Going halves: Ali Carter points out his bizarre career stat after Brentwood maximum as he shares the 147 love

Carter’s effort arrived in the fourth frame of his last 32 tie with Aaron Hill as he went on the cusp of victory at 3-1 up, although Ireland’s number one Hill strung together the next three frames for a 4-3 comeback win.

The 147 was the fourth of Carter’s professional career, and the 227th overall in top flight snooker history.

Incredibly, it is already the tenth maximum break of this season’s World Snooker Tour; the sport has never experienced such a sustained sequence of 147s. The record for the most maximums made in a single term was set last season with 15; it looks likely that record will be smashed later on this 2025/26 campaign.

Ironically, Carter’s 147 came against the player who crafted the ninth 147 this season just three days before. Hill realised an ambition when completing his maiden professional max during his round two win over Yao Pengcheng on Sunday evening.

There is a £5,000 prize for the highest break at the 2025 English Open, and at the moment, Hill and Carter will share that bonus equally.

This sharing situation is something that Carter is very well used too, and he pointed that out through a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday.

All four times that Carter has constructed a 147, someone else in the same tournament has also made a 147 - therefore ‘The Captain’ has always had to go halves on the bonus kitty available.

Carter’s first 147 is his most famous as it came at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield during his quarter-final with Peter Ebdon in the 2008 World Championship.

The feat arrived just a day after Ronnie O’Sullivan fashioned his third Crucible 147, against Mark Williams on the other side of the arena.

It was the first time that multiple maximums had been seen at the Crucible during the same year. This meant that Carter and O’Sullivan split the £157,000 in bonuses (£147,000 for the 147, £10,000 for the tournament’s highest TV break).

The two went on to face each other in the final, when O’Sullivan more than recouped the 147 money he was forced to share by claiming his third world title.

Carter’s second max was in December 2016 at the Barnsley Metrodome in German Masters qualifying. Within the next 10 minutes, though, elsewhere in the same arena, Ross Muir also sank 15 reds with blacks and all the colours.

Back then, there were rolling 147 pots for qualifying events and main venue events, and at the time, there was a £1,000 kitty that Carter and Muir split.

At the televised stages in Berlin several weeks later, Tom Ford also made a 147, but he received a bigger prize as it was at the Tempodrom.

Like with his maiden max, Carter went on to reach the final, but had to settle for second place behind Anthony Hamilton who deservedly won his long-awaited first ranking event crown.

A hat-trick of career 147s was ticked off for Carter during the 2021 British Open at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, although he went on to lose his round four tie with Elliot Slessor.

That was the second maximum of the tournament after John Higgins registered one on the opening day. Carter and Higgins would chop up the £5,000 bonus on offer for the highest break.

And now, in 2025, history repeats itself again, as Carter will likely divvy up the £5,000 high break bonus on offer at the 2025 English Open with Hill - although with the way 147s have been flying in in recent weeks, the two cueists shouldn’t be counting that money just yet.

Visit our 2025 English Open tournament information centre here for the draw, results, and details on the format, schedule, prize money, and how to watch.