A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one‑four‑seven) is the highest possible break in snooker in normal circumstances[a] and is a special type of total clearance. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 reds with 15 blacks for 120 points, followed by all six colours for a further 27 points. Compiling a maximum break is regarded as a highly significant achievement in the game of snooker, and may be compared to a nine‑dart finish in darts, a hole‑in‑one in golf, or a 300 game in ten‑pin bowling.[3]
Maximum breaks have become more frequent in professional snooker. Only eight recognised maximums were achieved in professional competition in the 1980s, but 26 occurred in the 1990s, 35 in the 2000s, and 86 in the 2010s. As of the 2024 UK Championship, 53 officially recognised professional maximums have been made thus far in the 2020s. In the 1990s, some players received £147,000 for making a maximum break, but as the frequency of maximums increased, the reward was changed to a rolling prize pot that began at £5,000, leading to discontent among players. For the 2019–20 season, World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn replaced the rolling prize with a conditional £1 million bonus, to be awarded if 20 or more maximum breaks were attained in the season. The 20 maximums were not achieved. Thereafter, players who made a maximum would win or share a tournament's highest break prize, although some events still offer a separate bonus for a 147. The 2022 World Snooker Championship offered a bonus of £40,000 for a maximum break made at the Crucible and £10,000 for a maximum made in the qualifying rounds, in addition to the £15,000 highest break prize.[7] In 2023, the World Snooker Tour introduced a £147,000 bonus for any player making two maximum breaks during the season's Triple Crown Series. The bonus could be awarded up to three times, for a total of £441,000, meaning that the same player could potentially win £441,000 by making six maximums in the events.[8]
History
Joe Davis compiled the first officially recognised maximum break on 22 January 1955, in a match against Willie Smith at Leicester Square Hall, London.[9] The Billiards Association and Control Council initially refused to accept the break since the match was not played under their rules. At the time, the professional game used a rule (now standard, see rules of snooker) whereby after a foul a player could compel the offender to play the next stroke. It was not until a meeting on 20 March 1957 that the break was officially recognised, and Davis was presented with a certificate to commemorate his achievement.[10] The match between Davis and Smith was played as part of a series of events marking the closure of Leicester Square Hall; known as Thurston's Hall until 1947,[11] the venue had hosted many important billiards and snooker matches since its opening in 1901, including twelve World Snooker Championship finals.[12]John Spencer compiled a maximum break in the 1979 Holsten Lager International, but it did not count as an official maximum, however, as the break was made on a non‑templated table used during the event.[13] The first official maximum break in professional competition was compiled by Steve Davis in the 1982 Classic at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham, against John Spencer.[14] This was also the first televised maximum break.[15][16] For his achievement, Davis won a Lada car provided by the event's sponsors.[17] The following year, Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum at the World Championship in the fourth frame of his second round match against Terry Griffiths.[17]
Before the 1994–95 season, the maximum break remained a rare feat, with only 15 official maximums compiled altogether. However, beginning in the 1994–95 season, at least one maximum break has been achieved every season thereafter; the 13 maximums scored in the 2016–17 season, 2022–23 season and the 2023–24 season is the highest number to date. Mark Selby made the 100th officially recognised maximum break in professional competition on 7 December 2013 in the seventh frame of his semi‑final match against Ricky Walden at the UK Championship.[18][19] As of 26 November 2024[update],[20] 208 official maximum breaks have been recorded in professional competition,[4][21] with the 200th being made by Joe O'Connor at the 2024 Championship League.[22] Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan has compiled 15 official competitive maximum breaks, the most achieved by any professional player.[23] Following him are John Higgins with 13, Stephen Hendry with 11, Stuart Bingham with nine, Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy with eight, and Ding Junhui with seven. O'Sullivan also holds the record for the fastest competitive maximum break at just over five minutes, which he set at the 1997 World Championship.[6]
