EPTSnooker vs. Pool
Snooker looks a lot like ordinary Pool Billiard, where you have fifteen balls, seven full colored, seven striped and the black. Snooker isn't anything like Pool, without wanting to piss off Pool fans. On first glimpse you see that there are fifteen red balls (worth: 1 point each) and six so-called „colors“: yellow (2 points), green (3 pts), brown (4 pts), blue (5 pts), pink (6 pts) and black (7 pts).
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1ySYj1Z.gif)
The Table
Another difference: In pool you sink either striped or full colored balls before you're allowed to target the black. Whoever pots black first without commiting a foul wins the game. Snooker is different, you start targeting a red, then a color, red again, with colors returning to their spots again after being potted. Only if all reds are gone, the colors have to be potted according to their point value – yellow first, black last. If you're still with me, you'll realize you can score a maximum of 147 points (maximum break) in one go and that both players theoretically aim for the same balls throughout the entire game.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/I6jP7Pz.jpg)
Mark Selby, current World Champion, training
Another difference about Pool and Snooker is the table. If you only saw Snooker on TV, you might be tricked into believing a Snooker table is only marginally bigger than a Pool tabe. You couldn't be more wrong here. A Snooker table is a lot larger and the balls are smaller; this makes potting extremely difficult. Any somewhat talented player has not a huge problem sinking long balls on a Pool table, whereas long pots on a Snooker table demand a high amount of precision. Futhermore, any kind of spin is rather hard to pull off and needs a lot of practice.
Almost forgotten, but now edited in: What most "experienced" Pool players underestimate is the shape of the pockets - they're round, opposed to the more straight entrances on a Pool table. On a Pool table you have more leeway to shoot inaccurately, if the pace is slow enough, the ball will still drop. In Snooker a fraction makes a whole world of difference, regardless of the pace. If it is not good enough, the ball will not only bounce off the round pocket, but also lose much of its velocity, ultimatively leading to dangerous situations for the player attempting a difficult pressure ball. To elaborate, playing a ball touching the cushion on a Pool table, you don't really have to shoot the target ball parallel down to the pocket. It might slightly touch the cushion and still go in, thanks to the pockets. On a Snooker table, the ball will never go in, if it touched a cushion first. Moreover, the angles, which help you to judge whether or not a ball will drop, are a lot smaller than on a pool table. Consequently, especially the middle pockets pose a huge problem for beginners, if the ball is not aligned in a straight line - e.g. where the blue ball is located.
Strategy and Fouls
Well, Snooker doesn't sound like a competitive sport, just like Pool doesn't seem to be hard for a casual. Both are. To understand why strategy is an important aspect for Snooker, the point scheme explained previously has to be considered, as well as futher rules about fouls need to be explained. Mind you, the rulings are rather complicated, I got to learn that many regulars still have gaps whenever it comes to fouls. So do I for several cases. Off side in Soccer is kid's play compared.
Let's start with points. We learned that breaks (scoring points in one go) are basically not limited to sinking a few balls. In pool the best thing you can do is breaking off (first shot of a set), sink a ball (or more) and then clear six more balls plus the black – you won. In snooker you have to pot 36 balls to score a maximum break: 15 times red with a black followed for each red, plus the six color in the correct order. This is impossible and only few professionals achieve a maximum once in their career. Even scoring a century break (100 points) is nothing you can dream of as regular.
Anyhow, before you enter the table at any stage in the game you can easily calculate how many points are left: number of reds * 8 + 27. 27 is the sum of the color values (2+3+4+5+6+7). It's obvious that most times a player should surrender if he can score less points than are left on the table. For example, if only two reds are left and he is behind 50 points, there's a gap of 7 points. That's game over, right? Wrong.
Any foul in Pool Billard is a big deal, at least in my opion, unless you play obscure pub rules. In Pool Billiard a foul would be something like sinking the white, hitting the wrong ball first, or shooting the white off the table (leaving out more possible fouls). In Snooker the same is true, if you enter the table and you hit a color instead of a red you did a foul. Now, in Pool the opponent gets „ball in hand“, meaning he can put the white anywhere and sink any of his colors. That's like a free penalty in soccer.
