Snooker

What is Snooker?

Snooker is the cue sport of the long green table: fifteen reds, six colours and a white cue ball on a table twelve feet long, with six pockets that only just take a ball. Here you play it on a full-size table against the computer, from a gentle opponent to one that makes breaks and plays safe.

The reds are worth 1 each; the colours are yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6 and black 7. A frame is won by scoring more points than your opponent, and the most a single visit can make without any help from fouls is the famous 147. Every day brings a Daily frame, the same for everyone.

How to play Snooker

You break off the first frame from the D, the half circle on the baulk line, and the break-off alternates after it.

• Reds and colours. While reds remain, pot a red, then any colour, then a red again. A colour potted then comes back to its spot. When the reds are gone, the colours go down in order: yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black.
• Aiming. Drag your finger on the cloth: the cue follows it and the guide draws the line to the first ball. On Easy it also shows the ghost ball and where both balls go; on Medium the ghost ball; on Hard only the line. The two small arrows fine-tune the aim.
• Spin and power. Touch the white disc high for follow or low for draw, then pull the power bar down and let go.
• Zoom. On a small screen the table zooms in on your shot while you aim and backs out while the balls run. The magnifier button turns that off and on.
• Fouls. Hitting the wrong ball first, missing every ball, potting the cue ball or a ball that is not on, a push stroke or a ball off the table is a foul. Your opponent scores the value of the ball involved, at least 4.
• Free ball. If a foul leaves you snookered, so that you cannot hit both sides of any ball on, you get a free ball: any ball can be played as the ball on.
• The end of a frame. The frame ends when the black is potted. If the scores are level then, the black is re-spotted and played again. You can concede a frame once you need snookers, and the computer gives up a frame it can no longer sensibly win.

Tips and strategy

1. Think about the next ball. A pot is worth one or two points; the position it leaves is worth the rest of the break. Use follow and draw to stop the white near the black or the pink.
2. Pot the colour that keeps you going. After a red, the black is worth most, but a blue that leaves you straight on another red can be the better choice.
3. Play safe when nothing is on. A soft touch on a red that sends the white back to the baulk cushion leaves the computer nothing easy.
4. Mind the push. When the white comes to rest touching or almost touching a ball, play away from it. The guide turns red if your stroke would be a push.
5. Use the zoom on long pots. The ghost ball and the pocket are tiny on a phone; let the table zoom in, nudge the aim with the arrows, then strike.

Frequently asked questions

Is Snooker free?

Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account.

Which rules does it use?

The WPBSA's Official Rules of the Games of Snooker and English Billiards, with a few simplifications for quick play on a phone: there is no miss rule and no option to make the offender play again, the colour you are on after a red is the one you hit first, a push stroke is a stroke into a touching or almost touching ball, a ball leaves the table only when it slams into a pocket jaw, and a frame still going after 300 strokes goes to the player ahead.

How long is a match?

Easy is one frame and Medium and Hard are the best of three. Before your first stroke you can choose either length on any level. The Daily is one frame against the medium computer.

How is my score worked out?

500 for winning the match, plus your points per frame on average, plus twice your highest break.

What is the Daily frame?

Every day everyone plays the same frame against the same medium computer, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.