Snooker is played with a set of 15 red balls, 6 colored balls (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black) and the cue ball. The object balls are unnumbered and each color has a different point value starting from the red=1 point, yellow=2, green=3, brown=4, blue=5, pink=6 and black=7 points.

The object of the snooker game is to get the higher score. The game ends when all the balls on the table have been potted legally, and the player with the highest score wins the game. That unless the game ended with even scores, in that case one of the players plays the black ball with the cue ball in hand, and the first foul or score ends the game. The snooker players scores points for legally potting the balls and for their opponents’ fouls.

How to Play Snooker on Play89?

When playing online snooker, the balls are already placed in their spots, so you don’t have to care about it too much. The same goes for the lag – the system names the first player randomly.

So, the online snooker game begins with the opening break shot, taken with the cue ball in hand within the half circle. The striker needs to cause the cue ball to hit a red ball (any red ball). If he succeeds, his turn continues. If fails, the incoming player can either continue shooting from the current position or ask the first player to strike again.

While the reds are still on the table, the players have to strike a red ball and a color ball alternately. The first ball in a turn must be red, and then color, and so on. Before playing a color ball, the striker must designate a specific ball and then cause the cue ball to hit the same ball.

Once all the reds have been pocketed, the rules change. From this phase and until the end of the game, each player on his turn has to strike the color balls in ascending order – from the lowest numbered ball still on the table and up.  

Snooker is an entirely different Olympic sport than pocket billiard games such as 8-ball and 9-ball. Played on a baize-covered table (12 footer on official tournaments) with 6, slightly narrower pockets, snooker is a rotation game, in which the players have to gather more points to win, by potting (=pocketing) the red balls and the color balls alternately, following specific game’s rules. 

In snooker, the cue ball is still the cue ball but the legal object ball is called  "ball on" and it can be "red" or "color", which has to be "potted" instead of pocketed. 

Ball on/On Ball – the color ball designated by the striker 

Break – the total score accumulated by one player. The highest snooker break is 147 

Color – any of the 6 unnumbered object balls: yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black. 

Cue ball in hand within the half circle/ Cue ball in hand within the D – the area defined by the half circle marked at the head of the table where the cue ball is placed on the opening break shot or after a foul 

Frame – one game of snooker 

In-off – when a player pots the cue ball (same as scratch in pool) 

Pot (v.) – to sink an object ball to a pocket 

Red/Reds – the group of 15 red, unnumbered object balls 

Snooker – not only the name of the most popular billiard game in the UK; the term snooker refers to situations when the cue ball is blocked (=snookered) by another ball therefore, the striker cannot play the ball on directly. 

Striker – the snooker player whose turn is to play at the table

You can start reciting these terms cause snooker is coming soon to Play89!

Next up, introduction to snooker rules

Play89 is happy to announce that the launch of its snooker platform is expected by the end of this week… 

• 4 different types of games:
  • Mini snooker – instant game played with 3 balls  
  • 6-ball snooker – fast paced snooker
  • 10-ball snooker – similar to 10-ball pool
  • Classic snooker – play 15 red balls and 6 colored balls 

• New and realistic snooker table and the same real-life physics we all have met when playing 8ball and 9ball pool on Play89 
• Weekly tournaments with Jimmy White… yes, yes, every Monday 20:00 GMT sharp, Mr. Whirlwind himself will compete against Play89’s most exquisite snooker players…

Shane Van Boening was named the 2007 Player of the Year by The United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA). The 2007 US Open 9-Ball champion was chosen for his "exceptional (billiards) skill/talent" and for his "vast determination for perfecting the game". 

23 years old resident of South Dakota has been regarded as one of America’s most promising pool players. After claiming the 2007 US Open 9-Ball Championship and the Predator World 10-Ball Championship, and finalizing in many prestigious pool tournaments including Enjoypool.com 9-Ball Championship, World Summit of Pool and Mosconi Cup Team Member, Van Boening had righteously earned the UPA 2007 Player of the Year. 

Grandson of a trick shot artist and a son of BCA national champion (as well as a grandson - both his mother and grandmother won BCA national championships), Shane Van Boening started playing pool when members of his age group where still learning to turn doorknobs. Not surprisingly, the 3-times Valley National Eightball Association (VNEA) 8-ball champion, has become one of the top pool players in the US at the early age of 22. 

Now, turning 24, Shane Van Boening is expected to reach higher peaks and to become the number one pool player in the US.

The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) has finally released of the official rules of ten ball pool. In addition, the first WPA World Ten Ball Championship is currently in production. 