In Snooker it works differently, the White stays where it is, unless it was potted. Then, and only then, it can be placed anywhere in the „D“ (see set up pic) at the top of a table. Not such a big deal against weaker players, a huge deal for professionals. That's not the important part though. More importantly, the enemy also gets at least four points if you commited a foul. More points if you did the foul on a higher valued color; e.g. hitting the blue before red when you have to score red will give the opponent five points (=value of blue).
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SR1rIYp.jpg)
That'd be a Snooker
Now think futher. If you're behind, you can force opponents into a foul situation. Instead of potting and scoring points this way, you hide the white or place it in a position he has a hard time hitting the next color. This is called Snooker (to be in a tricky situation {{citation needed}}).
Hence, whenever a player is behind in points and can't win anymore by potting, it's „Snooker required“. And yet, there's more to it. If you, for instance, are snookered without „Snooker being required“, the White goes back to where it was, the table is restored to resemble what it looked like before your shot, and you have to repeat if your opponent wants to. This means, if you're in a really shitty snooker, you have to shoot time and time again until you hit. If „Snooker is required“, the so-called „miss-rule“ (shot has to be taken again) doesn't work anymore. The player behind has to continue and try again to snooker his opponent. That's where the fun part starts.
A very last thing – in Pool you can snooker someone as well. Yet, there's no miss. And there's another thing not working either, as there's the „ball in hand“ rule: Free Ball situation. Theoretically, it's possible a player tries to escape a snooker (or commits an ordinary foul by accident) and the white ends up in a place in which the opponent is snookered. Then the referee will call a „Free Ball“. If you're not able to hit the target ball(s) fully (e.g. you still see half of it), you can pick a replacement instead. For example, if you have to hit the last red, but can't see them, you can pick any of the other colors as „replacement red“ so to speak. In my example it might be black. So you pot black and then a color again. The first black would only be worth one point.
Game Progress
Again the comparison to 8 Ball Pool – since I simple assume everyone knows it. It's painful to see first timers knowing the rules roughly entering a Snooker table the first time without having some sort of guidance. The game is played rather defensively. Keep this mind if you want to try it.
First off, in 8 Ball you're going to break off with full force. Regulars have a special cue for that, but more to that later. It's possible to already pot a ball, actually, it's the more usual case to really disturb the initial fifteen balls a lot. Then it's an open exchange of blows with fewer defensive shots than in snooker.
In Snooker you shouldn't try to pot one of the reds with your first shot in the set. It simply doesn't work. All you'll achieve are tons of reds scattered around the table, with the most important colors – black, pink and blue – being pushed away from their spots. This will leave your opponent with the opportunity to sink an easy red, yet not having the option to score more, because everything else will be anywhere, most likely close to the cushions. Consequently the entire game will be chaotic as shit. If your opponent futhermore is the better potter or as good as you, he will outstarve you in a battle for reds.
So, the better way to break off is to hit one of the bottom corner red balls, just nudge them, and get the white back to the cushion, as close as possible. Afterwards your opponent can not possible pot as well and do similar. This goes on in professional games for at least ten shots, until one sees an open red. Whoever pots that goes into break mode and leave whenever a ball is too hard to pot. Then it goes back to a safety battle. Also, jump shots are forbidden, unlike in 8 Ball pool as well. Not that any casual is able to perform a jump shot correctly, which would mean to hit the white from the top, not making it jump from the bottom, that'd be a foul in Pool as well (regardless if 8 or 9 or 14+1).
Strategy and Fascination
By now you have enough knowledge to maybe start to like the game. It won't seem as dry and boring if you realize players think before they shoot and that they don't just idle to pose before entering a table. They follow closely and there's tons of decision making – will they go into safety mode, or do they dare to attempt difficult pots? If so, are they succesful?
Yet, to fully understand the fascination, you probably have to try the game at least once in real life. It's so incredibly hard to score anything, or to lay a good snooker. By now, seven years after my first game, I'm able to play defensively rather decent, yet my high breaks remains a 43 in some lone training session, a 31 against an opponent in a training game and a pathetic 22 in a tournament. The high break in a tournament in the club I usually play is about 81.
