The snooker

[Joe Hutch]

I rarely watch snooker, but I've found watching it with the sound off is very relaxing. It helps that I've no idea who's playing, and no interest, vested or otherwise, in any particular player.

Snooker is one of those games that's clearly much harder than it looks. My pathetic attempts at pool demonstrated that; it was all I could do to get one ball to hit another, let alone pot anything.

 

[garyi]

I have only been 'upto' a snooker table once at a mate of a mates house, honestly its like a football pitch.

 

[Pete MB&D]

Last time I had a game if snooker it was in the Lady Astor wing of Heaver castle.

proper posh me…


Pete

 

[Seeker_UK]

Last time I had a game if snooker it was in the Lady Astor wing of Heaver castle.

proper posh me…


Pete

If you were that posh, you'd have played table billiards.

 

[Bart]

They should show all games in slo-mo, I love that echoey thwock sound when the balls collide.

 

[matt j]

If you've ever had a regular go at snooker, then watching the pros is like witnessing witchcraft. It's one of those games where the difference between Joe Public and a pro is so huge it is like they're playing two completely different games.

 

[Aethelist]

Did get a 40 break once. But that was a one off. Borrowed someones Fred Davies special cue one night and got the eye in.

Ah memories. 2 bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale in the ex Servicemans club (they had 4 tables in there)

Could take on the world (as a 15 year old) back then. People actually gathered around when I got to 40. Came through from watching the "turn" on the stage - O'Haras Playboys doing Bad Moon Rising or something like that.

Happy Daze.

 

[Bob McC]

Was a member of a snooker club for years.
Me, my dad, my father in law and the wife’s uncle.
Every Wednesday we’d play.

oh the furore when they had to admit women…

 

[Weekender]

Always watch the World Champs.
The standard of the top Players these days seems so high to me.
Bingham's just missed out on a 147.
Did you ever see the snooker room at Cragside NT?:

 

[Tony L]

I have only been 'upto' a snooker table once at a mate of a mates house, honestly its like a football pitch.

I remember playing a bit as a late teenager at a local pub or club, but I can’t remember exactly where, other than it was licensed and I think upstairs! The tables are massive and the accuracy required vastly more than pool. Very hard to do what you intend, which I couldn’t, so I’ve a lot of respect for those who can. I’ll watch it now and again on TV, but I’ve no idea who is who these days (I just wait until they form drone/Kraut/prog bands).

 

[Weekender]

A holiday let we stayed in once had a huge games room with a snooker and pool table. We virtually gave up on the snooker table after the first night as it was so darn difficult.

 

[Pete MB&D]

If you were that posh, you'd have played table billiards.

Is that like pocket billiards?

Pete

 

[Weekender]

What an epic frame that was!

 

[Weekender]

Bingham on fire.
Selby rattled.

 

[Bart]

I played in a ‘Workingmans Hall’ in S.Wales as a lad. It was built on a very steep hill so the front entrance was at street level but by the time you had walked to the back of the building you were about 8 metres above another street below. Balls would occasionally fly out of the window when certain people were playing, it’s a wonder no pedestrians were killed - fortunately in those days hardly anyone in the valley had a car to get damaged.

 

[SteveS1]

Last time I had a game if snooker it was in the Lady Astor wing of Heaver castle.

proper posh me…


Pete

I'm sorry my good man, not that posh or you would know it is Hever Castle. Dontcha know.

 

[James]

I played a bit as a young adult at university and when Hurricane Higgins was at the top of his game. The hardest aspect of the game is placing the cueball accurately for the next shot. I understood the technique to get the cueball to behave in a particularly way or follow a desired trajectory, but judging the force and getting it right was altogether a different matter.

I don't think I've managed a break higher than 50. My youth wasn't entirely misspent.

 

[Brown Bottle]

Other than the birth of my first son the only joy in my first marriage was playing snooker every week with my Father in Law. It’s a great game to play but very, very hard to master.

Have managed to catch a bit of it on the TV this week, those guys are so good.

Cheers BB

 

[roman]

During my late teens and into my early twenties I played often in a local club. A wonderful place with eight tables, a hushed atmosphere and a phone at each table allowing you to order coffee and toasted sandwiches.

Depending on how busy it was it stayed open very late and once inside it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. Stephen hendry came to play the local pro once or twice and it was ray reardons club for a year or so late in his career.

Despite the hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds spent I was pretty hopeless. I once managed a break of 52 but it was a complete aberration. My normal scores were in the teens, occasionally reaching twenty or thirty when the planets aligned. I learned there were no easy pots. Every kind of pot was frequently missed and cue ball control was a lottery despite my very best efforts.

As already mentioned, seeing it played properly is like witchcraft. I seldom watch snooker anymore but have the highest regard for those that master it. Some, like O'Sullivan are sporting geniuses.

 

[farfromthesun]

Used to go to "Cue Ball" in Basildon during the school holidays when the light was £1 per hour. Stuart Binghams local club - we weren't as good as him, not sure I even knocked in two balls consecutively, unless one of them was the white.

Been really enjoying this world championship.