Ten Ball Pool Rules in Short

The pool game of ten ball commences with the opening break shot, in which the breaker plays with the cue ball behind the head string. To perform a legal opening break shot, the breaker must either pocket an object ball or cause at least four balls to hit the rail. If a player pockets the 10-ball on the break (without calling a shot), he wins the game.

After a legal break shot, the player may announce a push out. The players must call on every shot, except on the break shot. When a player pockets a ball legally, he/she may continue for the next shot. When a player fouls or fails to pocket a ball, his/her opponent plays from the position left on the table. When the 10-ball has been pocketed legally, the player wins the game.

Charity 8-balll pool tournament, in the memory of Dave Edwards, will take place on February 2^nd, 2008 at the Q-Club in Terre Haute, Indiana, and will help to raise money to brain cancer research. The tournament manager is the well known trick shot master Tom Rossman (who is mainly known as Dr. Cue). 

Dave Edwards was a local pool player who died of glioblastoma multiforme, a fatal type of brain cancer in 2006. His colleagues from the area’s billiards circuit wanted to perpetuate his name by dedicating a charity pool tournament in his memory, which will benefit brain cancer research. 

The 1st Annual Dave Edwards Memorial 8-Ball Tournament raised several thousands dollars, which were donated to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University and two more brain cancer research organizations. 

The 2nd Annual Dave Edwards Memorial 8-Ball Tournament is scheduled to Saturday, February 2, 2008, starting at 10 AM. Throughout the tournament sets, Dr. Cue will be performing his trick shots mastery. 

On top of being highly respected Olympic sports, billiards traditionally belongs to the family of drinking games or pub games. These drinking or pub games involve sipping large amounts of beer, as penalize for foul, declaration of victory or any other part of the game rules. Since lots of pubs include a pool table (or more) as part of their setting, many variations of standard pool games were reinvented as drinking games. 

Stripes and Solids, for example, is a drinking variation of 8 ball pool. As all drinking games, it doesn’t have an obliging set of rules and it rules may vary from one place to another. 

In short, the group of solid balls is placed in the normal location of the rack. The striped balls are organized along the side rails of the pool table. The goal of the pool-drinking game is to pocket all striped balls. When a player pockets a ball he must drink the number of the pocketed ball. All pocketed solid balls are being re-spotted, as long as there are still striped balls on the table. When the last of the striped balls is pocketed, the game is over. 

Another drinking game inspired of the billiards world is Shot Pool, which is a drinking variation of snooker. To play the game you must have the standard snooker equipment, beer, red bull vodka, black Russian and a steal liver. The game is played according to ordinary snooker rules with some drinking additions. Each time a player pots a red ball he has to drink the red drink and when a colored ball is potted, the player swigs beer. The winner of the game swallows a dose of black Russian, or orders the losing player to drink it.

The 10th annual Derby City Classic has finally come to its end with Francisco Bustamante claiming the all-around title. Bustamante who was a quarterfinalist in the 9-ball bank event, a semifinalist in the one pocket and a finalist in the 9-ball event, took home the $30,000 bonus prize. The finalist and semifinalist at the over-all competition are Gabe Owen, the winner of the one pocket event and Larry Nevel, respectively. The 9-ball division was won by Ralf Souquet, for the third time in his career.

The Derby City Classic action was so hot on Thursday eve that two fire squads had to stop the 9-ball and one pocket tournaments from proceeding while clearing off the audience from the area. The entire break took less than an hour before the action was back at the tournament room at the Executive West Hotel, which hosts the 10th annual Derby City Classic for over a week. 

Thursday’s night fire alarm and evacuation postponed the last round in the one pocket tournaments in a day. By then, last year’s one pocket champ, Efren Reyes dropped off the competition along with Shannon Daulton and Darren Appleton. The 7th round (out of eight) ended with Ralf Souquet triumph over Ron Casanzio. 

Final round of Derby City Classic one pocket tournament was completed with Cliff Joyner defeat to Gabe Owen, who, earlier this week, has amazed the audience by pocketing 60 balls out of 75 at the one pocket challenge. Owen aka "The Babe" is the only player besides Larry Nevel who hasn’t lost in any of the matches in the Louisville pool event.

Derby City Classic is still in progress. The 9-ball bank part of the event ended with Larry Price’s victory, his second Derby City Classic bank championship since 2002. But last year’s All-Round winner Filipino magician Efren Reyes, kissed his title goodbye as he was wiped out of the bank pool competition on Sunday, during a match against Tony Fergeson. Reyes still got a chance to recover his credit during the one pocket competitions, due to start today.