Single frame snooker competition was a staple of early televised coverage of the sport, and largely responsible for bringing the game to the mainstream of British sport, primarily through the BBC's popular Pot Black programme. Extended televised coverage of longer professional tournaments, however, had caused the format to become jaded, and the last Pot Black tournament had taken place in 2007. A similar event known as Shoot-Out was first held in September1990, when, except the final, all matches were decided over a single frame. With the demise of Pot black, the event returned in 2011 with several innovations, and was renamed to Snooker Shoot Out. It was sponsored by CaesarsCasino.com, and has been compared to cricket's Twenty20 matches. It is a one-frame shoot-out with a random draw, where the winner is given £32,000. The top 64 players in the world rankings contested the tournament, which was shown on Sky Sports and ITV4. The 2011 event was the first time that Sky Sports had shown a World Snooker event live since 2004. From 2011 to 2015 the event took place at the Circus Arena in Blackpool. The event was sponsored by PartyPoker.com in 2012, by Betfair in 2013, by 888casino in 2014, and by Betway in 2015. The tournament was held at the Hexagon in Reading for 2016. From 2016 until 2018 the tournament was broadcast by ITV and was sponsored by Coral. In 2017 the shoot-out is a ranking event for the first time, open to all 128 professional players. At the end of the season the players voted to keep it as a ranking event. From 2017 the tournament was staged at the Colosseum in Watford. From 2019 the event was broadcast on Eurosport and Quest in a long-term deal up until 2026.
There is a shot clock. For the first 5 minutes of the match, players have 15 seconds per shot, but for the last 5 minutes this is reduced to 10 seconds. Prior to 2013, the shot clock was set at 20 seconds per shot for the first 5 minutes and 15 seconds for the last 5 minutes. Failure to strike the cue ball within the time allowed results in a minimum 5 points penalty or the value of the ball ‘on’, whichever is greater. Prior to 2018, it was always a 5 points penalty.
Players must hit a or pot a ball with every shot. Prior to 2013 either the or the needed to hit a cushion. Failure to do so results in a minimum 5 points penalty or the value of the ball ‘on’, whichever is greater. Prior to 2018, it was always a 5 points penalty.
All fouls result in.
Players ‘’ for who.
In an event of a tie the shoot-out determines the winner. The blue ball is placed on its spot and the player can place the cue ball anywhere within the before attempting to pot the blue. The blue ball must be potted directly, i.e. without a.
