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Snooker table selby.JPG
Snooker player Mark Selby playing a practice game
Highest governing body World Snooker Association
First played 19th century
Contact No
Categorization Cue sport
Equipment Snooker balls
Olympic No
But has IOC recognition

Snooker (UK /ˈsnkər, -kə/[1] or US /ˈsnʊkər/[2]) is a cue sport that is typically played on a table covered with a green cloth or baize, with pockets situated in each of the four corners and a further two, commonly referred to as the middle, or side pockets, that sit in the middle of each of the long side cushions. The (baize) cloth on a snooker table has a directional nap running from the baulk end of the table towards the end with the (black ball) spot. This affects how a ball rolls depending on which direction it is hit or shot. A regular (full-size) table measures 11 ft 8½ in × 5 ft 10 in (3569 mm x 1778 mm), commonly referred to as 12 × 6 ft. It is played using a cue and 22 snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six balls of different colours: yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7).[3] A player (or team) wins a frame (individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured balls. A player receives additional points if the opponent commits a foul. If the scores are equal when all the balls have been potted, the black is placed back on its spot as a tiebreaker. A player wins a match when a predetermined number of frames have been won.




It is commonly accepted[by whom?] that snooker originated in the later half of the 19th century.[7] Billiards had been a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, and variations on the more traditional billiard games were devised. One variation, devised in the officers' mess in Jabalpur during 1874 or 1875,[7] was to add coloured balls in addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool.[8] The rules were formally finalized in 1884 by Sir Neville Chamberlain at Ootacamund.[citation needed] The word snooker also has military origins, being a slang term for first-year cadets or inexperienced personnel.[7] One version of events states that Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment (not the later Prime Minister of the same name) was playing this new game when his opponent failed to pot a ball and Chamberlain called him a snooker.[8] It thus became attached to the billiards game now bearing its name as inexperienced players were labelled as snookers.[9]



A major advance occurred in 1969, when David Attenborough commissioned the snooker tournament Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting.[11][12] The TV series became a ratings success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two.[13] Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Championship was the first to be fully televised.[4][14] The game quickly became a mainstream sport[15] in the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth and has enjoyed much success in the last 30 years, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised. In 1985 a total of 18.5 million viewers watched the concluding frame of the world championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis.[16] In recent years the loss of tobacco sponsorship has led to a decrease in the number of professional tournaments, although some new sponsors have been sourced;[17] and the popularity of the game in the Far East and China, with emerging talents such as Liang Wenbo and more established players such as Ding Junhui and Marco Fu, bodes well for the future of the sport in that part of the world.[6][18]

The game[edit]

Snooker table with balls placed in their starting positions

The object of the game is to score more points than the opponent by potting object balls in the correct order. At the start of a frame, the balls are positioned as shown and the players take turns to hit a shot in a single strike from the tip of the cue, their aim being to pot one of the red balls and score a point. After the striker pots a red ball, he or she must pot one of the six 'colours'. If successful, the value of the colour potted is scored, and it is returned to its correct position on the table. After that, a red ball should be potted again. This process continues until the striker fails to pot the desired ball, at which point the opponent comes back to the table to play the next shot. The game continues in this manner until all the reds are potted and only the 6 colours are left on the table; at that point the colours must be potted in the order from least to most valued ball - that is, yellow first (because smallest value of 2 points), then green (3 points), brown (4 points), blue (5 points), pink (6 points) and finally black (7 points), the balls not being returned to play. When the final ball is potted, the player with more points wins.[3] A player may also concede a frame while on strike if he or she thinks there are not enough points available on the table to beat the opponent's score. In professional snooker this is a common occurrence. Points may also be scored in a game when a player's opponent fouls. A foul can occur for numerous reasons, such as hitting a colour first when the player was attempting to hit a red, potting the cue ball, or failing to escape from "a snooker" (a situation where the previous player left the cue ball where no legal ball can be struck at either edge without obstruction by an illegal ball). Points gained from a foul vary from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 7 if the black ball is involved.[3]




