Snooker

Snooker is a billiards sport that is played on a large (12' X 6') baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long cushions. It is played using a cue, one white ball (the cue ball), 15 red balls and 6 colours: a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black ball worth from two to seven points. A player wins a frame of snooker by scoring more points than his opponent, through using the cue ball to pot all the red and coloured balls. A match consists of an agreed number of frames. Snooker is particularly popular in English-speaking countries (Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, India and South Africa), and there has recently been a surge of interest in East Asia, with players from Thailand, Hong Kong and China entering the rankings.

The game

Snooker is played on a rectangular 6' by 12' (about 1.83m by 3.66m) table (often referred to as 'Full Size' as smaller same ratio tables can be used) with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. At one end of the table (the 'Baulk End' ) is the so-called 'baulk line', which is 29 inches from the baulk end cushion. A semicircle of radius 11½ inches, called the "D", is drawn behind this line, centred on the middle of the line. On the baulk line, looking up the table from the 'baulk end', the yellow ball (2 points) is located where the "D" meets the line on the right, the green ball (3) where the "D " meets the line on the left, and the brown ball (4) in the middle of the line. An easy way to remember these positions is to see the phrase 'God Bless You' with the first letter of each word being the first letter of the three colours. At the exact middle of the table sits the blue ball (5). Further up the table is the pink ball (6), which sits midway between the blue spot and the top cushion, followed by the red balls, touching each other and placed in a triangle behind the pink (the apex must be as close as possible to the pink ball without touching it). Finally, the black ball (7) is placed on a spot 12¼ inches from the top cushion.

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A snooker match usually consists of an odd number of frames. The winner of the match is the player who first reaches a number of frames higher than half of the total number of frames. If a match has 19 frames, this means a match will end when one of the players reaches 10 frames.

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At the beginning of each frame the balls are set up by the referee as explained. This will be followed by a "break-off" shot, on which the players take turns. At the break-off, the white cue ball can be placed anywhere inside the "D", although it is common for players to start by placing the ball on the line, between the brown ball and either the green or yellow ball.

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The cue ball is the ball that players must hit with their cue in order to let it hit and possibly pot another ball. The cue ball is always the white ball and hitting another ball with your cue directly is not allowed. The ball "on" is the first ball that, according to the rules of the game, must be hit by the cue ball after the player has struck it. This changes from shot to shot.

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Players take turns in visiting the table. When one player is at the table, the other cannot play. A "break" is a number of points scored by one player in one single visit to the table.

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The game consists of two phases. In the first phase, which begins every new frame or every time a player comes into turn, the balls "on" are all the red balls. If a player can pot a red ball, he receives 1 point. If he can pot more than one in a single stroke, he will receive 1 point for every red. He can, however, not pot the white itself or another colour. Red balls potted will always stay down. If no red ball is potted, the other player comes into play.

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If a red ball is potted, the player currently in play stays at the table and continues his break with another stroke. This time one of the six colours is the ball "on". When playing a colour, the game's rules state that a player must nominate the ball he is playing for to the referee, so that the referee knows which ball is the ball "on" and which are not; however this is not necessary on most shots because the choice is obvious. The choice is usually only made explicit if two or more coloured balls are in close proximity or near the same line of sight.

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When a colour is potted, the player will be rewarded the correct number of points (Yellow, 2; Green, 3; Brown, 4; Blue, 5; Pink, 6; Black, 7). The colour is then taken out of the pocket by the referee and placed on his spot. If all spots are taken the ball is placed on the highest available spot. If there is no available spot, underneath its own spot as close to its own spot as possible in a straight line, without touching another ball. If there is no room underneath the spot, it will be placed above the spot as close to the spot as possible in a straight line, without touching another ball.

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A player cannot pot more than one colour at the same time, or a colour and a red.

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When all reds are gone, the second phase begins. In this phase, all colours have to be potted in the correct order (yellow, then green, then brown, then blue, then pink, then black). They become ball "on" in that very order.

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When a foul is made during a shot, the player will receive no points for the shots. The other player will receive penalty points.

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Common fouls are:

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• not hitting the ball "on" with the cue ball
• hitting another ball with the cue
• potting a red when a colour should be potted, or a colour when a red should be potted, or potting the wrong colour
• potting the cue ball
• making a ball land off the table
• touching a ball with something else than the cue
• playing a "push shot" - a shot where the cue, cue ball and object ball are in simultaneous contact

Penalty points are at least 4 points. This can increase depending on the value of the ball "on", and the value of the "foul" ball, whichever is the highest. When more than one foul is made, the penalty is not the added total, but the most highly valued foul.

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The foul of not hitting the ball "on" first is the most common foul. The name of the game originally comes from the verb "snooker" which means to bully, or to put in trouble. Players can put other players in trouble by making sure they can not hit the ball(s) "on" in a direct line from the next shot. This is called a "snooker".

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Since players receive points for fouls by their opponents, snookering your opponent is a possible way to win a frame, when potting all the balls on the table couldn't possibly make you win because you are too far behind.

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If a foul has been committed by not hitting a ball "on" first, or at all, and the referee judges that the player has not made the best possible effort to hit a ball "on", and neither of the players are in need of snookers to win the frame, then 'foul, and a miss' is called and the other player may request that all balls on the table are returned to their position before the foul, and his opponent play the shot again. (In top class play, this will usually only require the cue ball and a couple of other balls to be moved). When a foul shot has been played, the player who committed the foul may also be asked to go back to the table for another shot if the position is still difficult to play from.

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The highest possible break that can be achieved in normal play is 147; in that case, the player must pot all reds and pot the black ball after every red. The player will then have to pot all colours. The "maximum break" of 147 rarely occurs in match play.

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When a player leaves his opponent snookered on at least one side of all balls "on" after a foul, the other player will receive a freeball. This means he can nominate any colour and play it as the ball "on". He will receive the points of the ball "on" after potting it. If the ball "on" is a red ball, after potting the freeball, a player can nominate and pot a colour as usual.

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This means the highest achievable break is actually 155 points. If an opponent fouls before any balls are potted, and leaves the player a freeball, the player can then nominate a colour and play it as a red ball. He can then nominate black as his next colour. This means he can actually score the value of 16 "reds" and blacks, which equals 155 points. This has never been done. The highest break in tournament play is 149, the highest break in professional matchplay is 148. (see also highest snooker break).

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A frame ends when one player gives up (usually done by nodding to the referee, purposely touching another ball with the cue or walking away), when all the balls are off the table, when only the black remains and the difference between both players is more than 7 points, or when a player fouls on the final black, which will cost him the frame.

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