All last month and all of this month so far, the local TV here has been showing Snooker championships. I’ve played before but I just remember some of the basic stuff. Help me out, if you will, and tell me what you can about the game. To start off, here are a few questions:
What is the player required to do?
What is the player prohibited from doing?
What should the player do?
What should the player not do?
Thanks for whatever information you can provide!
I’ll just say I’m not an expert on Snooker, but I know enough to understand what’s going on. I’m going by memory, so I might get some details a bit wrong, but hopefully enough to give you a good idea of what is happening.
If you’ve played, you should know the basic object is to get points by potting balls, that is, by hitting the cue ball (the white ball), with the cue, into one of the holes (pockets) around, the table.
There are 2 stages in snooker. At the start there are 15 red balls on the table, and 6 other coloured balls, which are usually just calls the reds and the colours. When one player gets their turn to play, their object is to pot a red ball. At the very start, all the reds are tightly packed, so the first player usually just breaks the reds apart, and play passes to the second player.
In this stages, whenever a player starts their turn (or break), the object is to pot a red ball, for 1 point… If they don’t play passes to the other player, if they do then attempt to pot a coloured ball, and each colour is worth a different amount, from 2 points for the yellow ball and 7 points for the black. If they succeed, then they attempt to pot another red ball, and so on. If they fail at any point, play passes to the other play, to attempt to pot a red.
In this stage, the reds are removed from the table once potted, and the coloured balls are not, so eventually all the reds are removed. Then, once the player who pots the last red has tried to pot another coloured ball, the object for him (if he succeeds), or the other player (if he fails), is to pot the yellow ball for 2 points. If they succeed, it is removed and the object is to pot green ball for 3 points, and so on, until all the balls are removed. In this stage, if either player fails, the other player has to attempt to pot the lowest value ball on the table.
Here, I’ve assumed the players either pot a ball, or simply hit the target ball (or object ball), but it fails to go in the pocket. There are fouls as well. If the cue ball goes in a pocket, that’s a foul, and the other player goes next, after replacing the cue ball on the table. If they hit a ball other than the object ball first, that is a foul, as is failing to hit the object ball, or potting a ball other than the object ball. On fouls, the other player gets penalty points, and they start their turn.
Their is some strategy to consider. Players usually keep potting balls as long as they can, but if they don’t think they can they usually aim for a safety shot, by hitting the object ball, but setting up the cue ball so it isn’t in a good position to pot the object ball for the next player. If they do very well they set up a shot where hitting the object ball is difficult, which is calls “snookering” the other player. You can get a bit of the stalemate, as both players try to play safety shots, and have to either pot the object ball anyway, or hit the object ball and set up their own safety.
Just to be clear, the object ball is the ball the player is aiming at, which is a red ball, then a coloured ball (of the player’s choice), then a red, and so on, until all the reds are potted, and then the coloured balls in sequence.
Each Time a play gets a turn is a break. If the first player to pot a ball continues without missing, potting the blacks at each opportunity, the maximum break is 147 points. It doesn’t happen very often, and is very impressive if it happens.
Hopefully that covers your questions. I didn’t answer them directly, as I thought an overview of snooker was what you were looking for.
As is probably obvious, you have missed out a key stage here (by accident, I’m sure) - you hit the cue ball with your cue so as to cause it to hit another ball (the object ball) into a pocket - this is known as a ‘pot’.
I broadly agree with the rest of your summary but with this being the SDMB, I must have one nitpick - although a break of 147 is commonly called a ‘maximum’, in fact the maximum break is 155. This is achieved where one player snookers the other but they also foul in the same shot, before any balls have been potted (so this situation is very rare in itself). In such a case the incoming player may nominate any colour as a ‘free ball’, which can then be potted and scored as if it were a red. If potted, the free ball is replaced on its spot and the player continues his break normally by potting a colour. If the colour they pot happens to be the black, they can therefore have a break of 8 points but with 15 reds still on the table. If they proceed with a total clearance, taking a black after each red, they can score 155. It’s never happened in a professional tournament - I think there have been one or two breaks of over 150, and one player started on a free ball followed by the black as explained above, but then failed to get a black with all the other reds and so made a total clearance of “only” 146.
