a break of 5?

[The Statman]

Actually, I think chasmmi's right. We both missed green then yellow (I ruled it out as impossible for no good reason that I can think of now), so that makes 15.

Enjoy your meal

Great minds think alike!

[chasmmi]

*basks in the recognition of brilliance from senior forum members.*

[davis_greatest]

This makes me to think that, this is a possible question for "puzzles with numbers and things", In a snooker games, which break between 1 and 155 has most ways to make that break

Indeed...! I have never asked it because it becomes very difficult to count when allowing for all the rules of snooker - e.g. the possibilities of starting with a free ball, of starting on a colour following a miss with reds left, and of potting more than one red in a stroke. I have asked simplified versions of this question on that thread, where only one ball can be potted in each stroke and where balls can be potted in any order (e.g. green, red, red, red, yellow)!

[davis_greatest]

This has probably been asked been before but what is the answer for the general case. So how many possible ways are there are a break of n?

Is there a pattern (so from normal play):

1,2,3,4, 5, 6
1,2,3,4,10,?

If balls are replaced after a miss:

1,2,3, 4, 5, 6
1,2,4,7?,14,.....

Any ideas?

Dan.

Here you go... excluding the cases for a miss, free ball or potting more than one red in a stroke:

http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...postcount=1355

[davis_greatest]

This makes me to think that, this is a possible question for "puzzles with numbers and things", In a snooker games, which break between 1 and 155 has most ways to make that break

A break of 88, with 133,835,290,090 ways! So why have I never made one?

[Lee Vilenski]

There is only a couple ways of making a 5 break.
Red, Red, Yellow, Red, Red
Red, Green, Red
Red, Brown


That is it, you cannot start on a colour, or post more than one red in a row. But you can pot more than one in one shot.

[davis_greatest]

There is only a couple ....

You've listed three!

....ways of making a 5 break.
Red, Red, Yellow, Red, Red

That's 1+1+2+1+1 = 6 points!

...Red, Green, Red
Red, Brown

That is it, you cannot start on a colour, or post more than one red in a row. But you can pot more than one in one shot.

What about yellow, green; or what about just blue?

[Lee Vilenski]

Just a blue would be a foul! A break has to start with a red!

[davis_greatest]

Just a blue would be a foul! A break has to start with a red!

Not when only blue, pink and black are left!

[dantuck_7]

What about 5 reds alll in one shot.

Did anyone see the practise position in the cuezone at SHeffield where you start with 2 reds over each pocket?

[davyp26uk]

1 five reds
2 three reds, yellow
3 two reds, green
4 two reds, yellow, red
5 red, brown
6 red, green, red
7 red, yellow, yellow
8 red, yellow, two reds
9 yellow, green
10 blue

Then there are those positions when a player misses a colour after a red, and the balls are replaced and this time he hits and post (probably flukes) it:

11 brown, red
12 green, two reds
13 yellow, three reds
14 yellow, red, yellow
(and blue, but that's the same as no.10).

Any advance?

Maybe I'm being thick here, but how can you have a break consisting of 5 consecutive reds? Ah! the penny drops, you pot 5 reds in one stroke.

[Lee Vilenski]

What you have to also take into consideration is the fact that a '5 break' is not recognised as a break in Professional Snooker. A break becomes one with meaning at 30. But, you could still have a foul! If you wanted to win 5 points when going to the table, rather than making a five break, you could have another two ways:

4-point Foul, red
5-point foul.

[davis_greatest]

What you have to also take into consideration is the fact that a '5 break' is not recognised as a break in Professional Snooker. A break becomes one with meaning at 30. But, you could still have a foul! If you wanted to win 5 points when going to the table, rather than making a five break, you could have another two ways:

4-point Foul, red
5-point foul.

A break is a break whether it is 1 or 147.

As I think you may be pointing out (although am not sure) a 4-point foul, followed by potting a red is a break of one, not five. Fouls do not count as part of breaks any more than making two breaks of 10 counts as a break of 20.

[Sarmu]

So let me ask this, if you played a frame with someone and the only points you got in that frame was 4 from a foul made by your opponent. Whats your highest break in that frame?

[The Statman]

So let me ask this, if you played a frame with someone and the only points you got in that frame was 4 from a foul made by your opponent. Whats your highest break in that frame?

Zero. You haven't made a break at all.