Other terminology used in snooker includes a player's break, which refers to the total number of consecutive points a player has amassed (excluding fouls) when at one visit to the table. A player attaining a break of 15, for example, could have reached it by potting a red then a black, then a red then a pink, before failing to pot the next red. The traditional maximum break in snooker is to pot all reds with blacks then all colours, which would yield 147 points; this is often known as a "147" or a "maximum".[20]

Video of a snooker break-off shot


Governance and tournaments[edit]


The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA, also known as World Snooker), founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiard Players' Association,[22] is the governing body for the professional game.[23][24][25] The amateur game is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).[26]


Professional snooker players can play on the World Snooker main tour ranking circuit. Ranking points, earned by players through their performances over the previous two seasons, determine the current world ranking.[27] A player's ranking determines what level of qualification he or she requires for ranking tournaments. The elite of professional snooker is generally regarded as the "Top 16" ranking players,[28] who are not required to pre-qualify for any of the tournaments.[29] The tour contains 96 players — the top 64 from the previous two seasons, the 8 highest ranked professional players on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit who are not in the top 64, 12 players from the Q School, and various regional, junior and amateur champions.[30]

The most important event in professional snooker is the World Championship,[31] held annually since 1927 (except during World War II and between 1958 and 1963). The tournament has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England since 1977, and was sponsored by Embassy from 1976 to 2005.[17] Since 2005, tobacco companies have not been allowed to sponsor sporting events in the United Kingdom, and the World Championship had to find a new sponsor. It was announced in January 2006 that the 2006–2010 world championships would be sponsored by online casino The Championship is currently sponsored by after pulled out of their five year sponsorship deal after three years.[32] On 15 April 2009 the World Snooker Championship website announced that would be the new sponsor of the World Championship for the next four years.[33][34]

The status of winning the World Championship is great, and it is the most highly valued prize in professional snooker,[35] both in terms of financial reward (£250,000 for the winner)[36] as well as ranking points and prestige. The World Championship is televised extensively in the UK by the BBC[37] and gains significant coverage in Europe on Eurosport[38] and in the Far East.

The group of tournaments that come next in importance are the other ranking tournaments. Players in these tournaments score world ranking points. A high ranking ensures qualification for next year's tournaments, invitations to invitational tournaments and an advantageous draw in tournaments.[28] The most prestigious of these after the World Championship is the UK Championship. Third in line are the invitational tournaments, to which most of the highest ranked players are invited. The most important tournament in this category is The Masters,[39] which to most players is the second or third most sought-after prize.[40]






Chalk and cue
22 balls (15 red, six colour balls and a white cue ball), 52.5 mm or 2 1⁄16 inches in diameter. For further information see Billiard ball, particularly the section Snooker
Rest head adaptor
Hook rest
Swan (or swan-neck spider or giraffe)
Extended rest
Extended spider
Half butt
Ball marker

Notable players[edit]


In the professional era that began with Joe Davis in the 1930s and continues up until the present day, a relatively small number of players have succeeded at the top level.[44] Reaching and maintaining a place amongst the snooker elite is a tough task, with the standards of the game being such that it requires many years of dedication and effort as well as natural ability.[45]



  • Snooker plus, a variant with two additional colour balls (8pt orange and 10pt purple), allowing a maximum break of 210.[47][48] Created by Joe Davis in 1959 but failed to gain popularity.
  • Volunteer snooker, a variant from the early 1900s.

See also[edit]


  12. ^ Porter, H. "Cue China, Time Magazine, 20 June 2008, (Retrieved 23 June 2008)
  34. ^ World Snooker Announcements: Named Title Sponsor for the World Snooker Championship
  46. ^ "World Snooker Championship — History", World Snooker Official Site, (Retrieved 9 April 2010)

External links[edit]