Snooker rules: a plain-English guide
Snooker is played with 22 balls: a white cue ball, 15 reds and six colours. Players take turns to pot balls in a set order, and the player with more points at the end of the frame wins it. This guide covers the basics you need for a friendly game at a club.
The balls and their values
| Ball | Points |
|---|---|
| Red (×15) | 1 each |
| Yellow | 2 |
| Green | 3 |
| Brown | 4 |
| Blue | 5 |
| Pink | 6 |
| Black | 7 |
How a frame works
- Break-off: the first player plays from the "D" at the baulk end and must hit a red.
- Red, then a colour: while reds remain on the table, you must pot a red first. If you pot one, you then nominate and try to pot any colour. Pot the colour and you go back to a red, and so on. Each visit to the table is called a break.
- Colours come back: while reds remain, potted colours are re-spotted on their own spots. Potted reds stay down.
- The colours in order: once the last red and the colour after it are potted, the colours are taken in order of value: yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black. They now stay down.
- End of the frame: the frame ends when the black is potted (or a player concedes). Highest score wins.
The highest possible break is normally 147: all 15 reds each followed by the black (15 × 8 = 120), then all six colours (27).
Fouls
Common fouls include missing the ball you're "on", hitting the wrong ball first, potting the cue ball (an "in-off"), or touching a ball with anything other than the cue tip. A foul gives your opponent at least 4 points, or the value of the highest ball involved in the foul if that's higher, up to 7. After a foul, your opponent can choose to play the next shot or make you play again.
Snookers and free balls
You're snookered when you can't hit both sides of the ball you're on in a straight line because another ball is in the way. If you're left snookered after your opponent's foul, the referee can award a free ball: you may nominate any ball as if it were the ball you're on.
The miss rule
In refereed matches, if a player fails to hit the ball they're on and the referee thinks they didn't make a good enough attempt, a miss is called. The opponent can then ask for the balls to be put back and the shot played again. In casual club games this is usually relaxed by agreement.
A tied frame: the re-spotted black
If the scores are level when the black is potted, the black is re-spotted, and the player who wins a toss chooses who plays first from the D. The next score or foul wins the frame.
Club etiquette
Stay still and quiet while your opponent is on a shot, and don't stand in their line of sight. Mark or call your own fouls, and never put drinks on the table. See our guide to joining a snooker club for more, or find a club to play at.