively for use in randomly selecting steps in a game simulating the game of snooker, and scoring pegs 9.

The board 1,which is a plastics moulding, is effectively divided into three zones across the board, being: first outer zone 10 adjacent one end of the board in which are play locations 11 defined by sockets moulded in the board which open at the top surface of the board to receive the ball marker pegs 2; a second outer zone 12 adjacent the opposite end of the board in which are store locations 13, defined similarly to the play locations by sockets moulded in the board, to receive the ball marker pegs 2 when they are not in play, and an intermediate zone 14 at which are the wheels 3,4 and 5. The first outer zone 10 is bounded on one side and its ends by a ramped peripheral portion 1' of the board.

The play locations 11 are orientated longitudinally of the first outer zone 10 to correspond with the positions of the red and colour balls in their initial settings for a game of snooker.

The ball marker pegs 2 are metal pins centrally on which are ball-shaped elements 2' of plastics material which are of the colours of the set of balls of the game of snooker, excluding the white cue ball.

The store locations 13 in the second outer zone 12 are in two groups at opposite ends of the zone. Each group comprises a block of fifteen store locations 13' intended to receive ball marker pegs 2 which represent red snooker balls, the locations 13' being disposed in a rectangular configuration in three equally-spaced parallel rows of five similarly spaced locations,and a set of six store locations 13" intended to receive ball marker pegs representing the colour snooker balls, these locations being in two's respectively in line with the rows of five store locations 13', and being spaced similarly to those locations.

Also in the second outer zone 12 are score sockets 15, formed similarly to the play and store locations, to receive the scoring pegs 9. The score sockets 15 are in two rows extending alongside and parallel to the end of the board at which the zone is situated.

Each row contains nineteen socket in a line numberet from 1 to 19, a further four sockets aligned with but set apart from the twenty socket and numbered 20, 40, 60 and 80, and another socket numbered 100 aligned with and spaced beyond the last-mentioned sockets.

At the intermediate zone 14 the three wheels 3,4 and 5 are disposed in a line along the zone. The wheels are of similar diameters and are located in complementary recesses 16, Figure 2, formed in the board. Each wheel is rotatably mounted by a hub 17 on a spindle 17' formed centrally in the respective recess 16 perpendicularly to, and integrally with, the board so that in the horizontal position of use of the board the spindle is vertical. The recesses are closed by transparent plastics covers 18 through which the hubs 17 project. The wheels are rotated by turning the hubs by hand from outside the covers 18, the surfaces of the hubs being roughened, for example by ribs as shown or by knurling, to make them easy to grip.One wheel 3 (hereinafter referred to as "the red wheel") has in its surface a ring of sixteen pockets 19 formed by dished hollows near to the periphery of the wheel, the ring being concentric with the rotational axis of the wheel. The pockets 19 provide seatingsforthe ball 6 associated with the wheel. The surface of the wheel is divided off equally into sixteen radial segments 20 alternate ones of which are separated into outer and inner sections 20' and 20" respectively by arcs concentric with and inwardly of the ring of pockets. Each segment contains one of the pockets, those segments which are separated into outer and inner sections having the pocket in the outer sections 20'. The segments are coloured.The eight outer sections 20' are red and the inner sections 20" are of colours corresponding to those of the colour balls of a game of snooker plus two which duplicate two of the colours, for example there may be an extra black and brown. Of the eight segments which are not separated into outer and inner sections five are white, two are grey and one is dull green. A ring of sixteen pockets 21, 22 is similarly formed in each of the other two wheels 4 and 5 respectively. Each of these two wheels also has its surface divided off into sixteen radial segments, 23 and 24 respectively, each containing one of the pockets 21,22 and being coloured.In this embodiment the rings of pockets of all three wheels are of similar diameters and the pockets are of similar sizes and dished shapes, and their associated balls 6,7 and 8 are of similar diameters. The segments 23 of a second one of the wheels, 4, (hereinafter called the "colour wheel") are in four colours: yellow, white, dull green and grey. There are six yellow segments, five white, three grey and two dull green. No two adjacent segments are of the same colour; two pairs of adjacent yellow segments are separated in each case by one white segment but for the rest any two adjacent yellow segments are separated by two segments of two of the otherthree colours.The third wheel 5 (hereinafter called "the snooker wheel") has its segments 24 of four colours also: eight dull green, four tan, and two each of grey and orange. The dull green segments are disposed in four equally spaced pairs, each pair being separated by a tan segment and a segment of either grey or orange.

