STOCKMARKET GAME AND METHOD
United States Patent 3559993
A game is provided, whereby a plurality of persons may play in a simulated stockmarket atmosphere, towards the accumulation of profit, utilizing elements of chance and elements of skills. The game includes buying and selling sheets, each having indicia thereon, a board having indicia thereon related to the buying and selling sheets, a set of darts for use in selecting the indicia on the board, a set of dice and two sets of cards having additional interrelated indicia thereon.
US Patent References:
Game
Ross - May 1936 - 2039352
Fortune telling dart game
Warden - October 1963 - 3107097
Stock market game
Lindsey - December 1964 - 3163424
Game
Ross - May 1936 - 2039352
Fortune telling dart game
Warden - October 1963 - 3107097
Stock market game
Lindsey - December 1964 - 3163424
Application Number:
04/762090
Publication Date:
02/02/1971
Filing Date:
09/24/1968
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Primary Class:
Other Classes:
273/278
International Classes:
A63F3/00; A63F9/02; A63B65/00
Field of Search:
273/95,135(C),(Inquired)
Primary Examiner:
Pinkham, Richard C.
Assistant Examiner:
Siskind, Marion
Claims:
I claim
1. A game whereby a plurality of players can simulate stock market transactions, comprising:
2. The invention of claim 1 wherein:
3. A method of playing a simulated stock market game, having a plurality of stock exchange "buy" quotation sheets consecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period of years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality of corporations and a purchase price of the stock of each corporation at that date; a plurality of stock exchange "sell" quotation sheets consecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period of years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality of corporations and a sale price of the stock of each corporation at that date; a pair of dice having indicia thereon for selection of the "buy" and "sell" stock quotation sheets by number value corresponding to the year on said sheets upon rolling said dice; a dart board divided into zones having instruction indicia indicating transactions to be made with the stocks of the corporations on said "buy" and "sell" quotation sheets; and a pair of darts for use with said dart board, said darts being adapted for being thrown at said dart board and sticking therein in one of the zones thereof whereby indicia are selected to instruct the player throwing said dart as to what transaction should be made with his stocks; comprising the steps of:
4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said game includes a plurality of "merger" cards, each bearing the name of at least one of said corporations listed on the exchange quotation sheets; a plurality of "crash" cards, each bearing instruction indicia indicating the final condition of the stock market with regard to a stock transaction; said dart board having "merger" and "crash" indicia thereon whereby upon selection of said last mentioned indicia by having a dart thrown into the zone containing said indicia, the player so throwing the dart is instructed to draw the corresponding "merger" or "crash" card and carry out the instructions thereon with respect to his stock.
1. A game whereby a plurality of players can simulate stock market transactions, comprising:
2. The invention of claim 1 wherein:
3. A method of playing a simulated stock market game, having a plurality of stock exchange "buy" quotation sheets consecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period of years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality of corporations and a purchase price of the stock of each corporation at that date; a plurality of stock exchange "sell" quotation sheets consecutively numbered to correspond to a given date over a period of years, each sheet having indicia thereon identifying a plurality of corporations and a sale price of the stock of each corporation at that date; a pair of dice having indicia thereon for selection of the "buy" and "sell" stock quotation sheets by number value corresponding to the year on said sheets upon rolling said dice; a dart board divided into zones having instruction indicia indicating transactions to be made with the stocks of the corporations on said "buy" and "sell" quotation sheets; and a pair of darts for use with said dart board, said darts being adapted for being thrown at said dart board and sticking therein in one of the zones thereof whereby indicia are selected to instruct the player throwing said dart as to what transaction should be made with his stocks; comprising the steps of:
4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said game includes a plurality of "merger" cards, each bearing the name of at least one of said corporations listed on the exchange quotation sheets; a plurality of "crash" cards, each bearing instruction indicia indicating the final condition of the stock market with regard to a stock transaction; said dart board having "merger" and "crash" indicia thereon whereby upon selection of said last mentioned indicia by having a dart thrown into the zone containing said indicia, the player so throwing the dart is instructed to draw the corresponding "merger" or "crash" card and carry out the instructions thereon with respect to his stock.
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
With increased economic productivity, more and more people are becoming engaged in stock market pursuits, both from investment and from speculation standpoints. As people become more conversant with stock market language, games are and have been developed for purposes of entertainment, such games having stock market environments.
