Difference Between Billiards and Snooker

Billiards vs Snooker
 

Billiards and Snooker are two games that appear to be one and the same but there actually is a difference between billiards and snooker when it comes to their rules and regulations and the game play. In fact, the games of billiards and snooker appear like the two sides of the same coin. It is true that both billiards and snooker are played on the same kind of table but they are played with different styles.

What is Billiards?

Billiards is played with three kinds of colored balls, namely white, yellow and red. The white balls and the yellow balls are played by the opponents. The player who comes first in the objective of scoring the most number of points is the winner in the game of billiards. That means you will win the game of billiards if you are the first one to pot all the designated balls before your opponent does that.

What is Snooker?

The game of snooker, on the other hand, is played with 15 red balls, a cue ball and six colored balls. Now, let us see how a snooker game is played. A player should go on potting a red ball followed by one of the six colored balls in the game of snooker. Then that colored ball will be taken out and will be placed in its usual position and the red ball is potted once again. When you pot a red ball, the colored ball will be placed back on the table. Finally, all the red balls are potted and the colored alone remain. They too are potted in a certain order. They are potted in the ascending order of the value of their points. This is the game play in the game of snooker.

In the game of snooker, every red ball carries one point, yellow ball carries 2 points, green carries 3 points, brown ball carries 4 points, blue ball carries 5 points, pink ball carries 6 points and black ball carries 7 points.

A player wins a match when a predetermined number of frames have been won.

What is the difference between Billiards and Snooker?

Both billiards and snooker involve the same kind of table. However, they differ in the use of balls.

• Billiards is played with three kinds of colored balls, namely white, yellow and red. The game of snooker, on the other hand, is played with 15 red balls, a cue ball and six colored balls. This is one of the major differences between billiards and snooker.

• White ball and yellow ball are used as the cue balls of the opponents in Billiards. Cue ball is white in snooker.

• To win a game of billiards, you have to pot all the designated balls before your opponent does that.

• In snooker, the playing method is a lot different. A player should go on potting a red ball followed by one of the six colored balls in the game of snooker. Once the red balls are over, the colored ones are potted according to the value each present (in an ascending order).

• In the game of snooker, a player wins a match when a predetermined number of frames have been won.

Images Courtesy: 

1. Snooker by DerHexer (CC BY-SA 4.0)