Maximum Break Betting

A popular bet amongst punters is whether a 147 break will be scored in big snooker events and of course there have been several memorable maximums on the major stage.

The first 147 at the World Championship was achieved by Canada’s ‘Grinder’ Cliff Thorburn in 1983 while Jimmy White (1992), Stephen Hendry (1995, 2009, 2012), Ronnie O’Sullivan (1997, 2003, 2008), Mark Williams (2005) and Ali Carter (2008) are the others to have managed Crucible maximums.

O’Sullivan’s effort in 1997 against Mick Price, timed at five minutes 20 seconds, is the fastest ever recorded in the professional game while the Rocket famously compiled a dramatic 147 in a final frame decider against Mark Selby at the 2007 UK Championship.

Interestingly the only three maximums in Masters history have been made by non-British players, namely Canada’s Kirk Stevens (1984), China’s Ding Junhui (2007) and Hong Kong’s Marco Fu (2015).

Masters Snooker History & Betting

The Masters, which makes up the Triple Crown, is the second longest running snooker event behind the worlds although there are no ranking points on offer as it remains a purely invitational tournament of just 16 players - who are usually the highest ranked in the world at the time.

The event began in 1975 when John Spencer beat Ray Reardon 9-8 in a thriller and has always been held in London, although the venue switched to Alexandra Palace from Wembley in 2012.

Snooker’s biggest names of the past such as Ray Reardon, Steve Davis, Alex Higgins and Cliff Thorburn have all won this trophy – as well as one of the most lucrative winners’ cheques in the sport – but none more so than Stephen Hendry, who won it five times in a row and six in total during the height of his powers in the early 1990s.

In more recent years Ronnie O’Sullivan collected his fifth Masters title in 2014 while Shaun Murphy’s 2015 triumph over Neil Robertson saw him become just the 10th player in history to complete the Triple Crown having previously won the worlds and UK.

The others are Stephen Hendry (7 worlds, 5 UKs & 6 Masters), Steve Davis (6 worlds, 6 UKs & 3 Masters), Ronnie O’Sullivan (5 worlds, 5 UKs & 5 Masters), John Higgins (4 worlds, 3 UKs & 2 Masters), Mark Williams (2 worlds, 2 UKs & 2 Masters), Alex Higgins (2 worlds, 1 UKs & 2 Masters), Mark Selby (1 worlds, 1 UKs & 3 Masters), Terry Griffiths (1 worlds, 1 UKs & 1 Masters) and Neil Robertson (1 worlds, 1 UKs & 1 Masters).

Masters Most Titles

1. Stephen Hendry – 6
2. Ronnie O’Sullivan – 5
3. Steve Davis – 3
4. Mark Selby – 3
5. Cliff Thorburn – 3
6. Paul Hunter - 3
7. John Higgins – 2
8. Mark Williams – 2
9. Alex Higgins – 2
10. John Spencer – 1
11. Ray Reardon – 1
12. Doug Mountjoy – 1
13. Perrie Mans – 1
14. Terry Griffiths – 1
15. Jimmy White – 1
16. Dennis Taylor - 1
17. Alan McManus – 1
18. Matthew Stevens – 1
19. Ding Junhui – 1
20. Neil Robertson - 1
21. Shaun Murphy – 1

Masters Snooker Finals

1. 1975 – John Spencer 9-8 Ray Reardon
2. 1976 – Ray Reardon 7-3 Graham Miles
3. 1977 – Doug Mountjoy 7-6 Ray Reardon
4. 1978 – Alex Higgins 7-5 Cliff Thorburn
5. 1979 – Perrie Mans 8-4 Alex Higgins
6. 1980 – Terry Griffiths 9-5 Alex Higgins
7. 1981 – Alex Higgins 9-6 Terry Griffiths
8. 1982 – Steve Davis 9-5 Terry Griffiths
9. 1983 – Cliff Thorburn 9-7 Ray Reardon
10. 1984 – Jimmy White 9-5 Terry Griffiths
11. 1985 - Cliff Thorburn 9-6 Doug Mountjoy
12. 1986 – Cliff Thorburn 9-5 Jimmy White
13. 1987 – Dennis Taylor 9-8 Alex Higgins
14. 1988 – Steve Davis 9-0 Mike Hallett
15. 1989 – Stephen Hendry 9-6 John Parrott
16. 1990 - Stephen Hendry 9-4 John Parrott
17. 1991 – Stephen Hendry 9-8 Mike Hallett
18. 1992 – Stephen Hendry 9-4 John Parrott
19. 1993 – Stephen Hendry 9-5 James Wattana
20. 1994 – Alan McManus 9-8 Stephen Hendry
21. 1995 – Robbie O’Sullivan 9-3 John Higgins
22. 1996 - Stephen Hendry 10-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan
23. 1997 – Steve Davis 10-8 Ronnie O’Sullivan
24. 1998 – Mark Williams 10-9 Stephen Hendry
25. 1999 – John Higgins 10-8 Ken Doherty
26. 2000 – Matthew Stevens 10-8 Ken Doherty
27. 2001 – Paul Hunter 10-9 Fergal O’Brien
28. 2002 – Paul Hunter 10-9 Mark Williams
29. 2003 – Mark Williams 10-4 Stephen Hendry
30. 2004 – Paul Hunter 10-9 Ronnie O’Sullivan
31. 2005 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-3 John Higgins
32. 2006 – John Higgins 10-9 Ronnie O’Sullivan
33. 2007 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-3 Ding Junhui
34. 2008 – Mark Selby 10-3 Stephen Lee
35. 2009 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-8 Mark Selby
36. 2010 – Mark Selby 10-9 Ronnie O’Sullivan
37. 2011 – Ding Junhui 10-4 Marco Fu
38. 2012 – Neil Robertson 10-6 Shaun Murphy
39. 2013 – Mark Selby 10-6 Neil Robertson
40. 2014 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-4 Mark Selby
41. 2015 – Shaun Murphy 10-2 Neil Robertson