We just purchased a used snooker table (5 x 10) and having to replace the felt are trying to find the dimensions of the moon and the 5, 6, and 7 spots. Thanks.

I was wondering whether videos of the greats, Joe Davis, Horace/Walter Lindrum, were available, or could someone do me a copy. I'm not looking for teaching tapes, more tournament/live action tapes of billiards and/or snooker.

Yes, videos of the greats including Joe Davis, Horace and Walter Lindrum, and also Willie Smith, Tom Newman, and many others are currently available. They take the form of archive film footage that has been transferred to video, and are for obvious reasons mostly in black and white.

Use this link to the Billiards & Snooker Archive, then follow the link to 'Items for Sale'. When this page loads scroll down and you will find six videos listed with a short description for each. I understand they are available in the format you will require.

I have purchased the slate, pockets, rubber and all the accessories to build my own 10 x 5 snooker table. I have a set of plans for a pool table and was going to adapt them but would like a better set more appropriate for a snooker table.

Can anyone help me find a set of plans for a snooker table.   Thank you.

(Not plans for the whole table, just the top in sizes of 5ft, 6ft, 7ft and 8ft)

We have a 4 x 8 Brunswick pool table. My husband wants a set of snooker balls for Christmas. What size is best and do you have a preferred brand you could recommend.

I would recommend the Aramith snooker balls size 2 1/16" even though larger sized sets are available to you in America.

You may find on your size table that the game is better played using just 10 of the fifteen reds. Take the back row of five off and you will find the table less congested at the start. The game of course is played as normal.

I'm taking my nine year old son for his first try on a snooker table and was wondering what type of game he could play. I'm looking for something that will get him lots of attempts at both hitting the balls and potting them.

If you look at the rules you will see that the game is spread over two frames. In each, one player pots the reds only, and the other the colours. This may be the best game for your purpose as each player can roll the balls towards the pockets without fear of the other potting them.

In the first frame your son should be the 'bowler' who pots the reds only while you should be the 'batsman' potting the colours. When all the reds are down the frame is over. Change roles for the second frame, and the player who scores most points during his turn at 'batting' wins the game.

All the reds, yellow and green balls have been potted. The next player following a foul stroke by his opponent is partly snookered on the brown and claims a free ball nominating the blue ball as his object ball. He hits the blue ball which then knocks the brown ball into the pocket. Is this a foul stroke?

No. In the situation you describe there are in effect two brown balls on the table. The player is allowed to pot the ball on with the free ball and would therefore score four points for the potted brown.

If the blue was also potted, he would not score any more points.

The reason behind this part of the rule is that there is only one brown ball in the game, and so it cannot be potted twice in the same stroke. The blue would be respotted, and the player would continue at the table.

We have a small club of only 40 members all of varying ability and would like to run a standard snooker competition for everyone on an ongoing basis. We have heard a ladder competition is a good idea - do you have any info that we can use on setting this up ?

I know of no published rules on running a ladder competition, though I am sure they exist. The following should get you started, feel free to modify any parts you wish.

Ideally you should have some kind of vertical rack, in which cards with the players names on can be inserted. These can then be moved up or down as the matches are played.
To begin you will need to place the players in some kind of order, obviously the best players to the top, and the weaker players to the bottom. Try to get as many interested players together to discuss these initial placings,
it may save many arguments later !

Normally a player may only challenge one who is, say, two or three places above himself. If the lower placed player wins then of course he moves up the ladder, and the cards change places in the rack. If the higher placed player wins, then both players remain in the same positions as they were before. If the challenged player fails to respond then he is considered to have lost the match as if it had been played.

A record of each challenge should be kept, perhaps behind the bar in a special book, with each challenge being dated and confirmed by a third party. To alert the challenged player, some kind of mark should be placed on his card, coloured paper clips work quite well.

After the ladder has been running for two or three months, if enough interest has been shown most players should be in their rightful positions. You could then award prizes for the top two or three players - but only if they have played a match !

I'm trying to find out if the final of any world snooker championship was played at the Union Club in Selly Park in Birmingham. I believe it was the 1972 final, but can anyone give me a source to confirm this please.

"The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker" and the Guinness "Snooker Records Facts and Champions", both by Ian Morrison, show the venue of the 1972 World Championship as the Selly Park British Legion, Birmingham.

Alex Higgins beat John Spencer 37 - 32.