On 30 April 2023, Selby made a maximum break in the 16th frame during the 2023 World Championship final against Luca Brecel, the first achieved in a World Championship final.[24] On 7 December 2023, Murphy made a maximum break in his first‑round match against Bulcsú Révész in the 2023 Shoot Out, the first ever compiled at the Shoot Out, which is played under a variation of snooker rules, with a shot clock and fouls awarding ball in hand.[25][26] On 5 October 2024, in his winning run in event 3, Zhao Xintong made the first ever maximum break on the Q Tour, the secondary snooker tour that serves as a qualification route to the main professional tour, in his 4–1 win over Shaun Liu.[27][28][29]
In March 1989, Thorburn also became the first player to make two competitive maximum breaks. In November 1995 Hendry became the first player to make two televised maximum breaks.[46][47]Mink Nutcharut made a 147 in a March 2019 practice match, believed to be the only maximum break achieved by a woman in any match.[48]
Mark Davis became the only player to make two official maximum breaks in professional competition at the same event when he compiled two 147s at the 2017 Championship League.[59] The 2012 FFB Snooker Open, 2017 German Masters and 2018 Paul Hunter Classic are the only WPBSA events where two maximums were made on the same day.[60][61] Three maximum breaks were compiled on 8 February 1998 during the Buckley's Bitter Challenge, an unofficial event, by Matthew Stevens, Ryan Day and Tony Chappel.[62] There have been at least five non‑tournament matches where more than one maximum was compiled. Peter Ebdon compiled two maximum breaks during an 11‑frame exhibition match at Eastbourne Police Club on 15 April 1996. In 2003 he also compiled two consecutive maximum breaks against Steve Davis in an exhibition match.[13][40] In 2009 Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan compiled consecutive maximum breaks at an exhibition match in Ireland.[63]
The only player known to compile more than two maximum breaks on a single occasion is Adrian Gunnell, who compiled three maximums in four frames at a club in Telford in 2003 while practising against Ian Duffy.[64][65] John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan are the only players to record maximum breaks in consecutive ranking events. Higgins made one during his defeat by Mark Williams in the LG Cup final, and then one in his second round match at the 2003 British Open.[66][67] O'Sullivan made one at the Northern Ireland Trophy and another at the UK Championship in 2007.[68][69]
O'Sullivan's 147 break in the first‑round match against Mick Price at the 1997 World Championship set the record for the fastest maximum in the history of the game. For many years Guinness World Records recorded the time of the break at 5 minutes and 20 seconds.[82] However an investigation undertaken by Deadspin in 2017 revealed that the time recorded by Guinness was incorrect because the timer was started too early on the BBC footage.[6][83] Breaks are not officially timed in snooker and the official rules of snooker do not specify how they should be timed, instead leaving the timing to the discretion of the broadcaster. The only timing methodology World Snooker sanctions in its events is the one employed in shot clock events where timing for a player's shot begins when the balls have come to rest from his opponent's previous shot. Under this convention the break would have been timed at 5 minutes and 15 seconds. World Snooker has since suggested that a break starts when the player strikes the cueball for the first time in a break which would result in a time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds, and this is the time that both World Snooker and Guinness World Records now officially acknowledge.[84][5]
Youngest and oldest
The youngest player to have made an officially recognised maximum break in professional competition is Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon, who compiled a 147 at the 2010 Rhein–Main Masters aged 16 years and 312 days.[85]Sean Maddocks is recognised by Guinness World Records as the youngest player to make a maximum break in any recognised competition. Maddocks was 15 years and 90 days old when he achieved the feat at the LiteTask Pro‑Am series in Leeds on 9 July 2017.[86][87] Judd Trump is known to have made a 147 at the Potters Under‑16 Tournament in 2004 at the age of 14 years and 206 days; however, this break is not recognised by Guinness World Records.[85] The youngest player to have made a televised maximum is Ding Junhui, who was aged 19 years and 288 days when he achieved a 147 at the 2007 Masters.[88][89]
The oldest player to have made a maximum in professional competition is John Higgins, who did so in the 2024 Championship League, aged 48 years and 268 days.[58] Former professional Darren Morgan made a maximum break in an amateur Seniors event in 2023 at the age of 56 years and 261 days; this possibly makes him the oldest player to achieve a maximum break in competition.[90]
Prize money
