The rules / RANK147
Snooker rules for scoring: centuries, points remaining, snookers required and the re-spotted black
What the scoring terms you hear on commentary mean: how a century is counted, how to work out points remaining, where “snookers required” comes from and why the black is re-spotted on a tie.
Explains common scoring concepts based on the WPBSA rules. The worked examples are teaching scenarios written for this site, not real matches. The current WPBSA rulebook is the authority on details.
Breaks and centuries
A break is the total a player scores in one visit to the table, from the first pot until a miss, a foul or the end of the frame. A break of 100 or more is a century; breaks of 50 or more are often counted as 50+ breaks.
A break only includes the player’s own pots, not penalty points from the opponent’s fouls. That is why a player’s total in a frame can be well above their highest break, and why “total points” and “highest break” on our match pages are separate statistics.
Counting points remaining
Points remaining is the most a player can still score in the frame without help from fouls. While reds remain, count each red with a black: reds left × 8, plus 27 for the colours. Once the reds are gone, it is simply the total value of the colours still on the table.
If the striker has just potted a red and is on a colour, add up to 7 for that colour. Commentators usually quote a figure that already accounts for the position.
| Table | Points remaining | Working |
|---|---|---|
| All 15 reds | 147 | 15 × 8 + 27 |
| 3 reds left | 51 | 3 × 8 + 27 |
| Blue, pink and black left | 18 | 5 + 6 + 7 |
| Black only | 7 | 7 |
What “snookers required” means
When a player trails by more than the points remaining, they cannot catch up with their own pots alone and need the opponent to give away fouls. That is “snookers required”. A foul is worth at least 4 and at most 7 penalty points.
The trailing player can still lay snookers to force fouls, so needing snookers does not mean the frame is over. With few points left and a big gap, though, the leader often only has to avoid fouling to win the frame.
The re-spotted black on a tie
If the scores are level once the final black has been potted or the frame ends on a foul, the frame is not drawn. The black is put back on its spot and the frame is decided on a re-spotted black.
The players draw lots for the choice of who plays first, and the first player plays from in-hand in the D. The next score or foul ends the frame: potting the black wins it, and a foul hands it to the opponent.
Reading these figures on Rank147
Highest break, 50+ breaks and centuries on match pages come from official per-match statistics. When a match has no such data the page shows “—”, which does not mean there was no century.
Win–loss, finals and deciding-frame figures on player pages cover only the matches collected here, not career century totals or a complete record.