The Ultimate Snooker Betting Guide

Snooker is a much-loved cue sport that is predominantly based in the UK but has a worldwide following.

Tournaments take place in China, Saudi Arabia, Germany and across the UK from June to May culminating in the World Championships at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Much like tennis, snooker is a popular sport for bettors as it has a year-round season of tournaments and matches, so there is always something to bet on.

It also enjoys good TV coverage of all its main events and has updated rankings after every event so you can easily keep track of players and current form.

Before jumping into snooker's betting markets, let's take a look at the sport in more detail to fully understand its origins, rules and events.

History Of Snooker

Snooker was invented by the British Army while they were stationed in the Indian Town of Jubbulpore in the late 19th century.

Taking inspiration from four other cue games that were played at the time - billiards, life pool, black pool and pyramid pool - an officer by the name of Sir Neville Chamberlain (not to be confused with future Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain) mixed the format and rules and came up with a new game entirely. In 1884, snooker became a sport in its own right.

The name ‘snooker’ was already a term used by the military as a derogatory word for a newly joined cadet. Legend has it that Chamberlain called a fellow player who missed a shot ‘a real snooker’ referring to his lack of experience, and the name stuck.

The 1960’s and 70’s were a real turning point for snooker as the introduction of colour television meant snooker could be watched (and followed) more easily. And the emergence of snooker superstars such as Steve Davis, Cliff Thorburn, Ray Reardon, Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Jimmy White started to emerge soon after.

Snooker became a must-watch event for the big games and had peak TV viewing figures. This popularity was capitalised on with other snooker-based entertainment shows such as Pot Black and Big Break.

These days, although not quite hitting the levels that it previously has, snooker is still an extremely popular sport. Its growth, particularly in Asia, is ever strong and the sport continues to attract large sponsorship and TV deals, with World Championship prize money totalling £2,395,000.

Snooker Rules

Snooker is played on a rectangular table measuring 12 ft × 6 ft (3.7 m × 1.8 m), with a green cloth/baize surface and six pockets.

There is one pocket in each of the four corners and one in each of the long side cushions which are known as middle pockets.

Marked on the table are a baulk line, which is at around the three quarters point on the table, white spots for the ball placement and a semi-circle known as the D.

The game has one white ball, 15 red balls and six balls of different colours – yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black and the game is played with a cue.

Before a game starts, the snooker balls must be set up correctly on the table. The 15 red balls are put into a triangle with the point facing towards the D. The black ball is positioned behind the red triangle and the pink ball positioned in front.

The blue ball is positioned in the centre of the table, with the yellow, brown and green placed along the baulk line. The white cue ball begins inside the D.

The aim of snooker is to pot the coloured balls into the pockets using the cue and the cue ball, which is the white one. The coloured balls can only be struck by the white cue ball, or other coloured balls on the table, never directly with the cue.

Each of the coloured balls has a numerical value and you rack up points on the board by potting them consecutively in the correct order.

Snooker Scoring

The game of snooker begins with one player making a ‘break-off’, which is basically striking the cue ball with the cue, to send it towards the red balls to initiate the game.

Snooker is not just about potting the most balls, it’s a strategy game, based on playing safe until an opportunity comes to pot a series of balls in one consecutive run.

The ultimate aim is to be able to pot all of the balls in one unbroken run, and if you can do so, you can obtain the maximum score which is known as a 147 break.

Although this does happen occasionally, more often than not snooker is just about scoring the majority of points available on the table to beat your opponent.

So, let’s take a look at how you score points and how you win playing snooker.

Frames

Snooker is scored in frames and all matches follow the ‘Best of’ format. For example, you may have a ‘Best of 9’ snooker match, which means the first player to win five frames wins the match or a ‘Best of 7’ match, with the victor being the first player to win four frames. A frame is simply a single game of snooker.

In big tournaments such as the World Championships, the semi-finals have a ‘Best of 33’ frame format and the final has a ‘Best of 35’ format. These matches are played over several snooker sessions over a couple of days.

To win a frame, you must score more points than your opponent. This can mean that both players play until there are no balls left on the table. Alternatively, one player may concede if the value of the balls left on the table is much less than the difference in points between the two players.

In that scenario, the conceding player may decide it's not worth continuing with the frame as they have a very slim chance of winning it because mathematically it would require a lot of fouls from their opponent.

Balls and Points

We’ve already discussed that the white ball is the cue ball. It has zero value points-wise, but it is absolutely crucial to the game as its position determines whether a player can score points from the coloured balls or whether they have to play safe instead.

When a player is at the table, the aim is to try to score as many points as possible, which is known as a ‘break’. A player leaves the table when they fail to pot a ball, when they commit a foul or when the frame is over.

Snooker has a specific order when it comes to points scoring. A new player to the table must either try to pot a red ball, or play a safety shot by hitting a red ball with the cue ball and then getting the cue ball to a safe position.