So where's the fascination? Well it's a lot like Brood War Terran vs. Terran whenever you watch professionals. When you watch a really talented break builder, guys to score centuries regularly, you feel like watching Boxer performing his magic tricks. If you watch a really highly talented conservative player, you could compare him to someone performing Iloveoov or Flash builds. It's amazing to see with what pros can come up in tight situations in under a minute – and making it work.
Trying the Game – Technique and Stuff
I recommend trying the game whenever you have time and opportunity. The first problem you have will be to find a decent table. This goes for Snooker and less for Pool. If you're into Pool, dodge tables you have to toss coins into, these are always gobshite. In Snooker finding any table will be an adventure. I'm lucky, my 20k town nearby has seven of them. Then again, this was a Billard fan paradise from the 70es to the early 90es: It had more than 80 pool tables, 12 Snooker Tables, 20 for Carambolage and Artistic; Nürnberg on the other hand, the only „larger“ city in my „area“ has less tables for what I know, while Fürth (Nürnberg's parking lot), is known as one of the bigger German Snooker cities.
Anyhow, for Pool there's a rule of thumb: Don't use the club cues if you have another option. Clubs are most times Pubs, some house that has one, two or a maximum of six tables, usually a „club“ also featuring bowling, Darts and other pub games. These will only supply you with cues suitable for trolls. Things made of metal, obscure fake wood, or, I don't know, pressed mud. For Snooker it's different, I never saw a cue not made of passable material. The weigth, length and whatnot should not bother you. If you find a table, the cues will be well enough to test the game. Only consider buying a cue yourself if you really do plan to play more than once a month and/or are good enough to constantly pot more than three balls in a row regularly. Everything else is a waste of time and the equivalent to a 50 APM Zerg asking for JaeDong's mouse. It won't make you better.
Btw, if you do want to buy a cue, I recommed asking in a good club. They usually have some. However, if they don't, don't just go and buy whatever. In Germany you'll feel as if you're in a desert. There are only few "Billiard" shops. You won't find cues in ordinary "sport" shops, just soccer and other stuff. Where you want to search are weapon shops. Weapon shops usually offer cues and usually allow you to test them first if you bargain a little. This is because they also offer Steel Darts (classified as weapon iirc). So, go to weapon shop if alternatives are missing.
![[image loading]](http://funnyasduck.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/funny-man-playing-pool-snoket-water-table-fall-in-animated-gif.gif)
This might happen if you play as first timer
The next advice goes out for cueing. Learn it right from the beginning. Meaning, the cue goes over your thumb and over your index finger. Not over your middle finger, or over a fist, or... I don't know. Also, the hand is away maximum of 20 cms from the white. Use the rest whenever you have to and can't reach the white. Don't try to be fancy. Also, don't try to train both hands at once. This will slow down your learning curve a lot. There's a lot more to potting, e.g. standing correctly. This I didn't master as well, because nobody told me until I was already five years in. I guess it doesn't matter, unless you want to go pro, but who wants to go pro anyways...
As for the actual game goes, don't try to be the pot machine. Try to pot whenever the ball appears to be easy for you, don't try to make something happen, because it seems physically possible. This means, if you have to shoot white across the entire table, try to get it safe, rather than potting. Focus on the safety aspects, until you have the feeling that you're in the zone.
Moreover, don't try to use spin. I'll explain in a bit what this is and how it theoretically works, but just don't. Focus on potting one ball at a time. Don't worry where white ends up (unless it points towards a hole), just pot. Also, don't „full force“ shoot at balls. Play slow or medium paced. Full force needs extremely good cueing. If you barely played you cue like a 50 APM Copperleague newb macro manages So, don't.
Another Edit: If you train with someone more experienced or a friend who wants to really focus, there's one big thing which you must not do: Stand around and idle. Obviously, don't chat up strangers about to shoot, but standing in their way is shit. I don't mean "standing in the way" like you would literally block the table by standing close to the white, I mean standing behind the ball or the spot the player tries to aim. There's a reason there are chairs around tables. Sit down in longer breaks, or actually leave the table, so you don't mess up someone's aim. I experienced this first hand a couple of times at amateur tournaments in the first rounds, where my opponent was almost sitting on the table and/or tried to stand behind me "to learn from me". Well, don't. It only makes your training partner hate you.
