Snooker rules and refereeing
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    • Snooker for beginners
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  • The Rules
    • The Official Rules as revised; November 2014
    • AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF SNOOKER AND BILLIARDS TO TAKE EFFECT ON AUGUST 12TH 2014
    • Snooker Rule Changes (2010) Explained by Referee Andy Yates
    • Question and Answers as agreed at a WPBSA Rules Meeting held on 27th June 2013.
  • Rules Quizzes
    • EASB Snooker referee quiz: (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Snooker referee quiz: (questions with answers)
    • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: October 2010 (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: October 2010 (questions with answers)
    • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: November 2010 (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: November 2010 (questions with answers)
    • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: December 2010 (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: December 2010 (questions with answers)
    • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: January 2011 (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: January 2011 (questions with answers)
    • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: February 2011 (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: February 2011 (questions with answers)
    • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: March 2011 (questions without answers) >
      • EASB Referees “Rules” Quiz: March 2011 (questions with answers)
  • Rules you must understand as a player
    • The Break
    • Frame, Game or Match?
    • Who takes the top scorer
    • Keeping score
    • When is the Frame over?
    • Understanding the 'Miss'
    • Understanding the 'Three Miss Rule'
    • Angled Ball (Pocket hook)
    • Seven Point Fouls
  • How do I .....
    • Rack the balls
    • Respot the colour balls
    • Re-spot the cueball after a Miss
    • Use the Ball Marker
    • Handle the rests and other furniture
    • Organise a tournament
  • So you don't like the call; now what?
  • Some information on the Equipment
    • The cue
    • The Balls
    • The Chalk
    • Videos about the table
    • The Cloth >
      • "Double Shaved"
    • The Spots
    • Scoring Software
    • Pocket Templates circa 1996
  • Guides for the Referee
    • Referees Best Practice by English Association of Snooker and Billiards
    • Referee’s Guide to Positioning by Steve Fletcher
    • Referees Guide to What to Say, and When to Say it by Clive A Brown, January 2012
    • Calling the score
  • Variations of the game
    • The six -red game
    • Snooker Shoot Out
  • English Billiards
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The locations of the spots are defined in the rules, but why are they there and not somewhere else?

Start by understanding that we do NOT play Snooker on a Snooker table .. we play Snooker on an English Billiards table and the spots are placed for English Billiards players.

The layout for a full size table was a collaboration between John Thurston and the first actual billiards champion one Jonathan ( Edwin) Kentfield in the 1830's.

The Baulk Line for English Billiards (hence Snooker) at 29 ins. allows a perfect half ball angle for the losing hazard (in-off) from the pyramid spot (Pink) into the top corner pocket with the cue ball set at either end of the 23ins. D (many thanks to Frank Sandell for solving this mystery)

The Pink (Pyramid) Spot and the Blue (Centre) Spots are fairly obvious.

The Spot (Black) is on the centre line of the table, twelve and three-quarter inches from the face of the Top cushion, in exactly the right place that allows a perfect half ball angle for the losing hazard (in-off) into the top corner pocket with the cue ball set at the drop of the centre pocket .

The markings on the table are derived mathematically, based on the distances between the faces of the cushions, so if you have a non-standard table size, you should be able to determine them.
Here is a diagramme:

Picture
Use a string drawn taught between the centre of the fall of the corner pockets in an 'X' shape to find the Blue spot.

Similarly, string drawn taught between the corner pockets and the side pockets will find the Pink spot

Here is a photo of Canadas Head Referee, Kevin Patrick and the other referees at the World Under-21 Championships in Montreal in 2011 doing just that:
Picture