Snooker Practice Games

Snooker is a table game popular in the United Kingdom, where it has become a major sport that people can watch on television, or play in clubs and at home. The sport has also gained popularity in America since the foundation of the United States Snooker Association in 1991. Similar in some ways to billiards, the object of snooker is to accumulate more points than your opponent. Dedicated players have several practice games they play to learn advantages of certain angles and the various ways of pocketing balls.

The Set-Up

The red balls are racked in a triangle on one end of the table, just like in billiards. The colored balls each have a designated spot of their own: pink at the apex of the triangle pointing toward the middle of the table, black between the cushion and the base of the triangle, blue in the middle, and yellow, green and brown on the baulk line. Begin by knocking 15 red balls into pockets around the table, called potting. Once all the reds have been potted, the yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black ball must be potted in sequential order. Each red ball is worth one point, yellow is two points, green is three points, and so on up to black, which is worth seven points.

The Line-Up

Instead of racking up the red balls as usual, line them up across the length of the tables middle with the blue, pink and black ball among them in any order. The yellow, brown and green balls go on the baulk line. The baulk line is 29-inches away from cushion on the other end of the table and helps determine the legal half-circle area where the cue ball may be placed to strike the other balls. In this variation, the cue ball start position is played from anywhere on the table, then it must be played from where it comes to rest anytime thereafter. The object is to clear the reds first, then the colors, yellow through black. As with most practice games, any time you miss a pot you must replace the balls and start again.

The Clock

Place the cue ball in the center of the table. Then, like a clock, place two red balls in the one oclock position, two in the three oclock position, and two more at five, seven, nine and eleven oclock, for a total of 12 red balls on the table surrounding the cue ball. No colors are used for this variation. The object is to pot the reds in any order, however the cue ball must always be returned to the center position after each shot. The idea behind this practice game is to find as many set up shots as possible for making pots. Replace all balls and start again any time you miss a pot.

The Rex Williams

Professional champion player Rex Williams offered this practice variation in his book, "Snooker How to Become a Champion," in 1975. Set up two red rows with space between each ball, perpendicular to the baulk line but on the opposite end of the table. One row contains five balls while the second row contains four balls. The colored balls go in their normal set up position, black on the far end, blue in the middle, pink between the blue and the reds, and yellow, brown and green on the baulk line. Use the cue ball to break the two rows of reds and pot each one as it becomes available. The object is to pot all the reds before potting any colors. You may use the cue ball to break the reds from anywhere on the table. This extremely challenging variation must be played carefully to prevent sinking the black ball prematurely, and it will improve breaking skills.