If you played more than ten games and you have a non-regular opponent, you can slowly try to pot more aggressively. But, well, start slow and only go more aggressively step by step. Learn to walk before you run.
Even though it seems stupid, but if you're really interested in improving, shut the hell up while playing. Concentration is key to this sport. You wouldn't really have a chat during a Chess match, the sport closest to the mind set of Snooker, so you won't chat during a snooker match. At least if you're about to cue. Focus, concentrate on the pot, perform it, and only focus on different things when you're done. Before you go down to shoot, think what you want to do. Then go down, blend out everything, literally everything, end the shot. Only then start to really think again.
Spin Shots
Now for the techniques. Any beginner should only do non-spin shots in my opinion. Training spin is something you do whenever you have an idea what you are doing. Doing spins is easy on Pool, the table is small and the balls are huge. In Snooker you will only end up screwing the balls off the table if you try to mimic the professionals.
Before we get anywhere, now for some thing nobody understands except the regulars: chalk. Chalk enables a player to give a ball more spin than usual. You can spin any ball without chalk, but it won't be nearly as effective as it would be with chalk. Hence, once you're good enough at potting to think about spin, you should include chalk before every shot. I recommend putting it on your cue while you think about your shot. Make it a a habit to look like a sophisticated philosopher while chalking (or w/e it is called in English) your cue. Trust me, it's a world of difference. After every single shot. Clean the white every now and then (for beginners after every frame is fine), or it will be covered in chalk and randomly hop (= called a kick).
Jimmy White showing what Spins can do
Now for the spin part. Spin means that the white doesn't just move according to ordinary physics after it collided with its target. Yes, its target is not limited to any ball. Cushions can be abused as well.
If white lies in a straight line with the target ball, it will follow it with less speed before stopping. If you hit the white just under the center, and really follow through with your cue after impact, it will move backwards. The more you hit it at the bottom, the longer it will return in the opposite direction. If you time it right, it might only stop. Vice versa for „top spins“ - if you hit it above the center, the white will speed up a little after a collision and move forward.
Side Spins work different, but are powerful as well. Keep your finger off it when you want to hit balls. If two balls are lined up straight, the white will not magically move left or right (e.g. in a 90° angle). It will always follow the target ball, but in a different angle (e.g. 45° if cued awesomely well).
Side Spins are one tool the professionals use all the time. I can't do that and I'm a decent at cueing. Side is more important to escape snookers. If you shoot in a 90° angle towards the cushion and hit a white center it should return to you. If you hit it on the right side, it will go away in a 45° angle. That can be used to escape a snooker easier off one cushion, instead of going two ways.
+ Show Spoiler [example] +
Note how the white leaves the first cushion. Green is on, pink is used for snooker. Probably one of the most amazing shots ever.
The last part is a combination off all possible spins. So far, most spins are done with the cue being held parallel to the table. Now, if you go in steeper, you can „swerve“ balls. Meaning you force white to do curves. Usually that's a combination between deep screws (ball under center) and side spins. Fuck that shit, you can't do that. It took me four years to swerve white for the first time, now I can swerve in almost every first attempt. However timing the arc of the ball is, hands down, not doable for a casual and most regulars. It's incredibly hard. Swerving just a little is easy, swerving hard is... well. Gods know how it works. There's a shot called massé. For this the cue is almost in a 90° angle to the table and makes things you deem as a violation against physics. Do never try this. Club owners will rape you for it, as you will end up damaging the table.
The Whirlwind at it again
Professional Snooker
The following is just my opinion and summaries of anything. I'm not in touch with the scene a lot, I just write what I seen. I hope it's rather fine what I write, in before some English fellas will eat my face.
Snooker is a thing most popular in the UK and lately China. Outside of the British isles and our friends from far east you'll have a hard time to follow the scene. In Germany and most European countries (+ Russia), Eurosport is where you find results and coverage. There are plenty of tournaments each year, a ranking of the best players, yet only a handful of the greatest talents make a living of the sport. If they're really succesful, they can become rich over the years, mainly due to sponsorship contracts and tournament winnings. However, compared to any other sport even the greatest among Snooker players are poor.
