Know the values before choosing the shot.
A standard frame begins with 15 reds and six colours. Each red is worth one point. Yellow is two, green three, brown four, blue five, pink six and black seven. The white is the cue ball: you strike it with the cue to play an object ball.
Keep the graphic handy. When watching with friends, name the next ball and its value before the shot, then check the scoreboard together.
Reference: WPBSA rulebook 2024–25
While reds remain: red, colour, repeat.
In normal play, begin your turn on a red. After a legal red pot, choose a colour. A legally potted colour is returned to the table, and you play a red next. Continue alternating while your scoring turn lasts. Legally potted reds stay off the table.
If there is doubt, say which ball you are playing. Let balls settle before striking. Recognising the next legal ball comes before chasing the biggest score.
Reference: WPBSA rulebook 2024–25
A break is one scoring turn, not your whole frame score.
Your frame score is the running total. Your break is built during one visit. Points from separate visits still belong in your frame total.
Assuming legal pots: red then black gives 1 + 7 = 8. Add another red and pink in that turn: 8 + 1 + 6 = 15. Red then blue gives six. Write values down if arithmetic slows you down.
Reference: WPBSA rulebook 2024–25
After the last red: clear the colours in order.
After legally potting the final red, you may play one chosen colour; if potted, that colour is respotted. The final colour sequence is then yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black. Colours legally potted during this clearance stay off the table.
The six values add to 27. Imagine yellow and green have gone: brown, blue, pink and black add to 22. Try the sum before checking with your playing partner.
Reference: WPBSA rulebook 2024–25
A missed pot and a foul are different.
A legal shot that scores nothing ends your scoring turn. A foul awards penalty points to the opponent. Common examples include pocketing the white or hitting the wrong ball first. The minimum foul penalty is four; it can be higher, up to seven, depending on the offence and balls involved.
Pocketing the white while on yellow costs four if that is the only foul; while on black it costs seven. Add the penalty to your opponent’s score, rather than subtracting it from yours. Check the official rules for free balls, touching balls and foul-and-a-miss decisions.
Reference: WPBSA rulebook 2024–25
Check your understanding together.
Before your next frame, ask each other three questions: what does red plus blue score, what follows green in the final clearance, and who receives foul points? The answers are six, brown, and the opponent.
Discuss uncertainty before playing on. When only black remains, the first pot or foul normally ends the frame. If that pot or foul leaves the scores level in a normal frame, the black is respotted. Check the full rules for that situation.
Reference: WPBSA official snooker rules · WPBSA rulebook 2024–25
A few quick questions.
How many points is a red and a black?
Eight, provided both pots are legal: one for the red and seven for the black. A ball entering a pocket during a foul stroke is not a legal scoring pot.
Does the white have a points value?
The white is the cue ball, not a scoring object ball. Pocketing it is a foul; the penalty depends on the ball on and the circumstances, with a minimum of four points.
Do I need to learn every rule before my first game?
Begin with ball values, the red-and-colour sequence, the final colours and common fouls. Keep the official rules available for unusual situations and ask before continuing when you are unsure.