All the above have been well-answered by silverfish’s summary, but to summarise the summary:
What is the player required to do? Strike the cue ball with the cue such that the cue ball hits the object ball.
What is the player prohibited from doing? Missing the object ball, potting a ball other than a ball ‘on’ (note that potting two or more reds in the same stroke, if you are ‘on’ a red, is fine and scores one point for each red potted), potting the cue ball, deliberately making the cue ball jump, playing a shot without at least one foot on the ground, touching any ball other than the cue ball, touching the cue ball with anything other than the tip of their cue, and a large number of even more obscure items.
What should the player do? In the immortal words of John Virgo, “pot as many balls as you can” - in the order previously explained. If this is not possible, as has been said, he should try to play a shot which is not a foul but makes it difficult for his opponent to score on their next shot.
What should the player not do? Commit a foul, at the basic level. At a slightly higher level, don’t miss a pot, particularly one that gives your opponent an easy opportunity. Sometimes it is possible to attempt a pot which is likely to leave a relatively safe position if it is missed; this is referred to as a ‘shot to nothing’ or a ‘shot for nothing’.
I wouldn’t say I was an expert on Snooker but I have played and watched the game for many years so should be able to help with any further questions you have.
Well, that’s the beginning of what I’m looking for. Thanks! I watched Ronnie O’Sullivan’s fastest maximum break on youtube and that was very cool. Has anyone ever “run the table” straight from the break shot all the way to potting the final black?
Also, on a match held in China (I watched it on TV last night), both players played for safe shots for a total of about ten minutes. Some people might say that is a lack of action, but I found it pretty exciting. The cue control to place the cue ball the way they did is amazing.
Oh, more questions. I know that the rules prohibit “splitting the object balls” (the cue ball striking two balls at one time). I just read the rules yesterday. That’s fine, but it seems to be okay to strike one red ball into another and have that red ball potted. What happens if the player strikes the cue ball and then the cue ball causes more than one red ball to be potted? Does the player only get one point? (I see Dead Cat answered this.) What about if the player strikes the cue ball into a red ball and the red ball hits a colored ball, the red ball goes into the pocket first, and then the color goes into the same or a different pocket?
One match I saw earlier this week, the striker was permitted to “nominate” a color, which he then potted, and then he got to pot another color. This was while there were still some reds on the table. I’m guessing this is due to a foul by the other player. If so, what was the likely foul and how does that work? (I see Dead Cat answered this.)
Forgot something: What is the difference between American Snooker and English Snooker? Yes, I’m aware the game originated in India, but that was due to the English military folks there who created it.
That’s called a “free ball” - any nominated colour is treated as a red (except that it’s respotted after potting) and so if potted the player can then take on a colour. You’re right that it would be the result of a foul by the other player. If I play a foul shot and as a result of that foul you are left snookered, you would get a free ball.
If the colored ball is nominated as red, it only counts for one point on that stroke if potted, correct? If it could count as its regular value, that would be cool. The match I mentioned where the striker did that, I had just turned on the TV and the striker was taking his stroke on green. I was surprised to see him pot another colored ball instead of red on the next stroke.
Correct - the free ball scores one point and is treated as a red. The rule is just there to discourage players from fouling intentionally to gain an advantage.
A free ball is only awarded if a foul shot by the other player leaves the white without a direct line to the whole of any legally available ball (i.e. the player is “snookered”).
Some connoisseurs of the game find “safety play” more absorbing than potting and break building. You get players who are known for their safety play while others are great potters but not so strong at positional play.
Snooker is awesome! The pool hall my friends and I used to play at had a snooker table, and we were some of the few patrons actually allowed to use it since we showed such interest in learning the game. We ended up liking it more than pool itself.
I miss those days. Really wish I could play again… it was such a nice challenge!
