My OTHER favourite game: Snooker

[Maharani]

Can't say which I love more. Snooker is a type of billiards invented by British army officers in India in the late 1800s. I used to watch it on TV with my family ever since I was a kid.

2018 World Championship final between John Higgins and Mark Williams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=griNi-DCNFU

In comparison to pool (since that's the most well-known type of billiards), the game is played on a bigger table with smaller balls and rounder pockets, all of which contribute to make snooker more difficult to play from the get-go. The game is also much more tactical. You alternate between potting red balls and "coloured" (non-red) balls (but just as in pool, the only ball you ever strike with your cue is the white "cue" ball). The fifteen red balls are worth one point each, whereas the "colours" are worth two to seven points (from yellow to black) and are replaced onto their spots after they are potted until no more reds are on the table.

Any other fans here?

[phillip1882]

i used to own a pool table, but haven't played in years

[schrody]

I used to watch it religiously as a kid. Perhaps I should start again.

I've also met a few other go-playing snooker fans in the past. I think it's the tactical aspect that draws us in.

[MikeKyle]

Very minor trivia:
I Believe Chris Bryant (3d? UK) is a pretty serious snooker player as well as a serious go player.
Some time back I think he mentioned either a sponsorship or winning some reasonable amount in competition (you'd have to ask him to be sure.)

In contrast, my top break is probably a lucky 8 at some point.

[baduk]

For sure! Watching snooker since il 15 started to play when I was around 20,and needed to quit because its too addictive... had no problems staying 24hours in the snooker club...its a crazy relationship

[KayBur]

It's like replacing one dependency with another. Although, sports are a good substitute for addictions. The main thing is that hobbies do not interfere in real life.

[Uberdude]

Very minor trivia:
I Believe Chris Bryant (3d? UK) is a pretty serious snooker player as well as a serious go player.
Some time back I think he mentioned either a sponsorship or winning some reasonable amount in competition (you'd have to ask him to be sure.)

In contrast, my top break is probably a lucky 8 at some point.

Yes, some years ago Chris was hoping to turn snooker pro, not sure what happened. Don't think he plays much Go anymore.

Wenshi Chen, Chinese 5d who studied at Warwick is into snooker. He's now an umpire and I sometimes see pictures of him umpiring professional? matches back in China on Facebook.

[Javaness2]

It doesn't really look like he turned pro, a quick search reveals that he has only a single loss to his name, in a tour qualifier held in Bulgaria.

[Harleqin]

Watched it as a child, still somewhat interested. My father has a table but lives a bit too far away. I tried to get a bit into playing about 20 years ago with a friend, but that petered out pretty quickly . You can count my double-digit breaks on one hand, I think; my maximum was 14 IIRC.

[mumps]

Yes, some years ago Chris was hoping to turn snooker pro, not sure what happened. Don't think he plays much Go anymore.

He played in the Pandanet European Team Championship in 2018.