Americans React to Ronnie O'Sullivan - Fastest 147 in Snooker History 

It’s only when you see the size of the table and realise how difficult this game is; can you truly appreciate this feat.

Another historic snooker moment is called the black ball final 1985, both players were tied 19 frames each and it went to the final frame. It was played over two days and was such a balanced game it carried on until 1a.m in the morning and was watched by 19 million people i think, the population back then would of been about 50 million or less ish. Edit Geoff has inserted a spoiler with his entire rundown of the video so beware in the replies to this.

This is where the expression "snookered" comes from, meaning you're in the mire or you can't win! In the game it is when the cue ball can't get a direct line of sight to it's intended target ball due to an incorrect ball being in the way, thus, you're snookered. The players can go on for ages attempting "safety shots" (snookering each other) until an opportunity presents itself to take a scoring shot.

Snooker world championship starts this month at the usual venue, The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Top 32 players in the world

As I type this Ronnie has just reached the final of the Tour Championship in the UK. The final is on Sunday. 12 of the worlds best players competed.

Well done guys, nice reaction. 🥰🥰

It's 15 reds, each followed by a black ball, yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black.

Yes mate you’re right. It would be so bad to miss the last ball. It happened to Irish player Ken Doherty once. It was rough to see it. Lost out on big money and Ferrari sports car or something.

In this video the other player brake the reds (ensuring at least two balls move when hitting the red cluster otherwise its a foul ) Then Ronny played getting the 147 break.

his opponent made the break

He made that look so ridiculously easy and did it so quickly! He got £147,000 for that (before tax, of course.).

Snooker players use angles, variation of the strength of the shot, the cushions, and spin to position the queue ball AFTER any red thay are pocketing to give them the best position for the NEXT shot. A particular example of strong spin is when he scores to get to 56 and uses it to break apart the cluster of red balls....

What you didn't see was there is a second table playing just next to them behind a divide , when they knew what was happening , they stopped playing there match and watch him do it too =-)

At the 2016 Welsh Open, O'Sullivan refused to go for a 147 as the prize money on offer was "too cheap" and he ended up hitting a 146 instead. "I could have got on the black and possibly made a 147," he admitted at the time. "I knew it was 10 grand and I just thought that's a bit too cheap, really. To make a maxi, it's such a massive achievement and if they're going to pay us 10 grand, I think it's worth a bit more than that. Once the prize goes up a bit, I'll go for the 147. A 146 is just as good!" In 2022, O'Sullivan also refused to attempt a 147 at the UK Championship due to the £15,000 prize money, claiming it was only worth a go if £50,000 was on offer. "What's the prize for a max here? £15,000? Not enough," he said.

He got a huge sum of money for this, I remember watching it live.

My dad used to put this and golf on to put us kids to sleep.

In snooker you have different colours that correspond with a point, reds are 1 each and you need to pot a red 1 point before any of the colours, once all reds are down then you move onto the remaining colours in ascending order Yellow 2 Green 3 Brown 4 Blue 5 Pink 6 Black 7 The max is 147 because 15 reds and you can pot the black 15 times, so 7+1=8×15=120 and the remaining colours add upto 27 so 147 is the maximum. Unless your opponent fouls by missing any ball you get 4 points added or hits any coloured ball and not a red first then that balls points are added to yours. I like playing snooker and pool, both good sports even though I'm awful at both 😂😂

It is easier for a snooker player to go to pool than it is for a pool player to go to snooker because of the size of the table and the pockets are smaller on a snooker table.

need to watch a jimmy white game x

The table is larger and the pockets are smaller than a pool table. The Initial break is performed by one of the players. If no red ball is pocketed then the other player takes to the table. This will continue until the first red ball is pocketed. Now the break count is started. The player must then pot a coloured ball. If he is successful then he then has to pot another red before he can pot a colour and so the game continues. If the player misses potting a red or a colour then he has to take his seat and the other player takes over the table. This continues until all the 15-red balls are potted followed by the 6 coloured balls.

