Snooker fouls
Action from The Masters Tournament in 2007
A foul is a shot or action by the striker which is against the rules of the game.
When a foul is made during a shot, the player’s turn is ended and he will receive no points for the foul shot. The other player will receive penalty points.
Common fouls are:
- first hitting a ball “not-on” with the cue ball
- potting a ball “not-on”
- potting the white (in-off)
- hitting another ball than the white with the cue
- making a ball land off the table
- touching a ball with something else than the tip of the cue
- playing a “push shot” – a shot where the cue, cue ball and object ball are in simultaneous contact
- playing a “jump shot”, which is where the cue ball leaves the bed of the table and jumps over a ball (even if touching it in the process) before first hitting another ball
- playing a shot with both feet off the ground
Whereas in other games, such as pool, if the cue ball is touched with the tip of the cue when it is in baulk after being potted then a foul is committed, in snooker if the cue ball is touched with the tip after being potted and in the D, a foul is not committed as long as the referee is satisfied that the player was only positioning the ball, and not playing, or preparing to play, a shot.
When a foul is made, the other player will receive penalty points. Penalty points are at least 4 points and at most 7 points. The number of penalty-points is the value of the ball “on”, or any of the “foul” balls, whichever is highest. When more than one foul is made, the penalty is not the added total, but the most highly valued foul.
The foul of not hitting the ball “on” first is the most common foul. The name of the game originally comes from the verb “snooker” which means to bully, or to put in trouble. Players can put other players in trouble by making sure they can not hit the ball(s) “on” in a direct line from the next shot. This is called a “snooker”.
Since players receive points for fouls by their opponents, snookering your opponent is a possible way to win a frame when potting all the balls on the table would be insufficient for you to win.
If a player commits a foul, and his opponent considers that position left is unattractive, he may request that the offender play again from that position.
If a foul has been committed by not hitting a ball “on” first, or at all, and the referee judges that the player has not made the best possible effort to hit a ball “on”, and neither of the players are in need of snookers to win the frame, then ‘foul, and a miss’ is called and the other player may request that all balls on the table are returned to their position before the foul, and the opponent play the shot again. (In top class play, this will usually require only the cue ball and a couple of other balls to be moved). It should be noted that this rule is often applied less stringently, if at all, in amateur matches.
When a player leaves an opponent unable to hit both sides of at least one ball “on” after a foul, the other player will receive a free ball. This means any colour can be nominated and played as the ball “on”. The number of points for potting the free ball is not the worth of the nominated ball but of the original ball “on”. For example, is the ball “on” is a red, and the free ball is a pink, the player will receive one point for potting the pink. after potting the free ball as a red, a player can nominate and pot a colour as usual.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
