60 Fun Facts About Snooker

How many balls are used in a frame of snooker, including the cue ball?

Fifteen reds, six colours and the white.

Which British Army officer devised snooker's first rules in India in the 1870s and 1880s?

Not the prime minister: this Chamberlain was only revealed as the inventor in a letter to The Field in 1938.

What did the word 'snooker' originally mean in British Army slang?

Chamberlain used it to mock a young fellow officer's poor play at the table.

Snooker's rules were finalised in 1882 at Stone House in which Indian hill station?

The table, by Burroughes & Watts, had been shipped to India by sea.

How many points is the black ball worth?

Yellow is two, green three, brown four, blue five and pink six.

What is the minimum number of penalty points awarded for a foul?

The penalty rises to the value of the ball involved, up to seven for the black.

If the scores are level when all the balls have been potted, how is the frame decided?

The 1919 rules abolished draws by introducing the tiebreak.

A full-size snooker table measures 12 feet by how many feet?

You need a room of at least 22 by 16 feet to cue comfortably around it.

Which two colours were not part of the original snooker rules?

Every ball is 2 1/16 inches across; the cue must be at least three feet long.

Which type of rest, named after a bird, is used for shots that are awkward to play by hand?

The spider is the other common rest; the traditional scoreboard resembles an abacus.

A maximum break of 147 is made by potting all fifteen reds with what, then clearing the colours?

With a free ball at the start, the theoretical maximum rises to 155.

Who made the first officially recognised maximum break, in a 1955 exhibition in London?

It came against Willie Smith at Leicester Square Hall.

Against which former world champion did Steve Davis make snooker's first televised maximum at the 1982 Classic?

It was made at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham.

Which Canadian made the first maximum at the World Championship, in 1983?

'The Grinder' had won the world title in 1980 and was the first non-British world number one.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's Guinness World Record maximum at the 1997 World Championship took how long?

He also holds the record for the most competitive 147s, with 17.

Which player made a 148 break in 2004, the first snooker break above 147 in tournament play?

O'Sullivan finally beat it with a 16-red 153 clearance at the 2026 World Open.

Joe Davis won how many consecutive World Championships between 1927 and 1946 before retiring unbeaten?

He remains the only undefeated player in the championship's history and was also world billiards champion four times.

Which 1959 Joe Davis variant added orange and purple balls, raising the maximum break to 210?

The orange sat between pink and blue and was worth eight; the purple was worth ten.

The 1952 World Championship, boycotted by most professionals, was won by which Australian in a two-man field?

He beat New Zealander Clark McConachy; the rest played the rival Match-play Championship.

Which BBC2 controller commissioned Pot Black in 1969 to show off the channel's new colour service?

Ray Reardon won the first series; it was for a time BBC2's second most popular show after Morecambe and Wise.

Ted Lowe told viewers "for those of you watching in black and white, the pink is next to the" what?

'Whispering Ted' spoke softly because he sat in the audience with no commentary box.

The World Championship moved in 1977 to which Sheffield venue, where it has been staged ever since?

The theatre opened in 1971 and is named after the crucible steel process developed in the city.

Which cigarette brand sponsored the World Championship for thirty consecutive years from 1976 to 2005?

The tobacco advertising ban then cut the number of professional events from 22 to 15.

What was six-time 1970s champion Ray Reardon nicknamed for his widow's peak and eye teeth?

He had been a coal miner and a policeman before turning professional in his thirties.

How old was the player who broke Ray Reardon's oldest-world-champion record in 2022?

O'Sullivan was 46 years and 148 days old when he won his seventh title.

Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins won the 1972 world title at his first attempt, the first what to do so?

Only Terry Griffiths, Shaun Murphy and Zhao Xintong have since won as qualifiers.

What did Alex Higgins hope to become when he left Belfast at 15 for stables in Berkshire?

His idol was Lester Piggott; he was banned for a season in 1990-91 after threatening to have Dennis Taylor shot.

Terry Griffiths won the 1979 world title only how many months after turning professional?

The Llanelli man beat Dennis Taylor 24-16 for a then-record £10,000 first prize.

Steve Davis was given the sardonic nickname 'Interesting' by which satirical TV show?

His manager Barry Hearn called him 'Nugget' because you could put your money on him and know you'd get paid.

Steve Davis reached eight world finals in nine years in the 1980s, winning how many world titles?

He was also the first player to earn £1 million in prize money.

After losing the first eight frames, Dennis Taylor won the 1985 final on the last black by what score?