I get a 147 everytime I play snooker. It's the number of the bus that takes me to the snooker hall😂

I believe that record will never be beaten. I'm a british guy living in the US and I play a lot of pool. What my American friends don't really understand is just how big a snooker table is. They are HUGE in comparison with pool tables. And the pockets are tighter. The level of accuracy you need is far higher in snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan makes the game look ridiculously easy. At his best, he is unplayable. And even when he's not at his best, he's ridiculously good.

When your opponent looks that happy after being decimated, you know that something special has just occurred.

When you can appreciate the skill in a 20 minute safety battle and still enjoy watching snooker, then you will be a true fan.

After potting the 15x Reds & 15x Blacks the coloured balls must be potted in a specific order. Yellow (2 pts) Green (3 pts) Brown (4 pts) Blue (5 pts) Pink (6 pts) & Finally Black (7 pts).

And that's why he's called Ronnie 'the Rocket' o sullivan

The skill is being able to hit a ball in such a way to leave the cue ball lined up perfectly for the next ball.

You should also check out a snooker player called Alex "Hurricane" Higgins as well. He was the first great entertainer in this sport. His semi final match against Jimmy White in the 1982 World Championship is a must watch.

thanks for reacting to my recommendation Steve, it is always appreciated when contributors read the comments.

Snooker is huge in China, Ronnie is like a superstar over there.

The great skill is leaving the cue ball in exactly the right place for your next shot and normally these top guys are planning 3 shots or so ahead.

One bit of trivia is that the first player to make a 147 at The Crucible which is where it is in the video, in the beautiful city of Sheffield, was a Canadian called Cliff Thorburn.

Ronnie is a legend!! He is somewhat unpredictable but when he is on fire he is unstoppable!! He has struggled with his mental health but has always been very honest and open about it and has definitely helped to remove the stigma surrounding men and depression.

I am a massive snooker fan and seeing your reactions to this was really cool .Ronnie is widely known as the goat ,greatest of all time .He has broken so many records in his time as a player. He has made over 1200 centuries in his career. Just amazing.

This was 27 years ago and he's still the best in the world right now

RONNIE IS THE GOAT

Think you missed the bit of dialogue when they said he got £147,000 for doing it. Now maybe try a video on 'best snookers' which is the other half of the game after potting ability.

Good morning, I am so very glad you are getting to see Ronnie O’Sullivan. He is so very famous here in the UK. We all love watching him playing. We’ve also been watching him from a young boy playing. I hope you enjoy it. Regards, Mary G

Never get tired of watching this, the 147 is 36 pots 15 reds 15 blacks and the 6 colours including the black, its an achievement many players never manage to get, personally the closest ive ever got is 112 its so difficult taking blacks with all 15 reds. There's tons of good snooker clips/matches/moments on RU-vid spanning from 1970s right up to now, really hard to recommend a particular video, 1985 world final is a good one and 1997 masters final between Ronnie o sullivan and 6 time world champion Steve Davis

Please can you show you're wife some Fred dibnah reactions .

Steve and Lindsey, as many have said, it's the tactical play with safety shots where the other player is 'snookered' (the ball they want to hit is hidden behind other balls) that can be the most nail biting and interesting. Snooker is MUCH harder than pool! There are plenty of brilliant bounce shots in games of this level as well. I'm sure there must be a snooker hall somewhere in the US that you could try, Steve!

Interesing fact: He plays Left and Right handed with equal ease, the only snooker player I have know to do this. He is the best the world has ever seen!

Snooker is a brilliant game. This by Ronnie O'sullivan was incredible.

All these years later Ronnie is in yet another final of a major snooker tournament tomorrow (Sunday). He is widely accepted as being the greatest snooker of all time.

