Rules of Snooker - Fouls

Fouls

A foul is a shot or action by the striker which is against the rules of the game.

When a foul is made during a shot, the player's turn is ended and he will receive no points for the foul shot. The other player will receive penalty points.

Common fouls are:

• failing to hit any other ball with the cue ball
• first hitting a ball "not-on" with the cue ball
• potting a ball "not-on"
• potting the white (in-off)
• hitting a ball other than the white with the cue
• making a ball land off the table
• touching the cue ball with something other than the tip of the cue (except while positioning the cue ball "in-hand"; while "in-hand" the cue ball may be touched by anything except the tip of the cue)
• playing a "push shot" - a shot where the cue, cue ball and object ball are in simultaneous contact
• playing a "jump shot", which is where the cue ball leaves the bed of the table and jumps over a ball (even if touching it in the process) before first hitting another ball
• playing a shot with both feet off the ground

Should a cue ball be touched with the tip while "in-hand", i.e. when breaking-off or playing from the "D" after being potted, a foul is not committed as long as the referee is satisfied that the player was only positioning the ball, and not playing, or preparing to play, a shot.

When a foul is made, the non-fouling player will receive penalty points equal to the value of the ball "on", or the value of any of the "foul" balls, or 4 points, whichever is highest. When multiple fouls are made in one shot, only the most highly valued foul is counted. Penalty points are therefore at least 4 points and at most 7.

Not hitting the ball "on" first is the most common foul. Players can make life difficult for an opponent by making sure that they cannot hit a ball "on" directly. This is most commonly called "snookering" one's opponent or alternatively "laying a snooker" or putting the other player "in a snooker".

Because players receive points for fouls by their opponents, snookering one's opponent a number of times in a row is a possible way of winning a frame when potting all the balls on the table would be insufficient to ensure a win.

If a player commits a foul, and the opponent considers that the position left is unattractive, he may request that the offender play again from the resulting position.

If a foul has been committed by not hitting a ball "on" first, or at all, and the referee judges that the player has not made the best possible effort to hit a ball "on", and neither of the players are in need of snookers to win the frame, or would be after the penalty points were applied, then "foul, and a miss" is called. In this instance the other player has the option to request that all balls on the table are returned to their position before the foul, and the opponent play the shot again. (In top class play, this will usually require only the cue ball and a couple of other balls to be moved.) This rule is often applied less stringently, if at all, in amateur matches.

Since jump shots are explicitly forbidden, it can happen that the ball "on" is physically impossible to hit even with a swerve shot. (This can happen, for instance, if the cue ball is crowded into a corner and closely surrounded by several reds after a red was potted. It is technically possible to drive one's opponent into a physically impossible snooker by dislodging several colours in one shot, but this is virtually unheard of.) In this case the player is nevertheless required to nominate a ball and attempt to hit it, i.e. to play in the direction that would hit it if the obstacles were not present. A foul shot will inevitably be called, but since the task was impossible, this will never be a miss, and the game continues normally.