SPM Billiards Magazine Issue 31

Pool vs. Snooker

By Mark White

Pool vs. Snooker By Mark White

An interesting discussion for pool and snooker players, in fact, anyone who plays a game

with a cue. I would love to hear your thoughts on a debate that has been going on for as long as the sports themselves. Here is mine...

I played snooker to an ‘Above average’ standard; I have made 19-century breaks in my life; the highest is 132, a total clearance (36 successful shots in a row without missing). So which game is harder to master? Does size matter, are snooker players better because their equipment is 12x6 as opposed to a pool player who can range anything from 6 foot to 9 foot depending on whether you are an American or English.

I think each game has its own degree of difficulty; let’s begin with English 8 ball. It’s played on either a 6ft or 7ft table. The pockets are smaller than its allies across the pond,

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but in comparison, so are the balls; however, smaller balls have their advantages and disadvantages, the draw shot (Screw) is easier for us that play with smaller balls, but the run through shot is much more difficult. The strategy of E8B is very different from A9B, there is a lot more safety in E8B, and there are as many different rules, pocket sizes, cloths, and types of balls and equipment which divides the game of pool, never mind the two different skillsets demanded by pool and its bigger Brother snooker.

I think it’s fair to say that as far as similarities between any of the cue sports are concerned, they stop at anything beyond the fact that there are balls, cues, and pockets involved. In my humble opinion, you cannot compare them. I took up A9B later in life as I could no longer play to a level at snooker where I enjoyed it anymore, I also wanted to have more fun in life; music playing, a not-so-stuffy level of etiquette was expected in pool, as was demanded in a snooker hall.

Pool in whatever form is more widely played, and one reason for this is the sheer size of the table and the space required, right? It’s faster, which is due to the number of shots required to win a game.

There are far more pool players around the world shooting pool than snooker, a statistic which should mean there are going to be a far more significant number of cueists providing more talent.

Here’s the thing, you will NEVER see a top-class world pool champion EVER become a topclass world snooker champion. I say NEVER; there is always an exception to every rule, a freak of nature, a rare talent who just seems to be good at everything they try their hand at. Mark Selby from England won the English 8-ball world title in 2006, but this was after he’d made his debut at the world championships at the crucible in 1999 aged just 16 and had already been crowned under 15 English snooker champ. So contrary to popular belief, Selby was a snooker player first, so even he was the boss of the big boys/Girls table before conquering, shall we say, Kilamanjaro in relation to already having reached the peak of Everest, making him the only man to have been world champion in both snooker and pool including almost winning the Chinese 8 ball world title finishing runner up in 2015. I think Chinese 8 ball is the perfect recipe for bringing the 2 games together, and given time, a snooker player would outsmart the pool player.

I honestly don’t think you will EVER see the likes of a player such as Chris Melling, Jayson Shaw, or Alex Pagulayan, who are good snooker players choosing to make their living on a 12x6. In the same way, I don’t think you will ever see a top-class snooker player switching to pool (In his prime) purely because there is nowhere near as much money to be won in pool. Strange, right, considering the popularity of pool in relation to snooker.

I believe any snooker world champion given time to learn the strategy of and of the pool, win a pool world title whether it be 8, 9, 10 ball or indeed one pocket or straight pool, NEVER the other way round.

Maybe there’s an event waiting to happen. Perhaps Matchroom could host a mixed event world championship, I think. However, it would be a bit like a boxing match between a heavyweight and a lightweight, and the larger ‘Ring’ would enable the more skillful athlete to outthink and outclass his/her opponent.

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