5 minutes for a 147! Last time I played snooker the frame lasted an hour and ended 41-12 LOL

I vividly remember when I was 15, I had been playing snooker for a few years with my dad was obsessed, for my birthday I would be treated to the private tables in the club which were championship size, smaller pockets and much more difficult. We were in Oban for a holiday and at the snooker club there, Ray Reardons practice partner was there. Ray Reardon, an older snooker legend. Dad asked if he would play me, being a female I felt oh my god no. But it was the best time I had, he took me through my first century break explaining thinking 3 or 4 shots ahead, positioning. Loved every minute, everyone in the place was watching and got a wee round of applause. After that went to Moffat, pool table in the pub, the owner was the champion pool player of the place, beat him and what a hammering he took off his mates, pool much easier that snooker.

Regarding lyndsey’s comment about Ronnie’s outfit, this is what all players wear. Black trousers and waistcoat, white shirt and bow tie.

John Virgo ,the man mentioned in the commentary . Also did a quiz show ,with a comedian Named Jimmy Davidson . It was based on snooker , and was called Big Break . Ir was an half hour show. They had proffesionals come onto show also ... they did trick shots and such ... the show was during the 90s in uk . May be worth looking at ..as it also contained facts of some of the proffesionals that came onto the show .

Very unusual to pot a red on the initial break, could be Ronnie had the initial break, opponent played a safety but left Ronnie on for the break

147 is probably the hardest thing to achieve in any sport. It’s always compared to a 9 dart finish or a golf hole in one, but this definitely tops the others. The amount of perfect shots you need takes an impeccable amount of skill. Really impressive stuff

Snooker is one sport where the players usually accept without question the referee's decisions. No arguments.

Aw fair play to responding to the comments!

no you never have to call the pocket, sometimes if 2 colours are near each other you have to call the colour your going for, most players never get a 147 in their careers, this guy the Rocket, did this in 5 mins. total ball control 12 foot by 6 table.

Ronnie is the GOAT of Snooker, but this is 27y ago, he is still ranked NO.1 as of today, that makes him GOAT GOAT.

As you will have noticed, the red balls were already scattered before Ronnie O'Sullivan took his first shot, which shows that his opponent took his shot first.

This was great to watch. I used to watch snooker as a kid with my parents and I loved it. Alex Higgins, Ray Reardon, Dennis Taylor amongst others when I used to watch. Both my parents are no longer with us so this was very nostalgic. Thank you x

The 2024 World championship begins on Saturday, 20 April until Monday 06 May at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, UK. Ronnie won his 7th final there last in 2022.

Hi guys , Ronnie has a very interesting back story hes been through a lot in his life and over come addiction too , I'm now 5yrs sober so know how hard it is to conquer those demons but it was the best thing I ever did making that decision to never drink again . 😊.

I think he was 21 here. Just a few things a snooker que is longer and has a thinner tip than a pool cue for far more ball control. The pockets on a snooker table are noticeablly smaller than a pool table. After potting all the reds and a final colour which gets taken back out and placed on the table, you mive onto the colours and have to pot them in order Yellow 2pts Green 3pts Brown 4pts Blue 5pts Pink 6 pts Black 7 pts His opponent broke, if you dont pot you leave the table. You pot 15 reds 15 blacks, then all 6 colours so its 36 balls.

There was a cartoon type explanation of snooker . The narrator here John Virgo was also a player . He did trick shots on film . Some are just extraordinary . My Dad never played Snooker but loved watching with my Mum . Its exciting .

The break in snooker is usually very tactical. Unlike pool you really want as little contact on the reds as possible to keep the reds triangle together as much as possible and to send the white ball back down the table to where you broke from. This is so a more talented opponent doesn't run up a score from potting a red or two!

My Great Aunt (born 1900) loved watching the TV show 'Pot Black' on her old black & white TV. My Dad in the 70s persuaded her to have a Colour TV when her old one boke down. She wasn't happy, said the colour TV had spoilt the TV show and never watched Pot Black again!

The ‘break off’ shot is made in such a way that it disturbs the pack of reds as little as possible while making sure that the white ball comes back behind the balk line (yellow, green and brown balls) and as close to the ‘top’ cushion, as far away from the red balls as possible.

Lindsay is right as usual regarding the other player not getting a chance to play.