I know the OP said they’d played before but just in case they’ve forgotten, and something you don’t really appreciate when watching on TV is that snooker tables are freaking enormous - 12’ x 6’. While that doesn’t sound that much bigger than a large pool table’s 9’ x 4.5’ think of the areas involved - 72 square feet for a snooker table vs 40.5 for the largest pool table.
Oh and the pros are incredibly good - I used to play the odd casual game with a mate at the local RSA, any break over 3 balls was a cause for pride and we’d be lucky to finish one frame in less than 45 minutes.
Still wondering what the major differences are between English Snooker and American Snooker. Oh, and has it ever happened that a player has started the frame and then run the table? Almost every match I’ve seen (or recall seeing), the first player ricochets the cue ball off one of the back corner reds, cue ball hits two cushions and comes to rest behind one of the three colors on the D.
Don’t think this has been fully answered yet; it is a foul to cause the cue ball to strike more than one object ball simultaneously, unless you are on a red and the balls you strike are all reds. See top of page 22 from (warning: pdf) the official rules. If a player strikes the ball “on” with the cue ball (so a legal shot so far) but a ball not “on” then goes into a pocket, this is a foul no matter what the order of events is.
I’m not sure I’m a “connoisseur of the game” but I certainly fall into this category. I find a prolonged bout of safety play more interesting to watch than someone running an immaculate break. Breaks are only exciting when the player is not quite in control of it, and this is pretty rare nowadays.
I’ve never come across the term “American Snooker” before; a quick search brought up this which looks semi-official. As far as I can see from a quick scan, it’s essentially identical - the only difference I noticed (apart from the rules being less complicated in general, probably with fewer ways to commit a foul) was that their requirement for a legal break is different. They seem to require both the cue ball and an object ball to hit a cushion after the break (similar the rules in pool which require two or four balls to hit a cushion on the break). There is no such rule in normal snooker, which means it is possible to break off legally by bouncing the cue ball gently off the top cushion such that it just touches the back of the pack.
This tactic was fairly common among professionals up until about the end of the 1980s, when the standard tactic became the type of break you see today. The standard break is now generally preferred because it brings a few reds into play while (if done correctly) making it difficult for the opponent to score. As such it is an “attacking safety shot”, as opposed to the roll into the back of the pack which is a defensive safety shot. However, the game may be about to change again, because today’s pros are so good at long pots you often see a red potted on the second turn of the game even when the first player was quite satisfied with how he broke off. Indeed, I believe a few pros now break off with the aim of snookering the opponent behind yellow or green, whereas previously this was not considered the percentage play because if you failed, the cue ball was much further away from the cushion than in a standard break off shot. I believe today’s players are now so good at long potting, even when near the cushion, that playing the break off to get this snooker may be the best option.
Now, to answer your final point, it is very rare for professionals to attempt to pot a ball in the break off shot, and so to my knowledge winning the frame without a visit from your opponent has never been done. This is because attempting to pot a ball on the break off involves smashing into the pack at high speed and hoping a red drops. This is a fairly low-percentage play so would only be done as a joke, even among amateurs. Australian professional Quinton Hann did try this in a few tournaments, as he claimed a success rate of ~30% (much higher than the true likelihood, I think - he did hit it very hard, though), and occasionally it worked, but more often it just left the opponent an easy opportunity to score heavily. He was suspended for match-fixing and I think had drug problems as well so a bit of an oddball all round, really.
The other factor militating against the possibility of a total clearance from the break off is that if you are successful in potting a red, it is likely the pink and black will be out of position which makes big breaks much more difficult.
If I’m reading Rule 2 correctly, it seems to be saying that on every shot the cue ball or an object ball must hit a cushion, or an object ball be pocketed. I don’t think that is the case in standard snooker.
2. On all shots, player must comply with the appropriate requirements of Rules of Play 5 and 6, plus cause the cue ball or an object ball to contact a cushion or drop in a pocket after the cue ball has contacted a legal object ball (on ball). Failure to do so is a foul.
Ameican Snooker’s Rule 11 is also confusing to me.