However, this also means that Snooker players, from my experience, are more down to earth. At least many of them are. Outside of the professional tournaments, there are plenty of exhibitions in many countires – show matches so to speak. I attended two, but had to leave before any of the pros were there for „meet and greet“. However, in 2008 (or 7, not sure), I was able to attend the German „Paul Hunter Classic“ in Fürth, where 50+ pros played. I can only recommend to visit these small tours and exhibitions, they are great. I clearly remember standing in line with Dominic Dale, a quite skilled player, to fetch some food. We were both ranting about the prizes for about 10 minutes, before I realized that the guy not wearing his suit was actually him. Great moment, really.
The biggest mistake is to assume these players are not fun, because they rarely show emotions whenever their games are broadcasted. They're in the zone, the crowd is forced to be silent, or the referees kick them out. Hence, a Snooker audience is always silent, something I came to enjoy after the Vuvuzela incident a few years back.
The suits the players wear is also adding to the false positive. It's a gentleman's sport, everyone has to be nice, or they will receive punishment by fans and officials alike. You'll never see a player swear, you never see arrogant pricks behaving like wannabe stars, or any other kind of shit I loathe for soccer players.
Yet, in exhibitions, interviews, during frame changes and sometimes during tournaments it shows that these players are entertainers. They're usually quite funny, helpful and try to connect with the fans if possible. Really, give these small events a shot and don't fall for the trap to assume players are emotionless robots.
Important Tournaments
The most important tournament obviously is the World Championship. These are hosted annualy, around May and mark the end of the ongoing season. Traditionally, the tournament is hosted in Sheffield's Crucible Theater and features an atmosphere drastically different from any other tour out there. Usually, most events last for about a week until they're over, using Best of Fives until the quarters. The WC lasts two weeks and features Best of 19s (iirc, too lazy to look it up) for the first round. It takes a lot more to succeed here, as condition and exhaustion comes into play.
The, imo, most fascinating tournament other than the WC (which is a must see) are the Masters in Lodon. The Masters does not count, at least to my knowledge, as part of the offical „Main Tournaments“ (regular season tours) and the world ranking. Yet, it features a large prize pool and only the best players are invited. Hence, the games you will see are top level and any game in any stage of the tour is thrilling.
The last very important tournament is the UK Championship. It's not that different from most other tours, except that it features the second highest prize pool and rewards the winners with a lot of valueable ranking points. Consequently, every qualified player will try harder than usual, because it's so important to do well here.
Legends
The first player you probably won't see on TV as active part of a tournament is Steve Davis. Davis is one of the most popular players and, in „his time“, was a machine, a brutal force. At the start he was apparently not very liked by the audience, due to the aforementioned aura of being an emotionless stone. Well, he isn't, he's the greatest entertainer and embassador of the sports in my eyes – a lot like Boxer was for Brood War.
Why everyone loves Davis
He is memorable for various reasons, e.g. scoring the first professional televized maximum prize, for which he received a Ford Lada as prize, a story he tells at least once when commenting. He also won a couple of World Championships, Trick Shot championships and was part of the biggest nail biter in history, a World Championship finale he lost on the last black ball in a decider. Aside from all that he also was able to stay within the Top16 until he was aged 50. That alone is remarkable and an achievement which has yet to be beaten. Sadly, he nowadays lost a lot of his former skill, at least it seems like it. It's rather hard to keep up with the current professionals and an increased amount of tournaments over the year.
Next up in line is the argueably greatest of them all: Stephen Hendry. Now, this guy made all records a player could possibly do. If compared to Brood War, he is a mix of Flash, Boxer, Nada and Iloveoov, even more succesful. He completely dominated the 90es, won World Championships back to back and took a long list of other tournaments as well. Due to his incredible break building, he scored more than give maximum breaks and still is the guy with most centuries up to date. Personally, I missed his peak form, I was simply way too young to catch up with him. I clearly remember watching my first season, when Hendry was still active. Back then, whenever he entered an arena, the audience grew silent and there was this glimpse of his former self. He was still very dominating and a player with a lot of ambitions, it really wasn't hard to imagine how strong he must've been only a few years before. Sick, sick player.