Whilst people use terms like "goat" and "genius" for O'Sullivan, I wish that (almost) everyone would stop brown nosing him Yes, he's all of the superlatives given by other players, commentators and the general snooker watching public but I feel that rubbing his ego like this is really detrimental to everyone else. Its understood that this is not going to a popular view but it's how I feel when people talk about him. By the way, I agree that he's the best of all time, and all of the other things he's called, so don't shoot me but I definitely disagree with all the brown nosing.

the championship is always held in my home town sheffield :)

You're the only American I've heard pronounce it correctly.

I have zero interest in snooker. But when it's on the television I always stop what I'm doing for 10 minutes and watch it. It's mesmerising

That was at The Crucible in my City.

Ronnie is just as good with his left hand too

Got the snooker loopy song going round my head now, lol

Yes Steve, in snooker if you are the one breaking off, if you don't pot a red ball on the initial break off shot then you immediately automatically give up your go. This is why most snooker players, of they win the coin toss will ask their opponent to take the break off shot because they know the greater chance is their opponent won't pot a red with the break off shot and so they will be back at the table with the red balls scattered a few seconds later.

It's a total of 36 shots (15x reds, 15x blacks, then the six colours including the black last.) Snooker is a great game, there is so much more to it than just potting the balls, you have to know all about the rules (of which there are many), angles, numerical skills, safety shots, conceding a game plus so much more. Many years ago there was a Canadian player named Bill Werbeniuk and he was fairly successful, the interesting thing about Bill was that because of a rare health condition he was the only player allowed to drink beer during a game and in one particular game he drank 76 tins of beer.

I honestly believe that record will never be broken....ever.

Snooker World Championship 1985 Steve Davis v Dennis Taylor (Final Frame) HD Complete ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zIzrARnwUbk.html

All players chase greatness , Ronnie O'Sullivan is greatness . He's actually in the Masters final this very week . Legend . 🇬🇧

I think people used to call him Ronnie the rocket

He got £147,000 for doing this (because they are so rare). As a matter of fact, they had to reduce the 147 prize money in future events because Ronnie was always making them 😅 He is the GOAT.. officially.. no one has won more World titles and ranking events than him. And he is just as good playing left handed..

At last... !! A decent Snooker video❤😊 Have fun watching this one. Snoooker! Lol!! (_Not_ "snucker"!!) Ronnie's fantastic - you'll love this hopefully.😊

We have a version of Billiards (English Billiards) as well, played with just three balls.

I love snooker Jimmy white is my absolute fave. I love your interest in this. It’s a pretty smashing game very very high level skills involved . As a child I watched it with my granny and loved it ever since

He was making 147 s as a kid... Plays left hand, right hand equally as good. Most naturally gifted player.

The game is 149 years old, and is fantastic to watch. This particular player, Ronnie O`Sullivan is the most successful player ever, 7 world titles, most century, breaks most 147`s, He has won 41 ranking titles, including 8 UK Championships, 3 minor ranking titles and 36 invitational professional tournaments, among them 8 Masters titles. 23 Triple Crown titles, He can play left handed if needed. He`s called Ronnie the rocket due to his speed on the table.

G.O.A.T status perfectly portrayed

You never know how truly massive a snooker table is until you see it in person

16 minute video, Top 50 Snooker shots in history ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VtqpKq2w7s0.htmlsi=qDceGDhY-Zbn0D23

That snooker table is a hell of a lot faster than any pool table x he makes it look so easy earned £338,000 in 5 minutes 8 seconds Ronnie -"It probably couldn't be done today because the refs do a bit too much walking maybe. What a referee [Len Ganley] - the referees today could learn a thing or two. He just stayed in the same position. It's like a good footballer, he doesn't move around too much. He knows what he is doing and gets the job done.