Davis missed his one chance at the black after Taylor had missed three of his own.

The 1985 black-ball final's last frame drew a UK record for a post-midnight broadcast: how many viewers?

It also set the record for any BBC2 programme.

Dennis Taylor's distinctive 'upside-down' glasses were designed for snooker by whom?

Taylor, from Coalisland in Northern Ireland, later finished eighth on Strictly Come Dancing.

Which 150-1 outsider, not part of the Matchroom Mob, won the 1986 World Championship?

The Snooker Loopy verse had joked that Barry Hearn had 'the rest of us signed up'.

Which duo wrote and performed 'Snooker Loopy' with the Matchroom Mob in 1986?

Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths and Tony Meo sang along.

Canadian Bill Werbeniuk drank pints of lager during matches on medical advice to counteract what?

He reportedly claimed six pre-match pints as a tax-deductible expense.

Kirk Stevens made a televised 147 against Jimmy White at which 1984 event?

It stayed the only maximum in that tournament's history until Ding Junhui made one in 2007.

Stephen Hendry became the youngest world champion in 1990 at what age?

He was 21 years and 106 days, and went on to win seven titles in the decade.

How many world finals did Jimmy 'The Whirlwind' White lose without ever winning the title?

Four of the defeats were to Stephen Hendry; he did win the 1984 Masters and 1992 UK Championship.

At what age did Ronnie O'Sullivan win the 1993 UK Championship, becoming the youngest ranking-event winner?

It was seven days before his 18th birthday, and the record still stands.

O'Sullivan's second world title in 2004 came with an 18-8 final win over which Scot?

Dott went on to win the title himself in 2006.

Which Irishman ended Hendry's record 29-match Crucible winning streak by beating him in the 1997 final?

He is the only player to have been world under-21, world amateur and world professional champion.

Mark Williams, the first left-handed world champion, promised to do what if he won the 2018 title?

The 'Welsh Potting Machine' won at 43 and kept his word, wearing only a towel.

Which Australian won the 2010 world title and was the first player to make 100 centuries in a season?

He is also the only non-UK-born player to complete the Triple Crown.

Mark Selby's nickname, 'The Jester from', which English city?

He has held world titles in both snooker and pool.

Judd Trump set a record in 2019-20 by winning how many ranking events in a single season?

The Bristolian had won his first world title in 2019.

Which Belgian became the first continental European snooker world champion in 2023?

He beat Si Jiahui 17-15, the biggest comeback in Crucible history, then Mark Selby in the final.

Who became the first Asian world snooker champion in 2025, after a 20-month match-fixing ban?

He came through qualifying, only the fourth qualifier ever to win.

Which Matchroom founder took control of the World Snooker Tour in 2010?

The Guardian had predicted professional snooker would die within ten years.

Who was the referee on the BBC game show Big Break, hosted by Jim Davidson from 1991?

The 2026 revival has Paddy McGuinness hosting and Stephen Hendry as referee.

Which referee became the first woman to officiate a World Championship final, in 2009?

Dutchman Jan Verhaas had been the first non-Briton to do so in 2003.

Reanne Evans has won the World Women's Snooker Championship a record how many times?

Ten of them came consecutively between 2005 and 2014.

Snooker's Triple Crown consists of the World Championship, the UK Championship and which other event?

O'Sullivan holds the record with 23 Triple Crown titles.

The Snooker Shoot Out is a variant tournament in which every match is played over how many frames?

Each frame is played against the clock; six-red snooker is another popular short format.

Ding Junhui reached his first ranking final at the 2005 China Open on which birthday?

He became the first Asian world number one in 2014 and lives in Sheffield.

Sinuca brasileira, the Brazilian variant of snooker, is played with how many red balls?

The single red starts halfway between the pink and the side cushion, and cannot be potted on the break-off.

The Six-red World Championship, a tour fixture from 2012 to 2023, was staged annually in which city?

Fewer object balls cut the time per frame; a women's 10-red championship ran in Leeds from 2017 to 2019.

The short-lived Power Snooker of 2010-11 used how many reds, racked in a diamond?

Matches were capped at 30 minutes of play, but the format never caught on.

What is the diameter of a standard snooker ball?

That is 52.5 mm; a full set is 22 unmarked balls, with the reds racked in an equilateral triangle.

The nap of a snooker table's baize runs lengthwise from the baulk end towards which ball's spot?

The nap changes the speed and path of a ball depending on the direction of the shot and any side spin.