Snooker is a game similar to billiards, but with different rules and more balls. The rules of snooker are relatively simple. It begins with a player attempting to use a cue ball to knock a red ball into a pocket, which allows them to knock one of the many colored balls into a pocket. This action, known as a pot, gives them a certain amount of points depending on the color of the ball. Once the player fails to hit a red ball, or misses their subsequent shot of a colored ball, they then pass the turn to their opponent, who attempts to do the same thing. Colored balls are returned from the pocket back onto the snooker table until all the red balls are pocketed, which then leaves only colored balls for players to pot.

Because the size of the regulation snooker table demands a very large room, smaller snooker tables, such as a ten foot by five foot table or an eight foot by four foot table, can be used with fewer balls. These snooker tables come in various styles, such as one that converts into a dining table and snooker tables that can fold for easier storage.

Colored balls are worth different amount of points depending on their color. Black balls, for instance, are worth the most, which is seven points. Pink is the second highest rated ball at six points, followed by blue for five points, green for three points, and yellow for two points. Hitting the white ball into the pocket is a 'foul', and will lose the offending player their turn.

Snooker is played on a snooker table, which is similar to a billiards table because it has six pockets in the same placement as a pool table - one in the center of either side cushion and on in each corner of the table. A regulation snooker table, however, is twelve by six foot, which is much larger than the regulated nine foot by four and a half feet for a billiards table.

Professional snooker matches require a player to win five frames, and are known as the 'Best of Nine,' which is the maximum amount of frames possible in a match. World Championships have longer matches than average games, which range from the best of nineteen in qualifying rounds and the first to eighteen (up to thirty-five frames) for the first round proper. Due to the length of these extended matches, they are usually played over the course of two days.

Once the balls are positioned on the snooker table, a player attempts to knock a red ball into a pocket using only a single strike from the tip of the cue. If they are successful in knocking the red ball into a pocket they are then granted the chance to shoot a colored ball into a pocket. If they successfully hit a colored ball into a pocket, the player then scores a certain amount of points depending on the color of the ball. The colored ball is then returned to it's correct position on the snooker table, and the player then attempts to knock another red ball into a pocket in order to gain the chance to hit another colored ball. This process continues until the players fails to knock the desired ball into a pocket, which brings about the opponent's turn. The game goes on like this until all the red balls are potted and only the colored balls are left on the snooker table. When this is achieved any colored ball that is potted is left in the pocket.

A common term used while playing snooker is a break, which refers to the number of points a player as gained during one consecutive play at a table - not including fouls. A "maximum" or "147" break is when a player pots all reds with blacks and then pockets every colored ball on the table, in which the player would earn 147 total points, or the maximum amount of points possible.