When it comes to points, each red ball is worth one point, and this must be potted first, before the player can select a higher-value coloured ball to pot.

Once the coloured ball has been potted, the points are awarded to the player, and the ball is immediately returned back to its start position and the player goes back to potting the next red. This continues with alternative red balls/coloured balls until all of the red balls have been potted, with the player accumulating all of the points scored during their visit.

Once the red balls have been cleared, the coloured balls must be potted in the following order: Yellow, Green, Brown, Blue, Pink and Black.

The value of the balls are as follows:

• Red: 1 point

• Yellow: 2 points

• Green: 3 points

• Brown: 4 points

• Blue: 5 points

• Pink: 6 points

• Black: 7 points

It is very rare that a frame comes down to the black ball, with both players needing the final 7 points to win, but it can happen.

Fouls and Snookers

As previously mentioned, snooker isn’t just about potting balls, it’s much more about strategy.

Part of that strategy is to try to ‘snooker’ your opponent. What this means is that you put your opponent in a position from which they cannot make a direct hit at any eligible ball.

Say for example there is one red ball left on the table, but the player before you has left the white ball positioned in a way that you cannot directly hit the red ball. This means you have been ‘snookered’.

In order you take your turn, you will either have to play the white ball off one or more cushions to try to hit the red ball. Or alternatively, you will miss the red ball or hit a coloured ball instead, meaning you have committed a foul.

When a player commits a foul, a minimum of four points is awarded to their opponent. This can be five, six or seven points though if the player first hits or pots a blue, pink or black ball.

Snookering is an important part of snooker as it can be used effectively in a very close frame when one player needs additional points to even out the scores or wants control of the table.

Snooker Tournaments

Snooker tournaments run all year round from June to May. The majority of them take place across the UK, but there are also international venues too.

Some of the biggest tournaments of the 2024/25 season are as follows:

• July – Shanghai Masters

• August – Xi’an Grand Prix & Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters

• September – English Open & British Open

• October – Wuhan Open, & Northern Ireland Open

• November – International Championships & UK Championships

• December – Scottish Open

• January – Johnstone’s Paint Masters & German Masters

• February – Welsh Open

• March – World Open, Players Championship & Tour Championship

• Apr/May – World Championships

Snooker Betting Markets

As with all sports, when it comes to the biggest tournaments, the betting markets increase considerably.

If you look for snooker markets around the World Championships you will find an abundance of them.

However, because snooker takes place all year round, there are usually plenty of snooker bet options. These are some of the most popular snooker betting markets.

Match Winner

This is as simple as it sounds – betting on who will win the match. As with all other sports, the player with the lowest odds is the favourite to win.

Correct Score

This takes into account the amount of frames that are in each individual match. For example, in a recent match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, the snooker match was a ‘Best of 19’ frames match. Therefore, the first player to win 10 frames will win overall.

You can therefore bet on the correct score to be anything from 10-0 if you think one player will dominate every frame, to 10-9 if you think it will be a really tight match.

Correct scores are hard to predict so this market usually comes with high odds.

Handicap Betting

This is where one or both players are given a virtual lead or deficit in scoring in order to level out the playing field. For example, Ronnie O’Sullivan handicap betting at -2.5 would mean he would have to win with at least a three-frame advantage over his opponent for this bet to pay out.

Frame Betting

You can place bets on how many total frames you think there will be in a snooker match. You can also bet on individual frame winners, for example, Frame 1 Winner or Frame 2 Winner.

Pot Betting

If you’re a bettor that likes more intricate markets, then you can go as far as to bet on what you think the colour (excluding reds) of the first ball potted in each frame will be.

Break Betting

You can place bets on which opponent you think will get the highest break in the match and also what you think the highest break will be.

Breaking it down further, you can also place bets on what you think the highest break of each player will be, for example, if Ronnie O’Sullivan’s biggest break will be over 110 or under 90.

You can combine frame and break betting to say whether you think a player will score a break of 50 in frame one or frame two as an example.

Match Centuries & Half Centuries

A bet on how many centuries or half centuries will be scored overall in a match. You can also bet on individual player centuries and half-centuries.

147 Break

This is a bet on whether either player will hit the maximum 147 Break in the match.

Tournament Winner

This is an overall bet placed before the start of a big snooker tournament on who you think the overall winner will be.

Is Snooker Eligible For Matched Betting?

Absolutely. Just as with all sports, if the bookmaker promotions are available, then snooker is very much eligible for Matched Betting.

There are often more snooker bookmaker promotions when the major tournaments are taking place.

Companies such as Outplayed.com will provide a list of all the profitable snooker offers and instructions on how to complete them.

To find out more about Matched Betting and how you can use it to get the most out of snooker betting, check out our guide.