Generally, it has been the practice, that such games have been limited in that, the determination of a winner has generally been dependent entirely upon chance, without the introduction into the game of an element dependent upon a player's skill, in which a skill of some sort may be developed by a player and interjected into the game in order to maintain the game at a maximum level of interest by each player.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed toward providing a stock market game, wherein an element of chance, such as the throw of dice may be used to select stock buy and sell values, for example by selecting the buy and sell years for a given stock, and wherein a given stock transaction may be further affected by an element of skill, for example the use of projectiles, such as a dart, thrown to strike a divided surface, such as a dart board. The divisions in the divided surface may comprise zones which carry information or instructions regarding the further disposition or the transaction, indifferent degrees of complexity, either by giving complete information in the zones themselves, or by reference to another means, for example a deck of cards, having randomly arranged instructions to interject another element of chance into the game.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel stock market game utilizing elements of chance and elements of skill.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel stock market game, wherein stock market sheets are provided, indicating various values for stocks, in various years, and wherein the buy and sell years may be selected by means of dice with the striking of a dart board by a dart indicating the further disposition of the stock.
It is another object of this invention to accomplish the above object, wherein at least one of the alternative or further dispositions of the stock is determined by reference to a deck of randomly arranged cards.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following brief description of the drawing FIGS. detailed description of the preferred embodiment, and the appended claims.
IN THE DRAWINGS
In FIG. 1 there are illustrated all of the elements necessary to play the stock market game of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the manner in which a player would complete one sequence of play with the various elements illustrated in FIG. 1.
Referring now to the drawings in detail, reference is first made to FIG. 1, wherein there are illustrated a plurality of stock exchange "buy" quotation sheets, collectively designated by the letter A, a plurality of stock exchange "sell" quotation sheets, generally designated by the letter B, a pair of dice designated by the letter C, a dart board D, a pair of darts E, a deck of "merger" cards F, and a deck of "crash" cards G.
The stock exchange "buy" quotation sheets A generally comprise ten sheets, numbered consecutively, for a given date over a period of years, for example, indicating stock quotations for the date Apr. 1 of the years 1940 through 1949 . Each such quotation sheet would list the various stocks which are used with the game, such as Ahbutt Labs, Acne Bros., Backstir, etc. along with the given dollar value of the stock for that date, with the dollar value for a given stock in each of the years 1940 through 1949, preferably differing.
The stock exchange "sell" quotation sheets B are arranged generally similar to the sheets A, but would cover the years 1950 through 1959, along with the dollar value quotations of each of the stocks for the date Apr. 1 of the associated year, with such values either increasing or decreasing as the years vary.
Thus, a given stock such as e.g., Ahbutt Labs may vary, either by increasing, decreasing, or some combination of the two, throughout the years 1940 through 1949, and will also generally vary throughout the years 1950 through 1959, in a predetermined manner.
The dice C would generally comprise two die, each with six surfaces, to comprise a cube, with the surfaces of each die having a number of dots thereon varying from one dot to six dots. By using two such die, various combinations extending from two dots to 12 dots may be obtained.
The dart board D may be arranged as a rectangle, divided, for example, in 36 zones of equivalent area, with the zones indicating various indicia in the form of instructions, to indicate merger, extra dividend, at market, split 3:1, split 3:2, split 2:1, crash, stock dividend, sold short, and the like. The board D would generally comprise a hard backing, such as wood, with a zone-indicating surface constructed of a softer material, such as cork, to facilitate the entry of darts E therein. Also, the horizontal and vertical lines separating the various indicia-indicating zones may comprise permanent separations, such as wire or the like, if desired.
The darts E are generally used in pairs, in that it is desirable that each player would receive two turns or "throws" of the darts.
The darts E may be of conventional construction, having steel tips and feathered trailing ends, or any other such construction that would enable a player to grasp a dart E and throw the same in the direction of the dart board D.
The group of "merger" cards F may be arranged in the form of an ordinary deck of cards, but preferably each card should bear the indicia "merger" on one side, in order to distinguish them from other cards, and should bear on the opposite side the name of one of the various stock companies listed on the exchange quotation sheets A and B in order to indicate to a player the name of the new company with which his company is being merged.
The "crash" deck of cards G are also randomly arranged, each card bearing the indicia "crash" in order to enable accumulation of the same in a deck, and each card also bearing an instruction indicating the final condition of the market, in instances when the market would be in trouble, such as, the stock falling 10 points, a company going bankrupt and paying of stockholders only 10 cents on the dollar, etc.