That would be American Snooker’s Rule 11. I’ve no idea what an Ameican is. 
Anyway, regarding Rule 2: I now recall the gentleman who taught me how to play did insist on Ximenean’s interpretation.
I know little of snooker – indeed had hardly heard of it until living in Thailand, where Snooker is played almost to the exclusion of other billiards variants. I agree it seems ridiculously difficult, and that the cue control exhibited by top professionals on safety shots is awesome.
In addition to “foul,” there is the possibility of “foul and miss”. I watched one game where a professional missed several times in a row, rather than allowing his opponent an easy run. After a miss, the referee restores the balls to their earlier position. How in heck is this done when several balls have moved? 
I first became aware that breaks larger than 147 were possible watching Jimmy White get a 155 break on Youtube! (It was just a demonstration game, and probably faked at that.)
While finding White’s 155 practice break, Youtube mentioned a a 147-break in tournament play by Ronnie O’Sullivan. Ronnie, widely considered the greatest player ever, astonished the commentators by calling time-out to find out what the prize was for a 147 break! (The tournament had a £4000 prize for highest break, so the additional prize for 147, if any, was quite relevant.)
Indeed it is not the case in standard snooker. I hadn’t spotted that. Seems a bit unneccessary but I suppose it would prevent a lot of re-racks (in standard snooker, you can get an impasse situation where neither player wishes to risk doing more than touching the cue ball against a red very gently. In such a case, the frame is re-started or “re-racked” with both players’ points re-set to zero. With the American variant, you would not be allowed to do this).
It seems like it’s what they do instead of the “free ball” rule in normal snooker - rather than being able to nominate a free ball, you simply mark the position of the ball that is in the way (presumably by placing markers on two or more cushions to cross-reference the position of the ball), remove it from the table, play your shot, and then replace the offending ball.
The referee has to make his best guess as to where all the balls were. In most such cases, only a few balls are moved (typically one or perhaps two), but when several are disturbed you’re right - it’s almost impossible to replace them all accurately. However, in some televised tournaments they now make a screenshot of the old position available to the referee to assist them in accurate replacement. They can even overlay the old screenshot on the current live picture so the ref can make fine adjustments if necessary. In practice, it’s rarely required.
Yes, this was entertaining and typical Ronnie. I think his intention was to make a stand for his fellow professional players rather than look greedy, and his implied argument is a fair one - people pay to watch snooker to be entertained but the players have families to feed and if you aren’t going to incentivise them properly, it’s bad for the game. After all, a 147 almost always involves a degree of risk in keeping the break going by only using the black (though quite often it is possible to save the riskier shots until after the frame has been won) and if the prize for a 147 is small or non-existent, players are less likely to go for them, which makes the game a bit less exciting for those watching. The prize for completing a 147 in the World Championship used to be £147,000 (plus an almost-guaranteed £20,000 - which was awarded for simply having the highest break of the tournament). I’m not sure it still is, because 147s seem to be becoming more common than they used to be. But in this particular tournament, I believe there was no additional prize for a 147 at all. Spoilered for those who haven’t seen it:
On learning this, Ronnie cleared the table up to the final black (scoring 140) and then sat down without attempting the unmissable pot on the black he had left himself. The referee (!) eventually persuaded him to pot the black and complete the break. Naturally this won the “high break” prize of £4,000, which I think Ronnie, having made his point, ended up donating to charity. I’m pretty sure Barry Hearn (World Snooker promoter) has ensured a decent 147 prize at every tournament since!
Please note also that at that time, Stephen Hendry and O’Sullivan were tied at career totals of 9 maximum breaks (in professional competition). Potting the final black ball would make Ronnie O’Sullivan the first player in history to get ten official 147-breaks!
Something that you don’t realize about snooker until you’ve actually got onto a snooker table is how hard it is. The table is bigger and the balls and pockets are smaller than standard American 9-ball. It’s also extremely tactical (at professional level) as players will usually be planning two or more shots ahead every time they take a shot.