New highest break in snooker - 153 by Ronnie O'Sullivan
I’m not especially into sports, but I am quite into weird quirks of sports, especially rules. Snooker in particular has a few odd ones that are not well known.
One of them is that it is possible to score more than the “maximum” of 147. Which Ronnie O’Sullivan has just done.
If you know nothing about snooker but still want to read...
- Players alternate turns, potting balls to score points. Pot one and you keep going; miss and it’s your opponent’s turn.
- The consecutive points scored in a single visit to the table are called a break.
- Balls are either red (1 pt each) or a colour — yellow (2), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6), black (7).
- While reds remain on the table, you must alternate: pot a red, then a colour. Colours are respotted after being potted; reds stay down.
- Once all reds are gone, you pot the colours in order from yellow through to black.
How to get 147
Under normal circumstances, 147 is indeed the maximum possible break:
| Balls | Total |
|---|---|
| 15 reds | 15 |
| 15 blacks | 105 |
| Yellow | 2 |
| Green | 3 |
| Brown | 4 |
| Blue | 5 |
| Pink | 6 |
| Black | 7 |
| Total | 147 |
How to beat 147
A break higher than 147 only becomes possible through a free ball. If the incoming player is left snookered on all 15 reds as a direct result of an opponent’s foul, the referee awards a free ball. The player nominates any other ball on the table to act as a red for that shot, scoring 1 point if potted. Crucially, that ball is then respotted to its original position, and the player continues by playing a colour in the normal way.
The effect is that the player now has the opportunity to pot what is effectively a 16th red at the start of the break, gaining up to 8 bonus points (1 for the free ball plus 7 for the following black). The theoretical maximum with a free ball is therefore 155, though this has never been achieved in professional competition.
This means the player necessarily scores even more in total since they get the points from the foul too. But that is not part of the break. This also means there is no limit for maximum score since your opponent can just keep fouling.
Other 16 red clearances
Alex Higgins managed the first professional 16 red clearance in 1982, but only scored 135. For extra gravitas he did do it in the final frame of the final of the world championship.
Jamie Burnett got the first professional break greater than 147, just, with a 148 in 2004.
Some other lesser known snooker rules.
References are to WPBSA - Official Rules of the Games of Snooker and English Billiards
- If you foul while attempting the final black, the frame ends. §2 1.d
- Being blocked by the jaws of the pocket does not count as being snookered. §2 17.e
- You cannot be awarded a free ball if only the pink and black remain. §3 12.b.ii
- It is okay for a ball to leave the table, as long as it ends up back on the table. §2 14
That last one has mattered occasionally when the ball runs along the cushion but drops back into the play area.
Any other situation is challenging since you have to make sure you don’t break other rules, for example:
- No jumping over other balls. §2 20
- No moving the balls. §3 16