This was not intended to be a half-baked idea. I figured that it would be baked to a fare-thee-well; I still wouldn't be too surprised if someone found it out there in the wild.

The idea is to simply enlarge the game of pool to about 4 times original size - played on a table (floor? court? arena?) 20 feet wide and 30 feet long, with pockets at scale. The balls are undrilled bowling balls colored appropriately; the cue ball is, of course, drilled to be handled like a standard bowling ball.

One major equipment change is that instead of bowling shoes, a shoe with a good protection for ankle-crush injury should be used.

A ten-foot wide border outside the playing surface can also be used for your approach; just remember the step down.

A fault would be called if the cue ball is not put back into play within the circle it occupied at the the end of the last shot.
-- lurch, Jul 22 2003

Hearing protection will most likely be needed, too.
-- Cedar Park, Jul 22 2003


I would assume the surface would not be oiled; that may allow your spin to take effect without as much room as bowling lane requires.
-- lurch, Jul 23 2003


This is soooo cool!! I love both games, and I wouldn't be amazed it somebody stole this idea from you [lurch]. PLEASE bakers!! REgister your ideas, patent your inventions, protect your creativity! Or do you care not?
-- Pericles, Jul 23 2003


Sounds like a slight adaptation of lawn bowling.
-- waugsqueke, Jul 23 2003


//allow for English on the cue ball// Am I being dim or does this make no sense at all?
(+) for the idea though....I would really, really love to play this.
-- silverstormer, Jul 23 2003


English is what Americans call spin because Americans love to obfuscate the games they play.
-- my face your, Jul 23 2003


Nah, it's we just put our own spin on things.
-- phoenix, Jul 23 2003


// ...English... //

Now, as far as the French, we don't allow them to touch the cue ball at all.
-- RayfordSteele, Jul 23 2003


This is an idea I also came up with sometime back in the 90's. I actually did a bit of figuring to estimate cost and approached a few people about building a billiard bowling rink. The problem is cost- bowling lanes are more than just hardwood floors. Also would need some R&D...finding the right material to use as bumpers, and (crucially) from experiments, the right material for the object balls. The human arm is not capable of rolling a bowling ball hard enough to get a satisfactory response out of another bowling ball, let alone 15. Still, this idea should be done, and I'll bet someday it will.
-- saxman, Dec 26 2007


Also, I should point out that it is quite a bit more difficult to aim a bowling ball than a billiard ball. Games would take forever, and what with the construction costs and space cost, you'd have to charge 20 bucks a game.
-- saxman, Dec 26 2007


I'd pay that. Get a few mates together and you're paying less than the cost of a pint each.
-- egbert, Dec 26 2007


Overcome the issue of the necessary forces involved by reducing the size or weight of the balls. That would work.
-- UnaBubba, Dec 26 2007


Of course that's what you would need to do, unabubba. However, reducing the size defeats the purpose, and inventing and manufacturing a large sphere of custom plastic with the proper density would be wicked expensive..I've made inquiries... What is needed is a prototype to attract investors- I think I could do it for a quarter mil. Anyone? I'm just saying that this is a classic half-baked idea....but I want to play BB sooo bad.
-- saxman, Dec 26 2007



halfbakery