At the end of 1968, the World Snooker Championship reverted to a knockout tournament format, with eight competitors; the tournament concluded in 1969 with John Spencer winning the title. At the end of each shot, the cue ball remains in the position where it has come to rest, unless it has entered a pocket (from where it is returned to the "D"), ready for the next shot. The colours must next be potted in the ascending order of their values, from lowest to highest, i.e. yellow first (worth two points), then green (three points), brown (four points), blue (five points), pink (six points), and finally black (seven points); at this stage of the game, each colour remains in the pocket after being potted. The following is a glossary of traditional English-language terms used in the three overarching cue sports disciplines: carom billiards referring to the various carom games played on a billiard table without pockets; pool, which denotes a host of games played on a table with six pockets; and snooker, played on a large pocket table, and which has a sport culture unto itself distinct from pool. Are you intrigued by the art of billiards and eager to dive into this classic cue sport?

Familiarize yourself with the standard billiards table dimensions and how to set up the balls properly before every game. The popularity of snooker has led to the creation of many variations based on the standard game but with different rules or equipment, including six-red snooker, the short-lived "snooker plus" and the more recent Snooker Shoot Out version. A break of 100 points or more is referred to as a century break; these are recorded over the career of a professional player. A maximum break in snooker (often known as a "147" or a "maximum") is achieved by potting all reds with blacks, then potting all six colours in sequence, What is a billiards club yielding 147 points. For example, a player could achieve a break of 15 by first potting a red followed by a black, then another red followed by a pink, before failing to pot the next red. The process of alternately potting reds and colours continues until the striker fails to pot the desired object ball or commits a foul-at which point the opponent comes to the table to start the next turn-or when there are no red balls remaining in play. Failure to make contact with a red ball constitutes a foul, which results in penalty points being awarded to the opponent.

The responsibilities of the referee include announcing the points scored during a break, determining when a foul has been committed and awarding penalty points and free balls accordingly, replacing colours onto their designated spots after being potted, restoring the balls to their previous positions after the "miss" rule has been invoked (see Scoring below), and cleaning the cue ball or any object ball upon request by the striker. After the closure, a liquidation sale ensued, and the building was auctioned off in 1865, being bought by its own architect, Wyatt, for £2,700. The Club now occupies the first floor of the building. At the start of a frame, the object balls are positioned on the table as shown in illustration A. Starting with the cue ball in the "D", the first player executes a break-off shot by striking the cue ball with the tip of their cue, aiming to hit any of the red balls in the triangular pack.

The tip of the cue must only make contact with the cue ball and is never used for striking any of the reds or colours directly. Snooker accessories include: chalk for the tip of the cue, to help apply spin on the cue ball; various different rests such as the swan or spider, for playing shots that are difficult to play by hand; extensions for lengthening the cue; a triangle for racking the reds; and a scoreboard, typically attached to a wall near the snooker table. The nap affects the speed and trajectory of the balls, depending on the direction of the shot and whether any side spin is placed on the ball. The table has six pockets: one at each corner and one at the centre of each of the two longer side cushions. The playing surface is surrounded by small cushions along each side of the table. A standard full-size snooker table measures 12 ft × 6 ft (365.8 cm × 182.9 cm), with a rectangular playing surface measuring 11 ft 8.5 in × 5 ft 10.0 in (356.9 cm × 177.8 cm). The height of the table from the floor to the top of the cushions is 2 ft 10.0 in (86.4 cm).