In order to play the game, a group of players, for example four, will, in turn, select buy years from 1940 to 1949, by rolling the dice. Each player, then in turn, will select a given stock for the year which he has selected by his throw of the dice. For example, if the number 5 is the total rolled on the dice, the quotations for the year 1945 would be used in selecting a stock. If the number 10 were rolled on the dice, the year 1940 would be used. Similarly, the dice number 11 would require the use of the year 1941, and a dice number of 2 would require the use of the year 1942 for purposes of stock selection, as would a dice reading of the number 12 . It is to be noted, that each player has the option of selecting a given number or lot size, e.g. 100 shares of any stock from one of the preselected buy sheets regardless of the cost of the 100 shares.
Each player, then in turn, would return the quotation sheet to one of the players who would act as a broker and would again roll the dice to select a sell year. The buy and sell prices for each player are recorded by the broker on an exchange board, which, may preferably comprise a blackboard and chalk or the like, or even a pencil and paper with the broker performing the necessary computations to keep a running score of the stock profits and losses for each player.
After the profit or loss of a given player's transaction following his purchase and sale of a stock is known according to the years determined by the dice C, each player, then in turn, is allowed two throws of the darts E at the board D. If two misses are made, the stock sale is not completed and the amount paid for the stock is shown as a loss in the player's account by the broker. Should one of the darts E strike a zone of the board D, the first such dart to strike such a zone will give further instructions regarding the disposition of the sale or transaction.
The particular zone struck by a dart E indicates the final sales disposition to be recorded by the broker, with respect to that transaction of a particular player, as follows. If the dart E struck a zone indicated "at market" the sale price determined by the "sell" quotation sheet would remain in effect. Should the dart strike a zone indicated by the indicia "crash", this would indicate that the market is in trouble, whereupon the player thus throwing the dart would select the to card from a shuffled deck of "crash" cards G, with a card thus selected indicating the final condition, such as a drop in the market of 10 points for all stocks held, etc.
Should one of the zones marked "extra dividend" be struck by a dart E, 50 dollars may be added to the sale price, if the "sell" year is prior to 1955, and 100 dollars may be added to the sale price if the "sell" year is 1955 of after.
Should a "merger" zone be struck by a dart E, this would indicate that the stock has been purchased by another company, and the player so throwing the dart would select a top card from the shuffled "merger" deck F to indicate the new company with which the company of his present stock is being merged, and with the sales price being calculated on the new company shares for the same year. Should a player select a card indicating the name of the same company which he then holds and is attempting to sell, this would indicate that the merger has fallen through and a penalty should be provided, such as the subtraction of 100 dollars from that player's account.
Should a zone indicated "sold short" be struck by a dart E this would reverse a profit or loss previously attained by virtue of the difference between the stock values of the buy and sell years.
Should the dart E strike one of the zones indicated "split", the player will then have an increased number of shares, as determined by the type of split, to sell at the selling price for the stock "sell" year previously selected. For example, a 3:2 split would mean that a previously held 100 shares worth, for example, 47 dollars each, could now be sold as 150 shares also at 47 dollars each. Similarly, a 2:1 split would give the player 200 shares to sell, and a 3:1 split would give the player 300 shares to sell, both of the above assuming an original 100 shares held by the player.
Should the zone indicated as "stock dividend" be struck by a dart E, the player so striking such a zone would receive 10 times the number thrown on the dice in stock to add to the 100 shares being sold, or another such bonus arrangement.
The game may be preferably continued in cycles of buying and selling 100 share blocks of stock until one player reaches a predetermined value, for example that of 100,000 dollars, in his net profits account as determined by the broker. Should more than one player reach this sum in the same number of turns, the player with the highest total of net cash profit may win. It will further be apparent that shorter games may be played, such as by limiting the game to 5 or 10 turns or cycles, or even by setting a predetermined time limit. Furthermore, if in selecting stock exchange quotation sheets A, two or more players select the same buy year, it may be advisable to have the second player making such a selection make another selection, in order that no two players would be playing in the same year.
Still additional limitations may be placed upon the games such as by using a rule such that any player who is unfortunate enough to lose 50,000 dollars may be considered bankrupt and disqualified from additional investments.
It will be apparent from the foregoing, that various modifications may be made in the details of construction of the various game elements, as well as in the layout, and in the manner of playing with the same, all within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
With increased economic productivity, more and more people are becoming engaged in stock market pursuits, both from investment and from speculation standpoints. As people become more conversant with stock market language, games are and have been developed for purposes of entertainment, such games having stock market environments.