+ Show Spoiler +
Stephen Hendry, Best of
From the „oldschool“ people I only know a little about a guy called Jimmy White. Compared with the two other players, Davis and Hendry, he really didn't achieve a lot, even though he was a top tier player in his time. He still has tons of fans, people who go mad whenever they see him live. This can be explained by his outlandish cueing and break building, there's only a handful of people who could rival his incredibly impossible screw shots, a few examples are linked. He's old, but still has it in him, imo. I saw him live in Fürth and he was the thing. If you are interested in these kind of shots there's no way to not watch his play.
The last two players I have more information about, as they're still among the top class. First, there's John Higgins, my second favourite player ever. He's also a really nice person and one to never stop promoting the sport. In the past years he got blamed for „match fixing“. He was apparently approached by some yellow press journalist and asked if he would throw games for money. There's a video of him admitting and describing how it could be done, in which he appears to be rather scared. He never agreed though, never showed any sign to cheat, yet missed to immmediately tell the Snooker community what happened. This earned him a considerably high punishement – he had to pay a fine and was forced to sit out a few tournaments. That seems hard, but that's how Snooker is handled, even the tiniest mishaps are punished severly. Lex dura, sed lex.
+ Show Spoiler [Higgins Best Of] +
Anyway, he also is among the few players to win more than one World Championship, tons of other titles, including multiple Masters and UK Championships, is within the top three of the century club (more than 100 centuries) and on place three of the „most maximum break“ list. After the match fixing incident he came back and immediately took another WC title. At the moment he plays so-so, nothing like his full potential, but still a class of his own. He also combines great safety play with spot on break building, a trait only few master so well.
What annoys me most is the last „legend“: Ronnie o'Sullivan. Argueably the person to be most similar to Stephen Hendry, maybe even better talent wise. Sullivan is a little like Jimmy White, when it comes to fan reactions, cue power and speed. He is the strongest break builder of the present, won many titles, including multiple World Championships, and can not possibly be beaten if he is motivated. And here's my problem, Sullivan is not the symbol of a Snooker player on all dimensions. He is known to be very impulsive, doesn't only show „emotions“, but also shows balls the middle finger (not that problematic) and often steps over the line. He once almost refused to pot the last ball for a maximum break, ridiculed Chinese translators and generally showed a condescending attitude. Make no mistake, he is still a really fair player, values his opponents, but he's... different. Often his legendary status is just overdone in my eyes, as he simply lacks the last bit of passion to overcome hard times of a match. He starts to lose concentration, plays really bad and simply surrenders. Lately he worked hard on that, which I have to admit, and is about to overcome his real life problems; he also suffered from depression for long. A remarkable personality, regardless of the perspective you have. Again, quite likely the strongest break builder of all time, even overtowering Hendry by inches.
World Record
Current Top
Apparently, according to Eurosport coverage, the season started over again, two tournaments are done – minor ones though. This is only my selection of players.
Currently two players are standing out – in my eyes. First off: Neil Robertson. He's the first Australian to have won a World Cup, he won a rather long list of other events in the past as well and currently took the first major Chinese tournament with ease. In the past season he scored more than one hundred century breaks, the last one in the World Championship Semi Finals (iirc). The guy is a monster, notable for his high accuracy for long pots. Shit, the guy is so good, you start to doubt if he's not really a robot in human disguise. He's also a nerd, apparently, and often tweets about video games. How can you not like him?
+ Show Spoiler [Robertson Best Of] +
The other person to watch out for would be Mark Selby. Selby is the current World Champion and, as stated previously, my favourite player ever since the World Cup 2007. He was a former WC for English 8 Pool and only started to focus on Snooker after 2000. He's one of the few players to profit from the enlarged amount of tournaments for the Snooker main tournament, as his form usually is very constant. He rarely wins, but if he wins, it's usually in the big venues. He won the Masters three times, which alone shows his great skill. However, unlike most players, he's known to be a torturer (quote o'Sullivan). If his form is shite, he doesn't play shite, he has two ways to approach the game. If he's fit, he is a top notch break builder and can turn any chaotic table into a century. In this mode he is no different from Robertson or the legends, not really. However, if he suffers fa temporary slump or faces a sick break builder like Sullivan, he simply starts to destroy the table with a safety skill far above anything you ever saw. To any situation he finds a solution; there's simply now way for a guy like Robertson to go into break mode when facing Selby.
