Snooker Tables

SNOOKER TABLES

Overview          History          Rules

As with Pool tables that are a range of different styles and designs of Snooker Tables that have been tailored for use in different locations and are aimed at different types of use.

There is now a large range of lightweight MDF bed Snooker tables. These are light enough to be moved by 2 people from the middle to the side of a room, and in some cases feature folding mechanisms so the table can be easily stored vertically or horizontally when not in use.

MDF Bed Snooker Table                                                                    Slate Bed Snooker Table

There are also a number of slate bed tables available and these superbly designed and manufactured Snooker tables range in size from 7ft long to full size 12ft tournament tables. With these tables there are professional fitters who can be used to install for customers.

History of Snooker

Snooker is thought to have originated in the latter half of the 19th Century as a variation of traditional Billiards, a popular leisure activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India. Around the years of 1874-1875 it became popular to add coloured balls to the reds and black used for Pyramid pool - and this new game was christened "Snooker", apparently a period slang term for inexperienced military personnel.

The game of Snooker grew in popularity and in 1927 the first World Snooker Championship was held, leading to the game attaining a professional status.  Although Snooker was popular throughout the 30s and 40s, by the 1960s it generated very little interest outside the players circuit. It was the introduction of colour television that revived Snooker's fortunes when the BBC commissioned "Pot Black" -  a Snooker tournament television programme that perfectly demostrated the potential of the new medium thanks to the green baize and coloured balls.

Today it is fair to say that Snooker has lost out in the popularity stakes to Pool, particularly in pubs, however the tournaments are still regularly televised and the recent resurgence in home games tables has seen the traditional 12ft Snooker table redesigned to smaller, lighter dimensions for the home environment - suggesting there is still plenty of public interest in this sport.

Rules of Snooker

The aim of Snooker is to score more points than the opponent by potting object balls in a predefined order.

The balls are positioned on the table as per the picture below, and the players take it in turns to hit a shot in a single strike from the tip of the cue. The first, "Break-off Shot" is when the cue ball is placed anywhere inside the D.

The aim is to pot a red ball and score a point. When a red is legally potted then the same player has a second shot, this time aiming to pot a coloured ball and score more points. If the coloured ball is successfully potted then it is then returned to its starting position on the table and the player must try to pot a red again. The game continues like this until the player fails to pot the correct ball and then the opponent has their turn at the table. The total number of points amassed in one turn at the table is know as a "break" - the maximum point break being 147.

Points

Red - 1, Yellow - 2, Green - 3, Brown - 4, Blue - 5, Pink - 6, Black -7

Once all the reds have been cleared and the 6 colours are left the aim is to pot the colours in this order: Yellow, Green, Brown, Blue, Pink, Black). When the colours are potted at this stage they remain off the table. When the final ball is potted the frame is over and the player with the most points wins.

Fouls

Common fouls include:

* Failing to hit another ball with the cue ball

* Hitting the wrong ball with the cue ball

* Potting the wrong ball with cue ball

* Potting the white

* Hitting a ball other than the cue ball with the cue

* Knocking a ball from the table

* Touching the ball with something other than the cue tip

* "Pushing" the cue ball (where the cue, cue ball and object ball are all in contact)

* Playing a "Jump Shot" where a ball leaves the table

* Playing a shot with both feet of the ground

In Snooker one frame lasts from the balls starting in their first position until they have all been potted. A Snooker Match consists of a predetermined number of frames - for example the "Best of Nine" is a match where a player would win by five frames, and longer matches - particularly in Championships can be up to 35 frames in length and take place over several days.