What Is Snooker? A Beginner’s Guide to the Game

Snooker in one sentence

Snooker is a cue sport played on a large baize table with fifteen reds, six colours and a white cue ball. Players score by potting a red and then a colour while reds remain, before clearing the colours in order. The player who scores more points wins the frame.

That basic sequence creates two kinds of contest at once. A player must build points through potting, but also control the cue ball, protect the next shot and decide when safety is better than a difficult attempt.

How a frame is scored

A red is worth one point. The colours are worth two through seven points: yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black. While reds are on the table, a colour is nominated after a red and is normally returned to its spot. Once the reds are gone, the colours are potted from yellow to black.

Several frames make a match. The required number depends on the format: a short ranking-event match may use a best-of-seven format, while a major final can be much longer. Match results therefore tell you who won the contest, while a break describes one scoring visit within a frame.

Why safety play matters

A player does not have to attack every available pot. A safety leaves the cue ball and object balls in a position that makes the next scoring chance difficult. The aim can be to hide a red, create distance or force the opponent to attempt an escape.

This is why a snooker match can remain tense even when no ball is being potted. The players are competing for table position and future choices as well as the points visible on the scoreboard.

How the season is organised

Professional snooker is played across a season of ranking events, invitational tournaments, qualifying rounds and other tours. The event name, date and venue answer where a tournament sits in the calendar; the ranking table answers a different question about performance over a rolling period.

For a current view, use the snooker schedule and latest results. For rules and detailed arithmetic, continue to the snooker scoring guide.