The break is never about putting a ball. It is always a defensive shot, trying to hide the cueball behind yellow, brown or green ball, to force the opponent to make a mistake. About the difficulty in regards to pool: In pool the balls are 57,2 mm and the pockets are 13 cm. In snooker the balls are 52,7 mm, but the pockets are only approx. 8,8 cm, so MUCH smaller pockets compared to the ball-size. Furthermore in pool the pockets are angled to feed everything into the hole, while in snooker the pockets are rounded, so the ball can easily be "spitted out" again.

It's amazing how easy he made it look 😅

What an interesting reaction. Great move guys 👏yes if you don't fully understand this sport. (Table is massive btw) this may seem underwhelming. But it's possibly one off the greatest sports achievements of all time . And I don't particularly like. snucker😂. Sorry. Ronnie is still playing. He's called the rocket for a reason. A lot of retired snooker players go to play pool as it's easy money for them. I prefer 9 Ball and 8 ball pool. Things are a preference

Another video to do would be the 1985 black ball final between Steve Davis and one of the commentators you just heard, Dennis Taylor. It was the World Championship final and it went to the final frame and the final black. Something like a third of the nation stayed up past midnight to watch its conclusion.

The opponent breaks and because he doesn’t pot a ball play passes to the other player. In the next frame Ronnie would break and his opponent gets to take the first shot at potting a ball. Each ball on the table that the white ball can hit has a points value. red = 1, yellow = 2, green = 3, brown = 4, blue = 5, pink = 6 and black = 7. So to get the maximum score you need a black after every red. Snooker is a game where you need to understand the way you can use spin to control and even steer the white ball. This man is a Master at doing it! If you watch this again, when he splits that small group of reds you can see the white ball actually change direction and curve around the reds.

Ronnies natural talent was through the roof. This was his first ever maximum. I don't think you could of missed the comments about the American explainer lol i recommend this but i would guess others might have as well as this is outstanding the speed he plays at back then.

I think it’s laughable for wiki to claim a 147 is even remotely comparable to a 300 in ten-pin bowling. It is infinitely harder - not even close. I’d say I’m probably above average as a very occasional recreational bowler and have scored over 200 a couple of times. There’s no thought required, just a solid, consistent technique and some luck on 12 consecutive shots. Sure it’s very difficult, I’m not saying it isn’t. But it’s very different. Snooker is a difficult game to begin with. As you have to pot a red between each colour, and each (non red) colour has a different value, it’s almost like chess, having to plan several moves in advance. You need to identify exactly where the cue ball needs to end up for follow up shots (sometimes multiple shots in advance) so you have access to pot the black, followed by another red, then the black again, etc. But also consider that if you don’t pot the ball then you’re setting up your opponent to score. Then actually manage to get it (and any other balls you hit) to stop in the correct spot from a potted ball by hitting 36 consecutive perfectly accurate and planned shots. For both potting the correct ball and getting the cue ball and other balls to stop in ideal positions, on average I’d say each shot in snooker is harder to make than each strike in bowling. And you have to do triple the amount of them consecutively to get a max break. I’d say I’m slightly above average as a very occasional recreational snooker player, having probably played a similar amount of games as ten-pin bowling. More if anything. I’ve never come even remotely close to that score. It is considerably harder, absolutely no question. The only way it could be compared is in the sense that both achievements are the highest possible score in the respective sport. Ronnie is insanely talented. Certainly a contender for the best player in history, though he has some stiff competition.

Ronnie has on more than one occasion, while being on for a 146, asked about the tournament prize money for a 147, and once when he was told it was "only" £12k he intentionally did a 146 instead. Took him less than 7 minutes as well.

Bigger table and smaller, tighter pockets make it massively different to pool..

I can clear a pool table roughly 4 out of 5 attempts and rarely lose when playing in a pub. My highest break in snooker is 28, that should give you an idea of the difference in difficulty.

Snooker is MUCH HARDER than pool. A pool table is smaller and it also has diamond markings on the sides.

And back in the day it was over 147 frames and Joe Davis who won 15 consecutive titles when he had to stop. But yes Ronnie is the best at this time. If i could turn back time I would just to see them play against each other. But that is wishful thinking

Stephen Hendry is another person you should check out! He was Ronnie favourite player