Tickets for 2015/16 season events

[swest]

Greetings, Ugly American here...

My son and I are keen to attend a World Snooker event in the 2015/16 season. I'm not sure that it matters too much where we go (in the world), but I suppose the likelihood of getting to see any, or all, of the top 32 goes up if we make it to the UK.

Anyway, I have a few questions about making this happen, and, since I have zero experience doing this, those questions are going to be pretty basic.

1. Is it even possible for us to get desirable tickets to a desirable event? I'm thinking Masters, World Championship, Goldfields, Indian Open, German Masters, etc.
2. Is there a central clearinghouse of any kind for World Snooker tickets? Or is it all venue-by-venue?
3. Is there any kind of a Guide (?) for people like us, that answers the sorts of questions that come up?

Thanks for your time.

- s.west
Arizona, USA

[SnookerFan]

Not been to the UKs since they moved back to York, so can't really comment what ticket buying is like these days. Though, if you're travelling there, I'd advise that hotels in York do seem pretty costly. The Worlds are good, and worth going to see just for Sheffield. But now they make you buy them a year in advance, it's a bit of a pain in the neck. (I booked mine at 9am the day after last year's Crucible final.) You can sometimes gets tickets closer to the event, but it's a bit of a lottery as to what is left.

From a purely ticket buying perspective, your best bet is The Masters. They start selling months in advance, but people tend to wait until after the matches have been announced to buy them. Most people like to know who they're seeing. Tickets to Ronnie matches will go like lightning, as will the final. But most other matches you should be alright. To get close to the front, you'll probably have to book before the matches are announced. But, if you aren't that fussed about where you sit, most matches will have tickets available for a few days after matches are announced. Warning though.

World Snooker tends to use SeeTickets for it's ticket purchases, so I'd try their first. Or go to the World Snooker website ticket buying bit.