Snooker Overview

By: Colette Thyman


How about a game of snooker? A surprisingly high number of people in North America have not heard of or played this great billards variation. In the rest of the world, most people choose to play snooker in billiards rooms and pool halls. And in terms of televised sports in England, snooker is one of the most highly viewed programs. It's time snooker got more applause in North America, too.

Snooker started as a simple variation of pool. Called "pyramid pool" by regulars, the game was basically a variation on the "life" and "black" games of pool. The popularity of snooker really began to gain steam when Sir Neville Chamberlain, a regiment soldier in India, modified it around 1875. Soldiers in the English military enjoyed the game, and its popularity continued to grow until had reached its modern prestigious spot in England.

Newcomers may find it a bit intimidating to learn snooker, but the actual rules are not that complicated. Perhaps the most difficult part is setting the table properly:

* Snooker is played on 6 feet by 12 feet traditional billiards tables.

* Snooker balls make up a set of 22. Fifteen red balls are the minions of the game, while the white cue ball is used to strike with. And one ball of each of 6 colors: blue, brown, black, pink, green, and yellow.

* The green, brown, yellow balls are placed at one end of the table, with a 6 inch gap between them. The blue ball goes in the dead center of the table. Pink splits the distance between the blue ball and the end of the table cushion on the far side. The black ball gets its own special spot, marked about 13 inches from the far cushion.

* The 15 red balls are grouped into a triangle, with the aid of a racking device, and then are placed just behind the pink ball. Come close to the pink but don't touch it.

Once the balls are properly set, the game can begin. The breaking player strikes the triangle of red balls. When a player sinks a red ball, he or she is then free to shoot and sink any one of the six colored balls. The yellow ball is worth two points, the green is worth three, the brown ball is worth four, the blue is five, the pink is six, and the black is worth seven points. When a colored ball has been sunk, the point is scored and the ball is retrieved and re-spotted on the table.

There are also varieties of snooker that you can try out after you have mastered the basic game. As you can see, snooker is not terribly complex, but it can still be a drag on the fun part of the game for newcomers trying too remember all the rules, so it is best to have an experienced player explain the snooker rules to you.

Snooker has been a popular sport in England and other parts of the world for more than a century, and with good reason. It's fun, skillful and relatively easy to play. If you have a regulation size table, consider investing in set of snooker balls, and add a whole new dimension to your game playing.

Article Source: http://www.articleyard.com


Information about the Author:

Barbara Miller loves writing for a variety of web magazines, on recreation as well as recreation facility subjects.
Don't reprint the same version as everyone else. Get your own unique content snooker article here.