Then you’ve got the pool table cloth, most often made of wool. Got a pool table in your shed or undercover in your outdoor entertaining area, and need to have it moved to your new home or place of business? If, after a foul, the next player cannot cleanly strike both sides of the object ball, the referee may call a free ball, allowing the player to nominate any other ball in place of the object ball they might normally have played. If a player is awarded a free ball with all 15 red balls still in play, they can potentially make a break exceeding 147, with the highest possible being a 155 break, achieved by nominating the free ball as an extra red, then potting the black as the additional colour after potting the free-ball red, followed by the 15 reds with blacks, and finally the colours. Beginning in the 2014-15 season, some players have also received invitational tour cards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the sport; these cards are issued at the discretion of the World Snooker Board, and have been awarded to players including Steve Davis, James Wattana, Jimmy White, and Stephen Hendry. Stephen Hendry became the 14th world champion in 1990, aged 21 years and 106 days; he is the youngest player ever to have lifted the world title.

Some additional secondary tours have been contested over the years. What does happen over the years is a gradual realization that the importance of the game does not revolve around the winning (however enjoyable) and losing (however painful). Players can qualify for the tour by virtue of their position in the world rankings from prior seasons, by winning continental championships, or through the Challenge Tour or Q School events. The event saw players qualify by virtue of winning other events in the season, with 16 champions competing. John Pulman won the 1957 event and was the most successful player of the 1960s, won the event seven times between April 1964 and March 1968 when the World Championship was contested on a challenge basis. Fred Davis won the tournament every year from 1952 to 1956, but did not enter the 1957 event. He was only beaten on level terms by his brother Fred Davis, all coming after his retirement from the game.

Fred Davis and Donaldson would contest the next four finals. Most matches in current professional tournaments are played as the best of 7, 9, or 11 frames, what is billiards with finals usually the best of 17 or 19 frames. Some early world finals had much longer matches, such as the 1947 World Snooker Championship, which was played over the best of 145 frames. After the creation of the World Snooker Championship, snooker overcame billiards as the most popular cue sport in the United Kingdom. World Snooker Ltd is responsible for the professional tour which is owned by both the WPBSA and Matchroom Sport. While the main professional tour is open to female players, there is also a separate women's tour organised by World Women's Snooker (formerly the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association) that encourages female players to participate in the sport. On the women's tour, the leading tournament is the World Women's Snooker Championship. The winner of the World Women's Snooker Championship now receives a two-year tour card to the main professional tour. After the abandonment of the World Championship in 1953, with the 1952 event boycotted by British professionals, the World Professional Match-play Championship became the unofficial world championship.

The most prestigious amateur event in England is the English Amateur Championship; first held in 1916, this is the oldest snooker competition still being played in the world. Non-professional snooker (including youth competition) is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF). The global governing body for professional snooker is the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), founded as the Professional Billiard Players' Association. Professional snooker players compete on the World Snooker Tour, which is a circuit of world ranking tournaments and invitational events held throughout the snooker season. O'Sullivan played only a subset of tournaments in 2012, so he could spend more time with his children; as a result he ended the 2012-13 season ranked 19th in the world despite being the world champion. Baseball will return to the games in Los Angeles in four years’ time. This means that you will have to hit the cue ball into a pocket while hitting the 8 Ball in at the same time to lose. Now is the time to demonstrate what you're capable of.