The surfaces of the three wheels are contoured to encourage the balls to settle in the pockets after they have been impelled by spinning the wheels. The balls 6,7 and 8 are made of metal.

The score pegs 9 are plain metal pins.

The rules for playing a game using the apparatus described will now be explained. As in a real game of snooker, the game may be played by two people or by two pairs of players. It may possibly be played by two teams of players. For convenience the game will be described as played by just two people. Also the game will be described with regard to the scoring aspect with reference to the balls of a real snooker game.

For convenience the pockets of the wheels will be referred to by the colours of the segments or outer sections 20' of the segments they occupy in the case of the red wheel 3, and the colours of the segments in the case of the colour and snooker wheels 4 and 5 respectively.

For the start of play the ball marker pegs 2 are set in the play locations 11. Which one of the players is to start play may be decided by the toss of a coin.

The scores of the players are registered by inserting the score pegs in the appropriate score sockets 15 of the respective group of those sockets.

Spinning the red wheel The first player spins the red wheel 3 and the colour of the pocket 19 in which the ball comes to rest determines what happens in a simulated game of snooker, as follows: Ball in a red pocket This represents that a red ball has been potted and the player scores accordingly i.e. one point as in a game of snooker, the score being marked off by means of the score pegs and score sockets. One of the red ball marker pegs is removed from a play location 11 and places in one of the store locations 13'. The colour of the inner section 20" of the segment opposite that red pocket indicates the colour ball in the simulated game of snooker which the player must then attempt to pot.

Whether or not he is successful in doing that, and so in adding to his score in that break, is determined by the player then having to spin the colour wheel, as will be described below. If he is successful in getting the colour,-the player goes back to the red wheel to try to score another red ball point, and so the game progreses. The ball marker peg representing the potted colour ball is not removed from its play location whilst there are red balls still to be potted.

Ball in a white pocket The play passes to the opponent, as this situation represents that a red ball has been hit but has not been potted.

Ball in a dull green pocket This represents that a foul stroke has been made and the opponent receives four points. Play passes to the opponent.

Ball in a grey pocket Snookering of the opponent is represented in this case but without a score to the player. Play passes to the opponent who must spin the snooker wheel 5 to determine whether or not he escapes from that situation, as will be described.

The red wheel is used until all of the red ball markers have been removed from the play locations, and hence in the simulated game of snooker all of the red balls have been potted.

Spinning the colour wheel The colour wheel 4 is spun after a red ball score has been made on the red wheel, and to determine the potting of the colour balls after all ofthe red balls have been potted. The colour of the pocket 21 in which the ball 7 associated with the colour wheel settles follwing spinning of the wheel determines what happens next in the simulated game of snooker in the following manner: Ball in a yellow pocket This indicates that the player has potted the required colour ball following a red ball score, and he scores points according to the values of the colour balls in a game of snooker. The player can then spin the red wheel for a red ball score. When all of the red balls have been potted he goes on to the colour balls in the sequence according to that in a game of snooker, i.e. yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black.

Ball in a white pocket When this happens it represents that the required colour ball has been hit but not potted, and the play passes to the opponent.

Ball in a dull green pocket A miss of the colour ball is indicated and four points are awarded to the opponent, or higher points representing the value of the colour ball missed if it is worth more than four points. Play passes to the opponent.

Ball in a grey pocket This represents that the required colour ball has been hit but not potted and the opponent is left snookered. Play passes to the opponent who must spin the snooker wheel to determine whether or not he escapes from that situation.

Spinning the snooker wheel The snooker wheel is spun buy a player whenever he is put into a snooker position by his opponent.

The colour of the pocket in the wheel in which the associated ball 8 settles after the wheel has been spun again determines what happens next in the simulated game of snooker, as follows: Ball in a dull green pocketA foul stroke is represented and four points are added to the opponent's score. Play passes to the opponent.

Ball in a greypocketThe snooker is escaped without scoring, and the opponent is left in snooker.

The opponent has to spin the snooker wheel to try to escape from the snooker.

Ball in a tan pocket The snooker is escaped without scoring and play passes to the opponent.