In professional tournaments there was usually a substantial prize awarded to any player achieving a 147 break. For example, Ronnie O'Sullivan's maximum at the 1997 World Championship earned him £165,000. Of this, £147,000 was for making the 147 break and £18,000 was for achieving the highest break of the tournament.[91]
In the 2011–12 season World Snooker introduced a roll‑over system for the maximum break prize money, the "rolling 147 prize".[92] A maximum break is worth £5,000 in the televised stages and £500 in qualifying stages of major ranking events. There is a £500 prize in the Players Tour Championship events from the last 128 onwards.[93] If a maximum is not made then the prize rolls over to the next event until somebody wins it.[92][needs update]
At the 2016 Welsh Open, Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Barry Pinches 4–1 in the first round. In the fifth frame of the match, O'Sullivan declined the opportunity to make a maximum break, potting the pink off the penultimate red and completing a break of 146. He stated afterwards that the prize money of £10,000 was not worthy of a 147. World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn called the decision "unacceptable" and "disrespectful".[94] Individual prizes for a maximum break were phased out at the beginning of the 2019–20 season, with a £1 million bonus on offer for the season if 20 or more were made during the season.[95] The prize would be split among all players who had made at least one qualifying break, with each player receiving an equal share for every break made.[95]
For the 2023–24 season the WST has offered a £147,000 bonus to any player making two maximum breaks during the season's Triple Crown events.[96]
Breaks exceeding 147
A break higher than 147 can be achieved when an opponent fouls before any reds are potted, and leaves the incoming player snookered on all 15 reds. The player can nominate one of the other colours as a red, known as a free ball, which carries the same value as a red for just that shot. If the free ball is potted, the referee places this coloured ball back on its original location, de facto creating a setup as if there were 16 reds in total, thus creating a potential maximum break of 155 if a player starts from a free ball position.[18]
In October 2004, during qualifying for the UK Championship, Jamie Burnett became the only player to record a break of more than 147 in tournament play, when he scored 148 against Leo Fernandez. He took the brown as the free ball, then potted the brown again followed by the 15 reds with 12 blacks, two pinks and a blue, then the six colours.[13][1][2]
Some breaks exceeding 147 have been reported in non‑tournament settings:
A 151 is reported to have been compiled by Wally West against Butch Rogers in West London's Hounslow Luciana snooker club during a club match in 1976. After Rogers fouled, West took the green as his free ball followed by the brown. He then took 14 reds and blacks and a pink off the last red. He then cleared up to make the 151.[13][97]
In 1995 Tony Drago made a 149 in practice against Nick Manning in West Norwood, London, that was recorded by the Guinness Book of Records as the highest in this category. In that match Drago nominated the brown as the free ball, to score one point. He then potted the brown again, for four more points, before potting the 15 reds with 13 blacks, a pink and a blue, then all the colours.[13][98]
In 1997 Eddie Manning achieved a 149 break in a practice match against Kam Pandya at Willie Thorne's Snooker Club in Leicester. He potted brown, brown, 13 blacks, pink and blue.[13]
In April 2003 Jamie Cope made a 151 break at The Reardon Snooker Club during a practice game with David Fomm‑Ward. After a foul by his opponent, Cope was snookered behind the brown ball. He took the brown as the free ball and then potted the blue, 13 reds with blacks and two with pinks, then the six colours.[13]
In 2005, Jamie Cope made snooker's first highest possible 155 break in a witnessed practice frame.[37]
In November 2010 Sam Harvey made a 151 break in a practice match against Kyren Wilson at his home club in Bedford. Harvey potted the brown as the free ball and then the black, 12 reds with blacks, two with pinks and one with blue, then the six colours.[13][99]
Note: (Q) indicates maximums made during qualifying stages of events. (F) indicates maximums made in tournament finals. (L) indicates that the match was lost by the player who made the maximum.
Statistics
Total maximum breaks
Below is a list of players that have made at least 2 maximums, as of 26 September 2024[update].[4][21][46][47]
Tournament games are won when one of the players manages to win more than half of the scheduled frames. For example, if a match is scheduled to have a maximum of seven frames, a player wins the game when winning a fourth frame, regardless of how many frames the other player has. The following are maximum breaks played in frames that won the match.
^A break of up to 155 is possible if the referee awards a free ball before any of the reds have been potted, but breaks exceeding 147 are exceptionally rare, having occurred only once in professional competition.[1][2]