Rules of the Game


Snooker

Snooker is truly a great, intelligent game - it combines skill and strategy like no other billiard table game.
If you're not familiar with the game, do take the trouble to learn, I guarantee it will take you less than half an hour - and you will know and love snooker for the rest of your life.

Snooker is played with 15 reds and 6 'colours' and a 'white' cueball.
Each red is worth:-
1 point
The colours score:-

Yellow 2 points
Green 3 points
Brown 4 points
Blue 5 points
Pink 6 points
Black 7 points

At the start of the game the white (cueball) is placed anywhere inside the 'D' and player 1 'breaks'

The 'Break'
The first shot must contact a red before any other ball - or a foul is called.
Ideally - player 1 will pot (pocket/sink) 1 or more reds - but in snooker this is very hard, and rare, the more common alternative is to play a 'saftey' shot, clipping the 'pack' (of reds) - and returning the white to the top (right hand/balk) end of the table - again, ideally behind a colour.

A good break
The break shot
Before		 after the break
After
A BAD break
a lousy break
Several balls have been left that the opponent could pocket
From this point, players score points by potting balls, and from 'fouls' committed by their opponents.
Play alternates between the two players - excepting that when a player pots a valid ball - he recives another turn.
The sequence that the balls must be potted in is:-

  • Any red
  • Any chosen colour
  • Any red
  • Any chosen colour
    Repeat - until no reds remain.
    when each colour is potted, it is replaced on its own spot.
    then:-
    Yellow,green,brown,blue,pink,black
    (during this stage the colours do NOT come back up - unless they have been potted as part of a foul, for example, out of sequence)
    Fortunately, Quicksnooker will guide you through all of this - it always shows you what to 'shoot at' in the panel at the bottom of the screen. Panel showing ball(s) to shoot at next It also deals with respotting the colours, and refereeing and scoring fouls.

    Fouls
    Failure to strike a red (before any other ball) - penalty four points
    The penalty is increased to 5, 6 or 7 if, instead of a red, the cue-ball strikes a colour.
    Failure to strike a valid colour also carries a penalty of four points, or more (to the value of the colour hit or the colour that was supposed to be hit). Also, if you have just sunk a red and may now shoot at any colour, the colour that you first hit is the one you must sink - sinking a different one is a foul.

    Snookers
    It should be obvious from the above, that often a player can score more points by forcing his opponenet into an 'awkward' (or impossible) situation - the act of so doing being a 'snooker'

    Other rules
    There are a number of other minor rules - you are unlikely to see some of them occur at all, and when they do they are handled by clear 'pop-ups' in the program - it should be obvious what to do - and why.

    A closely related issue is the roulette and blackjack rules used in online casino games."

    Footnote:-There are two minor rules (free ball) and respotting of the black upon a draw that are not implimented in QuickSnooker


    • Pool


    The registered version includes 'British' pool - as played on coin-op tables in the UK.
    It features a nicely animated set of stripes and spots. Here's my very quick summary of the rules.

    • Player A breaks and generally attempts to pot one or more balls.
    • Whichever ball player A pots he adopts that set (stripes or spots) - if he pots a ball from both sets he may choose either set
    • Player A must now pot all of his balls in any pockets, in any order - he must always touch one of his own balls as the first impact in any shot, if he succeeds in potting a ball he takes another turn.
    • If a player - fails to hit his own ball first, fails to hit a ball at all, hits the black first, or pots one of his opponent's balls (even indirectly) he incurs a foul entitling his opponent to a free shot.
    • During a free shot, a player may strike any object ball first, and may even (if for example his opponent has a pocket covered) pot one of opponents ball's - without incurring a foul.
    • The winning player is the first to pot the Black - having first potted all of their own balls.

    9-ball


    The registered version includes 9-ball, a game found mostly in the United States. The rules in QuickSnooker are not exactly standard, due to some limitations of computer simulations.
    Here's my very quick summary of the rules we use.

  • A game is played as a best of n 'frames' (or 'legs'), where n is an add number.Player A breaks and generally attempts to pot one or more balls.
  • At the start of each frame the object balls are arrange in a diamond with the 9-ball at the centre and the 1-ball at the head. The player with the first shot may place the ball anywhere behind the balk line.
  • The players take turns shooting, except that if a player legally sinks an object ball, they get another turn.
  • There are two ways to win - by (legally) sinking the 9-ball, or by having your opponent foul with three shots in a row.
  • Fouls are committed in the following ways:
    • On every shot (including the break) the cue ball must first hit the lowest-numbered ball on the table. (If you aren't familiar with which colour represents which number, remember to check in the score panel to see what you must aim at.) Hitting any other ball first, or not hitting anything at all, is a foul.
    • On the break, at least two object balls must hit cushions, or a ball must be sunk. Otherwise, it is a foul. (Note: this is one of the differences from 'real' 9-ball - then, at least four balls must hit the cushions.)
    • On each subsequent shot, at least one ball (either an object ball or the cue ball) must hit a cushion, or an object ball must be potted - otherwise it is a foul.
    • Sinking the cueball at any time is a foul.
  • After any foul, the ball is 'in hand' - the next player may place the cueball anywhere on the table. If an object ball has been potted on a foul shot, it remains potted unless it is the 9-ball (or the cueball).
  • The one exception to the foul rules is a 'pushout', which may be claimed immediately after the break.
    • On a pushout, the second player may hit any ball first without incurring a foul. (This is done because it is usual for the 1-ball to be difficult or impossible to hit after the break.)
    • A player gets only one shot on a pushout, even if they sink a ball. (If they sink the 9-ball, it is replaced on the table.)
    • After the pushout, it is the breaker's shot, but if he does not like the way the balls have been left, he may request the second player to shoot again (without the benefit of the pushout.) This is to prevent the second player from taking advantage of the flexibility of the pushout to leave the breaker in an impossible position.
    • Note that a pushout is not automatic - if the second palyer is happy with the way the balls have ended up on the break, he may play as usual.
  • Note: The balls may be sunk in any order, and in particular the 9-ball may be sunk at any time. The rule is only that the lowest-numbered ball must be the first one hit, so if you can knock the 1-ball into the 9-ball in such a way that the 9-ball goes into a pocket, you can win a frame very quickly.