Ball in an orange pocket The snooker is escaped and the appropriate ball is potted. The score is recorded and the player goes to the colour wheel to try to pot a colour ball. If the snooker is escaped on a red ball and the ball is potted the player can select any one of the colour balls for potting. If all of the red balls have been potted the colour balls have then to be potted in sequence.

Once all of the red balls have been potted the colour wheel is spun to determine whether or not the colour balls are potted. They are potted in ascending value order as in a game of snooker, and as they are potted the appropriate ball marker pegs are removed from their play locations and put into the store locations.

As when seeking to pot a colour ball after a red ball score, settling of the ball 7 associated with the colour wheel in a yellow pocket indicates that the appropriate colour ball has been potted for a score to be recorded.

Play continues until all the ball marker pegs have been removed from the play locations, thereby representing that all the balls ave been potted. The player with the highest score wins. As in the game of snooker, if one of the players is trailing far behind his opponent's score he may concede the game to the opponent.

It will be appreciated that in respect of the colout wheel and snooker wheel the colours of the pockets may be changed from those mentioned, if preferred.

It is desirable for them to be of a colour or shade of colour distinctly different from the colours of snooker balls to reduce the possibility of confusion in what they represent in the game.

Claims (18)

1. Apparatus for playing a board game which simulates the game of snooker, comprising a board on which are play locations adapted to receive ball markers in positions orientated to correspond with the positions of the red and colour balls in their initial settings for a game of snooker, a set of markers representing the aformentioned balls, and selection means for randomly representing the potting of the aforementioned balls, foul strokes or being snookered, and thereby whether points are gained by players

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein store locations are provided on the board adapted to receive ball markers removed from the play loca tions during a game.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the ball markers are pegs and the play locations are holes or sockets which receive the pegs.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 as dependent from claim 2 wherein the store locations are holes or sockets which receive the pegs.

5. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the ball markers have at least parts thereof colours corresponding to those of the snooker balls they represent.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein each ball marker has a part in the shape of a bali, and the ball-shaped parts of the ball markers are of colours corresponding to those of the snooker balls they represent.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the random selection means comprises at least one spinning device rotatably mounted on the board and an associated indicator element, the spinning device and indicator element being adapted such that the indicator element is able to indicate by reference to the spinning device a random selection as a result of spinning the device.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the spinning device comprises a wheel on or around the periphery of which are receptacles marked to represent the various possibilities for the selection process, and the indicator device is a ball which can be caused to be received randomly into any one of the receptacles by spinning the wheel.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein there are three spinning devices each comprising a wheel rotatably mounted on the board for spinning and on or associated with the wheel receptacles marked to represent some of the various possibilities for the selection process, and associated with each wheel an indicator element which is a ball which can be caused to be received randomly into any one of the receptacles by spinning the wheel, the receptacles of the three wheels between them being marked to represent all the various possibilities for the selection process.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein for the random selection process the receptacles of a first one of the wheels are variously marked to represent whether: a red ball has been potted and if so which of the colour balls the player is expected to score off next; a foul stroke has been made, or an opponent has been snookered, the receptacles of a second one of the wheels are variously marked to represent whether: a colour ball has been potted; the colour ball has been struck but not potted; there has been a foul stroke, or an opponent has been snookered, and the receptacles of a third one of the wheels are variously marked to represent whether: a player has escaped from a snooker; there has been a foul stroke following a snooker; a ball is potted following a snooker, or an opponent has been left in snooker.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the receptacles of each wheel are formed by hollows in an upper surface of the wheel, and the surface of the wheel is contoured to encourage the ball to settle in the hollows.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein each wheel has sixteen receptacles.

13. Apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 11 wherein each wheel, and its associated ball is in a recess in the board covered by a transparent cover, and the wheel has a hub which projects through the cover for spinning the wheel by hand.

14. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein scoring means are provided on the board to indicate the running scores of players during a game.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the scoring means comprise numbered holes or sockets in the board and pegs adapted to be inserted in the holes or sockets.

16. Apparatus according to claims 2 and 14 wherein the board has three zones at one of which are the play locations, at a second one of which is the random selection means, and at a third one of the zones are the store locations and scoring means.

17. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the board is a plastics moulding.

18. Apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.