Most of us have played snooker or at least heard about this classy game at some point in our life. However, people don’t know much about this game; thus, in this article, we bring you all the information about this game.
You will find snooker game aspects like rules, governing body, history, technologies in-game, and more in the article. We will also briefly explain some important tips and tricks that will help you to play this game like a professional.
History Of Snooker
Snooker is a cue game that originated in British India. It became popular among the British army officers in India during the 19th century’s second half. This game is played on a table that is rectangular and covered with green cloth. The green cloth and table have four pockets on the four corners.
The middle of the table also has pockets; thus, there are six pockets in total. Snooker became popular after 1875 when a British army officer Sir Neville Chamberlain formulated the rules of the game in India. He derived the rules of the game by combining the two popular games of that time, pyramid and black pool.
The term snooker at the start was used as slang for inexperienced British army recruits at the start. However, it gained its popularity as a game name later as the officer Neville used to use for fellow players in the game who had no experience in the game.
The snooker game became popular in the united kingdom later through the officers returning from British India. Thus, in 1919 the Billiards Association and Control Club were formed to monitor and govern the game. In later years the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association were made its governing body, which is still the one in the present. The WPBSA is the governing body for the game and makes rules and controls every aspect. Source
Objective Of Snooker
Scoring points is the main objective of the snooker game. The players can score points by potting the balls in the correct order or pockets. The balls in the game are first arranged in a triangular format, and each player gets a chance to hit the balls with a cue ball with the help of a cue.
Difference Between pool & Snooker
People confuse these games with being similar or thinking that these are two different names for a similar game. However, the two games are completely different from each other. The game of pool is more popular in the USA, while the game of snooker is famous among the European countries. It is also popular among those countries where the British ruled during the colonial period or has connections.
Main Difference Are:
- In comparison to the pool tables, the snooker tables are sizable with a dimension of 12′ x 6′.
- The pockets on the table are narrower than those of the pool.
- When it comes to balls, the pool balls are 2 ½” whereas the balls of snooker are 2⅛” thus smaller than pool balls.
- The cues in the pool have a size of 14mm, while the snooker game cues have a 10mm size.
These are some of the basic things which make the two games different and unique in themselves from each other.
Technologies In Snooker
Like any other world championship, this game also uses various technologies like that of technologies in the Rio Olympics. One of the main technologies in use in the game of snooker is that of Hawk’s eye. The Hawk’s eye was first used in the 2007 world snooker championship by the BBC. This technology is used to show the players’ view, specifically the incidents involving the potential snooker.
Snooker Rules
The snooker game is played by using a total of 22 balls; out of these, 15 are red balls, 6 are other color balls, and the last one is the cue ball. Game’s main objective is to score points against the opponent by potting the red balls in the pockets on the table. However, the condition is to pot the red balls followed by the colored balls, or else it is a foul.
This sequence of potting balls repeated until all the balls are in the pockets; however, if you make a mistake and pot a wrong ball or miss, then its other players turn.
To know more and add up the points, you can refer to the values below to know who is the winner:
- Red ball carries one point each.
- The yellow color ball carries 2 points each.
- There are three points for the green color balls.
- The points for the brown ball are four points each.
- Points for the blue ball are five for each.
- The pink ball in the game carries 6 points each.
- When it comes to the highest points for a ball in the game, that is the black color ball. It carries 7 points.
When it comes to deciding who will start the game, it is generally decided by a coin toss. However, if the toss is a tie, you can flip the coin and do a respotting of the black color ball to break the tie.
The player who wins the toss by coin the second time has the right to decide to go first or allow the opposition player to go for the black ball. This is called a tiebreaker, and the player who pots the black first is the winner.
To start the tiebreaker game, you have to place the red balls in the shape of a pyramid while having the pink ball at the point. The black ball is behind the pyramid in this game. In the middle of the table, you have to place the blue color ball while you have to keep the other color balls like yellow, green, and brown across the pyramid.
Another thing to know is that when a red color ball is hit into the pocket with a color ball after it, the red ball stays in the pocket. However, the color ball is re-spotted on the table to its position according to the points it carries.
It is done until even a single red ball stays on the table. At the end, when no red remains, all the six color balls are pocketed according to their value sequence, and the game ends.
One more thing is that other than foul, if a player cannot hit the desired ball according to the rules due to any obstruction, they are called to be snookered. Thus, the name of the game snooker. Another thing is that when a player is snookered, he/she loses his turn and the opposition players’ turn comes.
Foul Balls In Snooker
In the snooker game, jump shots are not allowed. If the player pots the wrong ball in an incorrect sequence of the balls, then that shot is a foul according to game rules. After one player commits a foul, the turn goes to the opposition player, and no points are given to the first player for the foul shot.
When a player commits a foul, the red balls are left in the pockets while the color balls are re-spotted on the table for the next shot.
Re-Spotting The Balls
The color balls in the snooker game are to be kept at the same place or position where they were at the starting of the game. However, if any other ball occupies the spot where the ball was at the starting of the game, the ball is placed at the ball’s spot color, which has the highest value. This is done only if the position is vacant; otherwise, the ball is re-spotted at the next highest color value spot.
According to rules, if all these positions in the game are preoccupied, then the ball is to be kept as close to its original position. This is done while keeping it in a straight line between the nearest point on the top of the cushion and the spot. After doing this, you can start the snooker game again.
What Does Snooker In 8 Ball Pool Means?
This term describes a scenario in the eight ball pool where there is no clear or direct path for a player to hit the desired ball by the cue ball. In order to do this hit in the game, the player has to kick shot the cue ball. In this way, the cue ball before hitting the desired ball bounces off one or more times.
Conclusion
These are some vital information regarding your all-time favorite snooker game. In the article, you will find things like the snooker’s rules, re-spotting of the balls in the game, and more.
What are your thoughts on this game? Please do let us know in the comment box about your thoughts.
