February is a big month for snooker players but also the fans of this amazing sport and pastime activity. A cue sport like this draws in more and more fans every year considering it does not take much to start playing it. All you need is a proper place that has a snooker table. Even regular billiards or pool table, whatever you want to call it, would suffice in a leisure environment. But to truly become good at it, especially if you are passionate about it and want to play at a higher level, you need to start watching the pros at work. Mainly, there are some tournaments that you must watch.
This will give you a chance to understand the rules better and implement them into your own game. Doing so will also potentially help you earn some money on the side as snooker is becoming a big betting sport. Not that it has not been earlier, but it is a very popular one right now. With that in mind, we explore the rules of snooker you have to know and talk about the best upcoming tournaments and live snooker fixtures to follow.
The Upcoming February and March Schedule
At the moment, two tournaments are in progress and are going to finish in the next day or two. In Saidia, Morocco, the WSF Championship is taking place. It started on January 24 and will end on February 1. More importantly, the German Masters is also going on in Berlin, Germany, with the winner receiving 100,000 pounds. It started on January 27 and will end on February 2. In the final four matches, Xiao Guodong is playing Aaron Hill and is the favorite with 1.28 odds to 3.35. Kyren Wilson has 1.37 odds in his game against Anthony McGill with 2.88. Neil Robertson is a clear favorite with 1.33 odds to his opponent Yuan Sijun’s 3.05 odds. Finally, in a tough matchup and with balanced skillsets, Barry Hawkings has a slight advantage of 1.76 odds over Wu Yize’s 1.95.
Next up on the yearly schedule is the Championship League – Winners’ Group on February 4 and 5 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, England. Barnsley, England hosts the Welsh Open Qualifiers from February 4 to 6, and then there is the Belgian Women’s Open in Bruges from February 7 to February 9. The next big tournament from February 10 to 16 is the Welsh Open in Llandudno, Wales, with the winner getting 100,000 pounds. Finally, there is the World Open, starting on February 23 and ending on March 1. Taking place in Yushen, China, the winner gets 175,000 pounds.
March is an even bigger story, especially when it comes to prize money. From March 4 to 9, Hong Kong will host the World Grand Prix with the winner receiving 180,000 pounds. And between March 17 and 23, there is the Players Championship in Telford, England, sponsored by Sportsbet.io with 150,000 pounds going to the winner. The casino and betting platform will also sponsor a 150,000 pounds tournament from March 31 to April 6 when the Tour Championship takes place in Manchester, England.
Main Snooker Rules to Know About
Seemingly simple, snooker is a game with a generally straightforward premise. Get the balls in the holes with a cue stick. Easy, right? If you know what you are doing, are familiar with the rules, and have enough experience, sure. It can be. But that takes years, decades even. The game is played on a rectangular green cloth table with 21 balls. The goal is to score more points by potting the balls in a specific order. This makes it different from traditional pool and billiards.
There is one white cue ball that you strike with your stick. Each of the 15 red balls is worth 1 point, and the 6 colored balls are worth a different amount of points. The yellow is worth 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, and black 7 points. The players take turns to strike the white ball and try to pot one of the red and colored balls alternately. Only when you pot a red one can you move onto a colored ball. At the start of the game, the cue ball can be placed anywhere within the D area at the end of the table. The first player must strike it and hit a red ball.
So the frame structure is as follows. After potting a red ball, the player must pot a colored ball. When or if they do so, they must again pot another red ball. This goes on until all the reds are in the holes. When all the reds are gone, the colored ones are potted in their order, yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black. They do not return to the table. The frame ends when the black is potted. If a player commits a foul by potting the cue ball or hitting the wrong bole, the opponent gets points and a free shot. The player wins if they score more points when the last ball is potted.
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