How to Play Snooker for Beginners

Most snooker games pit one player against another. The goal is to score more points than your opponent within "frame" and to win a majority of frames. Competition snooker usually consists of 7, 9 or 11 frames.

There are 22 snooker balls. 15 red and one each of yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black plus the cue ball. Red balls are worth 1 point, yellow 2 points, green 3 points, brown 4 points, blue 5 points, pink 6 points and black 7 points. After sinking a red ball you must sink a different coloured ball, then back to red etc.

As red balls are potted they are removed from the game. When other balls are potted they are reset on the table. However, once all the red balls have been potted all the other balls must be potted in order of their value from 2 - 7. At this point, those balls are not reset after being potted. Once the black ball is potted and the table is clear the frame is over and the player with the most points wins that frame.

The maximum attainable score in a frame is 147 achieved by potting all 15 red balls and following each red ball with a black ball.

Here are some other essential rules of snooker:

● During the break, the cue ball must hit a red ball.

● All balls must come to a stop before the next shot is played.

● If a coloured ball spot is occupied the ball is reset as close to its normal spot as possible.

● Fouls such as potting the white ball result in a loss of turn and your opponent getting 4 points.

● A free ball is declared if it is impossible to hit a legal shot, in which case the player may hit any ball they nominate.

● If the cue ball comes to rest against another ball the player must hit the cue ball away from the ball it is up against.

● Frames can be reset if a tie is imminent.

Home Games Room offer a full line of high-quality snooker tables for residential and commercial use. To learn more call us on 0333 303 4992, or email support@homegamesroom.co.uk.