How do the snooker world rankings work? Explaining the history and evolution of the various systems used

Professional snooker first created a ranking system in 1976. It was initially a very basic points system, as the World Snooker Championship was the only ranking event on the circuit at the time.

To populate its first ranking list, the sport's authorities used the results from the three most recent world championships (1974-76) and retrospectively awarded each of those editions with ranking event status. Therefore, Ray Reardon - champion in each of those three years - was the winner of snooker's first three ranking tournaments, even though he wouldn't have known so at the time of lifting the trophy.

As the sport enjoyed a big popularity boom in the 1980s, there was an increasing professional player roster and a demand for more events. Recently introduced competitions were awarded ranking status, and points earned from these events would also count towards the world rankings.

The format changed to a two-year system, meaning total cumulative points earned across the previous two seasons became a player's overall points total.

Ranking positions used to only be changed at the end of every season. Whatever ranking position a player started the season off with was their position for the whole campaign - regardless of their results during it. This meant that players could not drop out of the elite top 16, nor get into it during an ongoing season.

However, huge changes to snooker's ranking system were made when Barry Hearn's administration took over running the professional game.

For the 2010/11 season, the rankings became dynamic with a 'rolling list' being used, meaning the world ranking positions were updated after every ranking event instead of every season.

This was a shakeup for the sport with the intention of having a world ranking list that better represents current and recent form.

It created opportunity as an in-form lower ranked player could immediately rise up the rankings after a big win instead of having to wait until the following season to see a benefit in their standing. On the other side, a higher ranked player who wasn't getting results could slip down the pecking order during the season.

This two-year rolling system remains in place today, although another significant change to the world rankings arrived for the 2014/15 season as points were replaced with prize money.

Under the outgoing system, ranking points were assigned to however far a player got in a tournament, with the sport's most prestigious ranking events such as the UK and world championships carrying bigger points.

Now, the prize money that players earn from ranking events are basically used as points, therefore the World Snooker Tour's world ranking list shows prize money totals next to a player's name - not points.

This concept has its critics as prize money at hugely lucrative ranking events can dwarf that of others, but it is simpler to understand - whatever prize money a player earns at a ranking event also goes towards their cumulative two-year ranking total.

There are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, high break and bonus prizes do not count, and if a tournament uses a tiered system (when players enter a tournament at a different round as per their seeding) higher ranked players already on prize money must win their opening match to be eligible for that going towards their ranking.

For an example of this, defending champion Kyren Wilson lost his opening match at the Crucible in the 2025 World Championship to qualifier Lei Peifan. Wilson still collected £20,000 in actual prize money, but as he lost his first match, that didn't get added to his ranking total.

An example of how the two-year world ranking system works in practice:

A rolling two-year money-based world ranking list means prize money gets removed from someone's ranking total two years (approximately) after it is earned. So, if you won £100,000 at the Totally Snookered Open in October 2020, two years later in October 2022 £100,000 will come off your ranking total.

Let's look at a fake scenario to explain this further:

John Pots wins the 2028 World Snooker Championship and collects £500,000. This is added to his ranking total.

Two years later at the 2030 World Snooker Championship, John Pots reaches the semi-finals and collects £100,000.

Now, when the 2030 World Snooker Championship has finished and the rankings have been updated, £500,000 comes off John Pots' total and £100,000 goes on - so his ranking total is now £400,000 worse off than when he went into the 2030 tournament.

A real life example of how drastic someone's ranking can change after a single tournament is to look at Luca Brecel who earned £500,000 when he defeated Mark Selby in the final to win the 2023 World Snooker Championship.

Heading into the 2025 World Snooker Championship, Brecel was ranked seventh in the world. The Belgian performed brilliantly at times as he reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 edition - earning £50,000. However, as he was defending the £500,000 from his total from two years ago, Brecel lost £450,000 from his ranking total when the championship finished and fell outside the world’s top 32 as a consequence.

You may hear snooker commentators say that players have prize money ‘to defend’. This basically means they know they have significant prize money due to come off their overall total unless they don’t get a similar result to what they did at the same event two years ago.

Please note, players don’t have to actually give back any money in real life, it’s just the amount from their ranking total.

What is the one-year or seasonal ranking list in snooker?

As well as the world rankings - as described above which work on a two-year rolling total - there is also a one-year/seasonal ranking list that World Snooker Tour uses.

This is basically a running, cumulative total of prize money earned from ranking events from this season ONLY.

The one-year/seasonal ranking list is used in a couple of important ways. Firstly, it is used to determine qualification for that season's three Players Series events - the World Grand Prix (32 players), Players Championship (16 players) and Tour Championship (12 players).

The ONLY way to qualify for these Players Series events is via the one-year/seasonal list - the two-year world rankings do not come into play, nor how you got on in the tournament last year. Down the years, we have often seen reigning champions miss out on defending their title as they didn't make the cut due to their performances from the season they were in.

Another way the one-year/seasonal list is used is for tour card survival.

There are a few avenues that a professional player can keep his place on tour for the next season. The most common is if you finish the season inside the world's top 64. For players whose tour card is running out and they haven't ended the season in the top 64, the top four highest-ranked players from the one-year list can each earn a new two-year professional tour card.

What about invitational snooker events and why don't they count towards the world snooker rankings?

The professional snooker circuit has always consisted of a combination of ranking and invitational events.

Invitational events are exactly what the name suggests - only certain players receive an invite. Such events include the Masters, Champion of Champions, and Shanghai Masters.

These tournaments are not ranked as it would be unfair, as not all professional players initially have the same opportunity to qualify for/be invited to them.

For example, the hugely lucrative Masters - a Triple Crown event - usually invites only the top 16 players from the world rankings. As the world rankings are based on two year's worth of points, first and second season professionals are unlikely to qualify for this as they haven't been able to amass a cumulative two-years' worth of points yet.