Generally, it has been the practice, that such games have been limited in that, the determination of a winner has generally been dependent entirely upon chance, without the introduction into the game of an element dependent upon a player's skill, in which a skill of some sort may be developed by a player and interjected into the game in order to maintain the game at a maximum level of interest by each player.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed toward providing a stock market game, wherein an element of chance, such as the throw of dice may be used to select stock buy and sell values, for example by selecting the buy and sell years for a given stock, and wherein a given stock transaction may be further affected by an element of skill, for example the use of projectiles, such as a dart, thrown to strike a divided surface, such as a dart board. The divisions in the divided surface may comprise zones which carry information or instructions regarding the further disposition or the transaction, indifferent degrees of complexity, either by giving complete information in the zones themselves, or by reference to another means, for example a deck of cards, having randomly arranged instructions to interject another element of chance into the game.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel stock market game utilizing elements of chance and elements of skill.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel stock market game, wherein stock market sheets are provided, indicating various values for stocks, in various years, and wherein the buy and sell years may be selected by means of dice with the striking of a dart board by a dart indicating the further disposition of the stock.
It is another object of this invention to accomplish the above object, wherein at least one of the alternative or further dispositions of the stock is determined by reference to a deck of randomly arranged cards.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following brief description of the drawing FIGS. detailed description of the preferred embodiment, and the appended claims.
IN THE DRAWINGS
In FIG. 1 there are illustrated all of the elements necessary to play the stock market game of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the manner in which a player would complete one sequence of play with the various elements illustrated in FIG. 1.
Referring now to the drawings in detail, reference is first made to FIG. 1, wherein there are illustrated a plurality of stock exchange "buy" quotation sheets, collectively designated by the letter A, a plurality of stock exchange "sell" quotation sheets, generally designated by the letter B, a pair of dice designated by the letter C, a dart board D, a pair of darts E, a deck of "merger" cards F, and a deck of "crash" cards G.
The stock exchange "buy" quotation sheets A generally comprise ten sheets, numbered consecutively, for a given date over a period of years, for example, indicating stock quotations for the date Apr. 1 of the years 1940 through 1949 . Each such quotation sheet would list the various stocks which are used with the game, such as Ahbutt Labs, Acne Bros., Backstir, etc. along with the given dollar value of the stock for that date, with the dollar value for a given stock in each of the years 1940 through 1949, preferably differing.
The stock exchange "sell" quotation sheets B are arranged generally similar to the sheets A, but would cover the years 1950 through 1959, along with the dollar value quotations of each of the stocks for the date Apr. 1 of the associated year, with such values either increasing or decreasing as the years vary.
Thus, a given stock such as e.g., Ahbutt Labs may vary, either by increasing, decreasing, or some combination of the two, throughout the years 1940 through 1949, and will also generally vary throughout the years 1950 through 1959, in a predetermined manner.
The dice C would generally comprise two die, each with six surfaces, to comprise a cube, with the surfaces of each die having a number of dots thereon varying from one dot to six dots. By using two such die, various combinations extending from two dots to 12 dots may be obtained.
The dart board D may be arranged as a rectangle, divided, for example, in 36 zones of equivalent area, with the zones indicating various indicia in the form of instructions, to indicate merger, extra dividend, at market, split 3:1, split 3:2, split 2:1, crash, stock dividend, sold short, and the like. The board D would generally comprise a hard backing, such as wood, with a zone-indicating surface constructed of a softer material, such as cork, to facilitate the entry of darts E therein. Also, the horizontal and vertical lines separating the various indicia-indicating zones may comprise permanent separations, such as wire or the like, if desired.
The darts E are generally used in pairs, in that it is desirable that each player would receive two turns or "throws" of the darts.
The darts E may be of conventional construction, having steel tips and feathered trailing ends, or any other such construction that would enable a player to grasp a dart E and throw the same in the direction of the dart board D.
The group of "merger" cards F may be arranged in the form of an ordinary deck of cards, but preferably each card should bear the indicia "merger" on one side, in order to distinguish them from other cards, and should bear on the opposite side the name of one of the various stock companies listed on the exchange quotation sheets A and B in order to indicate to a player the name of the new company with which his company is being merged.
The "crash" deck of cards G are also randomly arranged, each card bearing the indicia "crash" in order to enable accumulation of the same in a deck, and each card also bearing an instruction indicating the final condition of the market, in instances when the market would be in trouble, such as, the stock falling 10 points, a company going bankrupt and paying of stockholders only 10 cents on the dollar, etc.
