How To Play Snooker

The game of Snooker is a billiard cue sport. It is played on a felt or baize covered table. The table is a regulation 11 ft 8.5 in x 5ft 10 in with a height of 2ft 9.5in. The table is required to have 6 pockets, two at the top of the table, two at the bottom and two in the center of the longer sides.

The game of Snooker is played with 22 different balls. The white ball is known as the cue ball, or the ball which the player shoots with. The other balls, or Object Balls, are worth a certain amount of points. In Snooker there are 15 red balls, each worth one point, and six balls of different colors and values. Yellow is worth 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, and black 7.

Snooker is played in different frames - periods of play - by two or more players. Each player uses the cue ball to "pot" a ball, or put the ball into a pocket. The player, or striker, tries to alternately pot the reds and colored balls until the red balls are off of the table. When the reds are off of the table, the colored balls must be potted in ascending order of their value. The values are then added to the points of the striker. The winner of Snooker is the player who has the highest score.

Penalty points within the game of Snooker are added to the opponents score. These are caused by fouls and/or misses. A foul can occur for many reasons, such as striking a color first when the player was expecting to hit a red ball, potting the cue ball into a pocket, or failing to escape from a Snooker - a situation that occurs when the previous player finishes their turn, leaving the cue ball in a position where the object ball cannot be hit directly. These can be set up in order to gain fouls from the opponent so the player's points go up.

There are three main officials in the game of Snooker. The Referee judges fair play and is able to intervene in the game to impose the rules. The Marker keeps track of the points that are being earned when playing Snooker. The Recorder keeps track of the strikes and fouls that occur during the game.