snooker rules

[lkomarci]

there are few things that i don't quite understand, except from what i see on the telly

situation :
1: when does a referee call a 'miss' and when 'foul and a miss'? and what are the sanctions after that?
2: a 'foul' occurs when the player pots a wrong ball, or even makes contact with the wrong ball, correct?
3: if you play without a referee, which of these rules do still apply? i assume that your opponent can't make you respot the cue ball can he?
4: in what situations does a player have 'free ball' and how many points to you get for potting a free ball (1?)?
5: when is a frame automatically conceded?

[Kyra]

there are few things that i don't quite understand, except from what i see on the telly

situation :
1: when does a referee call a 'miss' and when 'foul and a miss'? and what are the sanctions after that?
2: a 'foul' occurs when the player pots a wrong ball, or even makes contact with the wrong ball, correct?
3: if you play without a referee, which of these rules do still apply? i assume that your opponent can't make you respot the cue ball can he?
4: in what situations does a player have 'free ball' and how many points to you get for potting a free ball (1?)?
5: when is a frame automatically conceded?

1. There's no miss without a foul. A miss will be called when the player doesn't hit the Ball on first or not at all. It's a foul either way. If a miss will be called depends on the situation and on the ability of the players. What's the outcome ? The non-striker (player B) will be awarded the foul points (depending on the value of the balls involved). Then player A has the choice of having the balls replaced to the original position (before the foul) and give player B another attempt. The second option would be to let player B continue from where the balls landed after the foul. Another option for player A would be to take the situation and play himself.
Note: The option the replace the balls only comes into effect when a miss was being called.
2. correct. A foul is also being called if you don't hit a ball on at all.
3. These rules always apply. There is no section in the rulebook that gives directions what to do when playing without a referee. If you want to apply the miss rule depends. There are a lot of players who don't apply it when playing a friendly game in their local club. I think you and your opponent should agree before the game if you want to apply the miss rule or not.
4. You get a free ball if you are snookered on all balls on after a foul was comitted by your opponent. The points awarded depend on the value of the ball on. Let say you are snookered on a red and play green as a free ball. it's worth one point. If you are snookered on the blue and choose pink as the free ball, you will get 5 points (as pink acts as a "replacement" for the blue).
5. A frame is not automatically conceded. A player who already needs snooker can concede a frame. But only if he's the striker.

[lkomarci]

thank you for the explanation. I might have some more questions after tonight's session

[Kyra]

thank you for the explanation. I might have some more questions after tonight's session

You're welcome There are a lot of very competent people here who will be happy to help you with your questions.

[davis_greatest]

To get up to speed on these and other rules properly, it is worth reading the full rules, published here:

http://www.worldsnooker.com/rules_of_snooker.htm

Incidentally, section 3, 19(c): "When there is no referee, such as in a social game, the opposing player or side will be regarded as such for the purpose of these Rules."

[lkomarci]

thank you for the link davis.

nominating a ball. Is it mandatory? There are some snooker tournaments I watched on TV where players had to nominate the balls out loud, and in most of the tournaments I can't say that I've noticed the same.

[The Statman]

thank you for the link davis.

nominating a ball. Is it mandatory? There are some snooker tournaments I watched on TV where players had to nominate the balls out loud, and in most of the tournaments I can't say that I've noticed the same.

You only have to "nominate" a ball, i.e. say it out loud, if requested by the referee.

A lot of players, though – John Higgins in particular – often say it out of habit and the referee will always repeat it when it is said, in case he hears it wrong.

The referee would only usually ask a player to nominate if it is not obvious. For example, if the direction he is cueing is towards more than one colour, or if he is snookered on all colours after a red.

[lkomarci]

The referee would only usually ask a player to nominate if it is not obvious. For example, if the direction he is cueing is towards more than one colour, or if he is snookered on all colours after a red.

I see, so that's for the purpose if there's a chance that player might commit a foul? So, if I'm snookered, and I nominate the yellow. However, I miss the yellow and hit the black, how many points is my opponent getting awarded with. 2, for the yellow that I've nominated, or 7 for the black that I've actually hit?

[The Statman]

It would be 7 for "hitting the black".

The foul for a yellow would be 4, not 2. 4 is the minimum foul value, so fouls are 7 for black, 6 for pink, 5 for blue, and 4 for brown and green and yellow and red.

In the shot you describe, you can look at it as two fouls - one is failing to hit the correct ball first and the other is hitting the wrong ball first. The highest foul value is given, so that is 7. Any foul will be at least the value of the ball you are going for.

Look at this example:
* You are going for pink.
* You hit the pink first.
* A red enters a pocket

Here, the only foul that has occurred is the 4-point foul for knocking the red in. BUT, as you were going for the pink, the penalty will be 6 because it was a shot on the pink.

Looking at it in the extreme, imagine a shot where the following happens:
* You are going for the blue
* You miss the blue and hit the pink first
* The brown ends up going into a pocket
* You touch a red with your sleeve or cue
* The cue-ball goes in
* The yellow ends up going into a pocket

Here, a number of fouls have happened.
Firstly you missed the blue, so that's 5
Secondly you hit the pink, so that's 6
Thirdly you pocketed the brown, so that's 4
Fourthly you touched a red, so that's 4
Fifthly you've gone in-off, so that's 4
Sixthly you've pocketed the yellow, so that's 4

In this case you would give the highest value penalty, in this case the 6 points for hitting the pink.

[lkomarci]

I see, thank you very much. I was never quite certain how much points does opponent get awarded for which foul but this explains everything now.

Something else occured on today's session. Touching ball. First I potted a red. Then the cue ball came to rest touching another red ball. After this, I could only see the green, so of course I nominated it and potted it. That was all ok, correct?

But let's say...I potted a colour, and the cue ball came to rest on a red.. ->touching ball. Which one is the next to pot/attempt to pot? Red or again a colour?

[The Statman]

I see, thank you very much. I was never quite certain how much points does opponent get awarded for which foul but this explains everything now.

Something else occured on today's session. Touching ball. First I potted a red. Then the cue ball came to rest touching another red ball. After this, I could only see the green, so of course I nominated it and potted it. That was all ok, correct?

But let's say...I potted a colour, and the cue ball came to rest on a red.. ->touching ball. Which one is the next to pot/attempt to pot? Red or again a colour?

Yes, the touching ball only matters if it touching a ball that you are going for.

So, if you pot a red and you land touching another red, it doesn't matter - you still have to play for a colour. Like you say, if you hit it and pot it (green in your example) that's fine.

Likewise, if you pot a colour and end up touching another colour, you must still play for a red. (Or when the reds are gone, if you land touching any colour apart from the next one in the sequence, you must still go for the correct colour.)

You must be careful not to move the ball you are touching; that would be a foul.

But, if you are going for a red and touching a red, you have two options:
EITHER - Play away from the touching red and you are considered to have hit it. So you can hit a colour and you are still considered to have hit the red first.
OR - Play for another red (which you may pot), again taking care not to move the one you are touching.

And, if you pot a red and land touching a colour, you can:
EITHER - Nominate the colour that you are touching, and play away from it (this is treated the same way as the first 'red' option above)
OR - Nominate a different colour and hit it (the same as the second 'red' option above.

[DawRef]

Just to add, if after pocketing a red you end up touching a colour, the referee will call 'Touching ball, please nominate." As stated, you can nominate the ball the cue ball is touching and just play away, or nominate another colour and hit that. If you don't say anything and just play your shot, the referee will penalise you seven points (Section 3, rule 12(d)(v)), even if you hit the black. This actually happened in a match between Cliff Thorburn and Alex Higgins.