In order to play the game, a group of players, for example four, will, in turn, select buy years from 1940 to 1949, by rolling the dice. Each player, then in turn, will select a given stock for the year which he has selected by his throw of the dice. For example, if the number 5 is the total rolled on the dice, the quotations for the year 1945 would be used in selecting a stock. If the number 10 were rolled on the dice, the year 1940 would be used. Similarly, the dice number 11 would require the use of the year 1941, and a dice number of 2 would require the use of the year 1942 for purposes of stock selection, as would a dice reading of the number 12 . It is to be noted, that each player has the option of selecting a given number or lot size, e.g. 100 shares of any stock from one of the preselected buy sheets regardless of the cost of the 100 shares.
Each player, then in turn, would return the quotation sheet to one of the players who would act as a broker and would again roll the dice to select a sell year. The buy and sell prices for each player are recorded by the broker on an exchange board, which, may preferably comprise a blackboard and chalk or the like, or even a pencil and paper with the broker performing the necessary computations to keep a running score of the stock profits and losses for each player.
After the profit or loss of a given player's transaction following his purchase and sale of a stock is known according to the years determined by the dice C, each player, then in turn, is allowed two throws of the darts E at the board D. If two misses are made, the stock sale is not completed and the amount paid for the stock is shown as a loss in the player's account by the broker. Should one of the darts E strike a zone of the board D, the first such dart to strike such a zone will give further instructions regarding the disposition of the sale or transaction.
The particular zone struck by a dart E indicates the final sales disposition to be recorded by the broker, with respect to that transaction of a particular player, as follows. If the dart E struck a zone indicated "at market" the sale price determined by the "sell" quotation sheet would remain in effect. Should the dart strike a zone indicated by the indicia "crash", this would indicate that the market is in trouble, whereupon the player thus throwing the dart would select the to card from a shuffled deck of "crash" cards G, with a card thus selected indicating the final condition, such as a drop in the market of 10 points for all stocks held, etc.
Should one of the zones marked "extra dividend" be struck by a dart E, 50 dollars may be added to the sale price, if the "sell" year is prior to 1955, and 100 dollars may be added to the sale price if the "sell" year is 1955 of after.
Should a "merger" zone be struck by a dart E, this would indicate that the stock has been purchased by another company, and the player so throwing the dart would select a top card from the shuffled "merger" deck F to indicate the new company with which the company of his present stock is being merged, and with the sales price being calculated on the new company shares for the same year. Should a player select a card indicating the name of the same company which he then holds and is attempting to sell, this would indicate that the merger has fallen through and a penalty should be provided, such as the subtraction of 100 dollars from that player's account.
Should a zone indicated "sold short" be struck by a dart E this would reverse a profit or loss previously attained by virtue of the difference between the stock values of the buy and sell years.
Should the dart E strike one of the zones indicated "split", the player will then have an increased number of shares, as determined by the type of split, to sell at the selling price for the stock "sell" year previously selected. For example, a 3:2 split would mean that a previously held 100 shares worth, for example, 47 dollars each, could now be sold as 150 shares also at 47 dollars each. Similarly, a 2:1 split would give the player 200 shares to sell, and a 3:1 split would give the player 300 shares to sell, both of the above assuming an original 100 shares held by the player.
Should the zone indicated as "stock dividend" be struck by a dart E, the player so striking such a zone would receive 10 times the number thrown on the dice in stock to add to the 100 shares being sold, or another such bonus arrangement.
The game may be preferably continued in cycles of buying and selling 100 share blocks of stock until one player reaches a predetermined value, for example that of 100,000 dollars, in his net profits account as determined by the broker. Should more than one player reach this sum in the same number of turns, the player with the highest total of net cash profit may win. It will further be apparent that shorter games may be played, such as by limiting the game to 5 or 10 turns or cycles, or even by setting a predetermined time limit. Furthermore, if in selecting stock exchange quotation sheets A, two or more players select the same buy year, it may be advisable to have the second player making such a selection make another selection, in order that no two players would be playing in the same year.
Still additional limitations may be placed upon the games such as by using a rule such that any player who is unfortunate enough to lose 50,000 dollars may be considered bankrupt and disqualified from additional investments.
It will be apparent from the foregoing, that various modifications may be made in the details of construction of the various game elements, as well as in the layout, and in the manner of playing with the same, all within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.