+ Show Spoiler [The Jester] +
Also, the man has no nerves at all. In one Master finals he was behind by about four frames against Sullivan in top form, with Sullivan only needing one more chance to win the title. Yet, Selby completely destroyed the game again aaaand won. 10-9, no nerves. No nerves at all.
Futhermore, he's known to be the player to show emotions regularly in the most positive way possible. He jokes around, gets in conversations with referees and the audience a like. During the World Championship he signed autographs while his opponent was making a break. That's Selby.
Another recommendation for players to watch would be Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy. The first is still a youngster, a guy whose talent is considered to be equal to Sullivan's or Hendry's. Despite his young age he already won a couple of high class tournaments, lately the Austrilian Open. He's also already in the century club and shows an aggressive and thought through play better than most other professionals.
Shaun Murphy is a player I personally do not like at all. I can't really explain why, he just gives me the creeps and I do not like his style at all – then again, I'm a fan of Selby and not many are a fan of Selby's style. Murphy is similar to Robertson and Trump, he takes on many pots, which you should theoretically just leave alone – and is succesful this way. His positional play, in my eyes, is not too great, but due to his high pot accuracy he comes out on top every time.
Not included, because not sure what to say other than monster: Ding Junhui. Also, basically any professional is great, so...
Random Highlights
Streams, Game Selection and Commentators
For a non-UK user there is no way around Eurosport, if you're within BBC range, BBC is clearly the way to go. Most tournaments are covered by both stations. Even though Eurosport has its really huge fucking downsides. It's the most loveable and shitty organization at the same time. More often than not you can see all games for the Round of 32 to the Semis, only to see that the finals are delayed for some show like Watts. Yeah, well...
Anyhow, if you're German I really do recommend Rolf Kalb. As bw.de users put it, there's nothing beating a Kalb commentary when you have to iron your shirts. He's not really emotional, like the soccer commentators, but he also doesn't talk nonsense all the time. He constantly explains the rules, tells tons of insight information about tournaments, events, sponsors, trainers, the German and English infrastructure and obviously tons of stories about the players, their performance and their biography. He's really likeable, even though his jokes get old if you watch him during a week. He's also in touch with the forums and writes rather nice blogs; futhermore, he's one of the key figures of German billard sports. Anyhow, do not expect much of strategy insight here, he's not too good there.
BBC is an entirely different level. They're not explaining much rules, but they have tons of high level players commenting, including Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor and John Parrot. They analyse what's going on in a minute, judge what would be an optimal solution and explain why a shot went wrong. While Kalb is a C-ish commentator for strategy, these guys are like... S-Class to say the least. Kalb often follows whatever the camera man puts on as solution for snookers, while BBC commentators ridicule suggestions with a little irony and offer alternatives. They're also very British, completely understating things and playing down their own careers. Hard to phrase in words, but something worth watching imo.
Regardless of the stream you choose, you'll find out that the game selection is always really biased, especially for Eurosport. Whenever o'Sullivan plays, you will watch o'Sullivan. And that's probably the reason I don't like him that much and can't fully appreciate his play. Sullivan is great, no worries, I get that. However, whenever a rather unknown player meets this guy, it's bound to be a one sided slaughter in favour of Sullivan. Always. Meanwhile, you will see #5 playing #8, an even match showing the wide range of Snooker strategy. And that you won't be able to see, unless you try to find alternative streams: bigger tournaments, like the Masters, UK and WC have two TV tables and therefore two streams. Hence, if you're growing tired of one sided first round rapes, try to find the alternatives. Also, watch out for Luca Brecel if you can, he's like 9 years old (and looks like 7), but is a wunderkind. Sadly, you don't see him that often.
Conclusion
Well the end I guess. Just wanted to share and find out who else was interested in the game. There are bound to be some people liking the sport. I hope I didn't give a wrong image, after all I'm a casual scrub.
Also, freaking Asians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3qfBpR-Hsk
