The 2023 World Snooker Championship kicked off in April with the schedule running until May 1. Probably not many American pool fans are familiar with snooker, but the billiards game is popular in countries like England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Canada and India.
American cue sports fans favor games like nine-ball, 10-ball and straight pool. But snooker has a following, and with an annual world championship, some gamblers may even want to wager on the event.
If you are a billiards fan, adding an interest in snooker might be easier with a few bucks on the line. Here’s a look at the game of snooker, how to follow it and the wagering menu available to American bettors.
What is Snooker Pool & How is the Game Played?
Snooker was invented in India by British army officers in the mid-19th century. The men fell in love with the game and brought it back to their home country, where they incorporated a more formal set of rules that brought together several versions of the sport.
Snooker grew rapidly in popularity during the 1960s and expanded to other countries. Even top billiards players like Allison Fisher, Francisco Sánchez Ruíz and Willie Mosconi have cued up for some snooker.
This cue sport is played on a traditional rectangular billiards table with 22 balls:
- A white cue ball as in other billiards games
- 15 red balls
- Six other balls (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black). These balls are known as “the colors.”
Players take turns using the cue ball to pocket the colors in a predefined order. Points are earned for each successful attempt and any time an opponent commits a foul. A game within the match is known as a “frame,” and a player wins one of these by scoring the most points.
Most higher-level tournaments feature 11 frames in earlier matches and 15 frames in matches later in the tournament. Here are the points each ball is worth in snooker:
- Red balls: 1 point
- Yellow: 2 points
- Green: 3 points
- Brown: 4 points
- Blue: 5 points
- Pink: 6 points
- Black: 7 points
During a frame when a red ball is pocketed, the next ball must be a colored ball followed by a red ball—continuing in that order. The colored balls are shot in ascending order of point value, starting with yellow and finishing with black. Matches begin with a standard break, as in other billiards games. A player potting a ball continues shooting until missing or fouling.
Differences Between Snooker & Other Billiards Games
Players accustomed to more traditional pool and billiards games will notice some differences. Points play a major role in snooker, and more balls are on the table. The balls in a snooker match also aren’t numbered.
As in nine-ball, there is a certain order to pocket balls, but there are no numbers to accomplish this in snooker. Here is a look at key similarities and differences below.
Snooker
- Number of balls: 22
- Fouls: Pocketing ball out of order, pocketing the cue ball, hitting ball off table, etc.
- Winning a game: Based on points
- Starting a game: Traditional break
Other pool & billiards games
- Number of balls: Up to 15 plus cue ball
- Fouls: Pocketing the wrong ball, hitting the incorrect ball, scratching the cue ball, etc.
- Winning a game: Based on finishing out balls in a certain order or color
- Starting a game: Traditional break
History of World Snooker Championship
First played in 1927, the World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in the game. Significant prize money is on the line, with £2.4 million ($3 million) paid out in 2022, including £500,000 ($620,750) for the winner. The same amount was up for grabs in 2023.
Players also battle for the championship trophy, which features a Greek shepherdess. The trophy was purchased by Joe Davis, who dominated the event for its first two decades, for £19 in 1926. The original trophy is used today.
The World Snooker Championship regularly features the top players and is one of the three tournaments in the sport’s Triple Crown Series along with the UK Championship and the Masters. The annual tournament features a field of 32 players. Participants are made up of the top 16 players in the world rankings, who qualify automatically. The other 16 come from a qualifying tournament. In the event’s history, only three players from the qualifying event have won the trophy.
The first knockout-style tournament was held in 1969, considered the start of the game’s modern era. The World Snooker Championship has been held in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, since 1977. The tournament is played over 17 days, concluding on the first Monday in May. This is the traditional May Day holiday in the UK, which helps the championship earn more time in the spotlight.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry hold the most titles in the game’s modern era with seven apiece. O’Sullivan is the reigning world champion after topping the field in 2022. The 47-year-old English pro also has a record seven wins in each of the Masters and UK Championship tournaments. That’s a record 21 Triple Crown titles. He’s the No. 1-ranked player in the world and opened as the betting favorite to win the 2023 world championship.
As one might expect, no American has won the tournament. In fact, none have ever competed. However, several Canadians have been part of the field, with one winning the title in 1980.
Here are the winner nationalities since 2000:
- England: 15
- Scotland: 4
- Wales: 3
- Australia: 1
World Snooker Championship Betting
Not every state allows betting on snooker, and some sportsbooks may not be interested in fielding action on the event, but Americans in legal sports betting states actually have a few options. Unibet Sportsbook offers plenty of betting choices for players to check out.
The European company has a large English customer base and appears to have carried over its snooker offerings to American bettors. The site offers robust betting options, from futures to match odds to prop bets like the player with the highest break.
Here’s a look at some of the wagering options available on a match and what they mean.
Match Odds: Mark Allen -400, Jak Jones +300
This a bet on the winner of this match. The odds are based on which player is favored and which is the underdog, and pay out similarly to moneyline wagering.
Frame Handicap: Mark Allen -3.5 (-124), Jak Jones +3.5 (-109)
Frames are the individual games in a match. A handicap is used in some matches seen as mismatches, and allows a bettor to wager in a similar fashion to the point spread. The -3.5 makes Allen a favorite, but he’d have to win by more than 3.5 frames.
Total Frames: Over/Under 21.5 (-127/-106)
This is similar to an over/under in a football or basketball game. In this case, bettors are wagering whether the total frames will be above or below 21.5 in the match.
Total Century Breaks: Over/Under 3.5 (+125/-167)
This is a totals bet on the number of “century breaks” in the match. A century break is when a player completes a break of 100 points or more, meaning a player breaks and then pockets at least 25 consecutive balls without giving up a turn. Achieving century breaks is regarded as a major skill in the game and a sign of a great player. In this wager, a bet on the over means there will be more than 3.5 century breaks.
Player with Highest Break: Mark Allen -230, Jak Jones +163
The maximum break and run-out in a game is 147 points, meaning a player broke and then pocketed all the balls. This is rare. A highest break wager is a bet on which player will record the highest break throughout a match, but not necessarily a maximum break.
DraftKings Sportsbook also has snooker, offering futures, frame wagers and prop bets.
Both sites offer lines for individual matches. As of April 2023, only Unibet had futures wagering for each quarter of the tournament, along with the eventual champion.
DraftKings only offered quarter futures wagering. When looking at futures bets for the eventual winner, here’s a look at the favorites and some career highlights.
- Ronnie O’Sullivan (England): The top-ranked snooker player in the world who won the event in 2022. He has a record 21 total Triple Crown wins.
- Neal Robertson (Australia): The 2010 championship winner is the only player from outside the UK to complete snooker’s Triple Crown. Robertson is No. 6 in the world.
- Mark Selby (England): This highly-decorated player won the World Championship in 2021, ‘17, ‘16 and ‘14. He’s also won the Masters three times and UK Championship twice for a total of nine Triple Crown titles. He was ranked No. 2 in the world in 2023.
- Judd Trump (England): The 2019 World Championship winner is ranked fifth in the world and has also won 23 titles, four of which were Triple Crown titles.
- Shaun Murphy (England): Won the 2005 championship, becoming only the third winner from the 16-player qualifying event. Currently fourth in the world rankings and also finished runner-up in 2009.
Why even drop a few dollars to wager on snooker? Perhaps you’re not an NHL, NBA, MLB or renegade spring football league fan and looking for something different. Or maybe you’re just a billiards fan who would like a new cue sport to check out.
