What Are the Ball Values in Snooker?

Jun 27, 20269 min read

Snooker ball values are: red 1, yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6 and black 7. Those values control normal scoring, break building and many foul penalties.

The list is easy to memorise, but the useful part is understanding how those values work during a frame. Reds create the scoring rhythm. Colours create the point difference. Fouls use the same values, but with a minimum penalty that catches many beginners out.

This guide gives the complete value table, explains how values build breaks, shows why the final colours add 27, and clears up the difference between ball values and foul points.

Updated August 2026. Formal matches should follow the current WPBSA rulebook and referee decisions.

A visual ladder showing snooker ball values from red at one point to black at seven points.

Quick Answer: What Are the Ball Values in Snooker?

In snooker, reds are worth 1 point. The colours are worth yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6 and black 7. During normal play, those values are added for legal pots. For fouls, the penalty is usually at least 4 points, or the value of a higher ball involved.

The Full Snooker Ball Value Table

Red: 1 point
Yellow: 2 points
Green: 3 points
Brown: 4 points
Blue: 5 points
Pink: 6 points
Black: 7 points

The values are fixed. A black is always worth seven when legally potted as a colour. A red is always worth one when legally potted as a red.

The confusion usually comes from context. During the red phase, colours return to their spots. During the final clearance, colours stay down. The values do not change, but the stage of the frame changes what is legal next.

How Ball Values Work During the Red Phase

While reds remain, the normal scoring pattern is red, then colour, then red, then colour. A red scores one point and earns the player one shot at a colour.

Because black is worth seven, a red-black pair scores eight. A red-pink pair scores seven. A red-blue pair scores six. This is why top players try to land on black or pink whenever the table allows it.

For the full order, read what order you pot snooker balls in and what happens after you pot a red.

A scoring visual showing how red-colour pairs and final colours build common snooker break totals.

Why the Final Colours Total 27

After all reds are gone and the final colour sequence begins, the colours are potted in fixed order: yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black.

Add those values together and you get 27 points. That number matters because players constantly compare the score difference with the points remaining on the table.

If only blue, pink and black remain, there are 18 points left. If a player trails by 19, they cannot win by potting alone. They need at least one snooker and foul points from the opponent.

Using Values to Count Points Remaining

Knowing the values lets you read the scoreboard without guessing. If the final colours are all still on, there are 27 points available. If yellow and green have gone, there are 22 left: brown, blue, pink and black.

When reds remain, a quick maximum estimate is each red plus a black, so eight points per red, plus the final 27. Three reds left can therefore mean up to 51 points: three red-black pairs for 24, then 27 in colours.

This is only a maximum estimate. If the black is tied up or the player must take blue instead, the realistic points remaining are lower. Still, the calculation tells you whether the player behind can win by potting or needs snookers.

How Values Build a 147

A 147 break uses the highest value route through a normal frame: 15 reds with 15 blacks, then the final colours. Fifteen red-black pairs score 120. The final colours add 27. Total: 147.

If a player takes one pink instead of black after a red, the maximum route is gone because that pair scores seven instead of eight. The break can still be excellent, but it cannot be a normal 147.

For a focused explanation, read what a 147 break is and whether you can score more than 147.

A foul-penalty visual showing why snooker foul points are at least four and can rise with higher-value balls.

How Ball Values Affect Fouls

Foul scoring is where beginners often misapply the value table. A foul does not simply award the value of the ball potted or touched. The penalty is normally the highest of the value of the ball on, any ball involved, or four points.

That means many simple fouls are four points even if red or yellow was involved. But if black is involved in the foul, the penalty can be seven.

Example: red is on and the striker misses everything. The penalty is usually four, not one. If the striker hits the black first when red is on, the black is involved and the penalty is usually seven.

For more detail, use how snooker fouls are scored, foul and miss explained and what ball on means.

Practical rule: memorise ball values for pots, but use “minimum four, higher ball if involved” for most foul calculations.

Free Ball Values: The Important Exception

A free ball can make the value table feel strange because the nominated ball does not necessarily score its own normal value. It normally scores the value of the actual ball on.

If red is on and blue is nominated as a free ball, potting that blue scores one point because it is acting as a red for that stroke. If yellow is on and pink is nominated, the pink scores two because it is acting as yellow.

This is one of the reasons free-ball situations are disputed in casual games. The colour you see is not always the value you score. The value follows the ball on.

Worked Scoring Examples

Example one: red, black, red, blue scores 14. That is one plus seven, then one plus five.

Example two: a player clears yellow, green, brown and blue. That scores 14 points and leaves pink and black worth 13.

Example three: red is on, the striker hits pink first and pots a red. The pot does not count because the first contact was wrong. The penalty is usually six because pink was involved.

Example four: black is on in the final colours and the striker misses it completely. The penalty is usually seven because black is the ball on.

Common Beginner Misunderstandings

“A red foul is only one point.” Usually wrong. Fouls are normally at least four points.

“The colour after a red has to be yellow.” Wrong. After a red, the player may usually choose any colour. Yellow is only first in the final colour sequence.

“Colours always stay down.” Wrong. Colours come back while reds remain. They stay down in the final clearance.

“The black is always the best choice.” Not always. Black has the highest value, but position matters. A lower-value colour with good position can be tactically better than a risky black.

Practice Drill: Learn Values Through Breaks

Set up three reds near the black area. Try to make red-black, red-pink and red-blue combinations. Say the running score out loud after each pair: eight, seven, six.

Then clear the final colours from yellow to black and say the total after each pot: two, five, nine, fourteen, twenty, twenty-seven. This makes the value table usable in a real frame rather than just memorised as a list.

If you are setting up a practice space, clear markings and consistent equipment help. Browse snooker balls, snooker cues, cue chalk and wider cue sports equipment.

Sources Worth Checking

For formal rule wording, use the WPBSA rules page, World Snooker Federation rules guidance, EBSA rule clarifications and BCA snooker rules guidance.

Bottom Line

Snooker ball values are simple: red 1, then colours 2 to 7 from yellow to black. The skill is applying those values to break building, points remaining and foul penalties.

Once you know the ladder and the minimum-four foul rule, snooker scoring becomes much easier to follow.