Cool Snooker Games

There's plenty more to do with a snooker table than just play snooker. Games such as 101, Bowls, Scratch and Three-Handed Snooker are great party games that can be played with two or more players. These games also are interesting and should get friends and family all taking part and having fun.

101

101 is a game where you must pot red and black snooker balls to score exactly 101 points. It's not the balls that score the points in 101, but the pockets that determine how much is scored. In a standard game of 101, the pocket immediately to your left -- if you look down from the head of the table toward the rack -- scores 1 point. Going around the table clockwise, the next pockets score 2, 3, 5, 10 and 15 points, respectively. Sixteen red balls and one black ball are required for the game. If a player pots the black, he or she scores double the points of the pocket. All the usual rules of snooker apply to this game, except that a player can pot red balls continually and does not have to move on to the black. The winner is whomever scores exactly 101 points. A player who exceeds 101 must start over at 0.

Bowls

This game is played by splitting the balls into colors and reds. Two people can play and each one takes a set of balls. The table starts clear except for a white sheet of paper placed at the foot of the table at least one foot in from the table's edge. Players then take turns rolling his or her balls down the table in an attempt to stop them on the paper. However, each ball must hit two cushions before stopping on the paper to score. Each player plays three balls per round. Any balls that remain on the paper after each round each scores 1 point. Score 21 points to win.

Scrub

Scrub is based on Russian Pool. Any foul returns your score to 0, even when you are within one point of winning. The game is usually played with three players who take turns attempting to score points using only the colored balls on the table. The reds are not used in this game. The pink and brown balls are considered "scrub" balls that count as a foul even when the cue ball hits them. The blue, black, green and yellow balls score 9, 7, 3 and 2 points, respectively. Cannon shots also score 2 points. The score balls must be potted in certain pockets: the blue in the two top pockets; the black in the middle pockets; the yellow in the right-hand baulk pocket and the green in the left-hand baulk pocket. The winner is whomever scores 31. A score of 30 or going bust is considered a foul and returns you to a score of 0.

Three-Handed Snooker

This game encourages players to play safety shots and increase their score when they are losing by a significant margin. Safety shots can help players come back from a big deficit, even when there are not enough points on the table. The game is played by three players. The normal rules of snooker apply, but when a player misses from a safety shot, only the player who made the safety shot receives the points (the amount of the ball missed -- for example, 6 points for pink).