World champions aiming for unique slice of snooker history in Blackpool at the Shoot Out

Taking place across four days between December 10-13, the Shoot Out returns to the Blackpool Tower Circus for the first time in a decade. The seaside venue hosted the unique tournament between 2011 to 2015, back when it was non-ranked.

If you haven’t watched the Shoot Out before, it is a very different atmosphere and format to traditional matchplay snooker.

There are one-frame matches throughout the entire event, and those frames cannot last longer than 10 minutes. Should the frame not be completed at the end of the 10 minutes, whoever is leading in points is the winner and advances to the next round. If the scores are level, there is a blue-ball shootout where players must pot the blue from its spot with the cueball in the ‘D’ area.

As well as a match-clock in operation, there is a shot-clock of 15 seconds for the first five minutes, and a 10-second shot-clock for the concluding five minutes. Due to all these timed elements, the thought process and strategy for players is very different as they can eat up the clock whilst defending a lead, or be forced into attacking as they have to chase down the game with time running out.

The points scoring is the same as normal snooker, but there are several rule changes. On every shot, a ball must touch a cushion or be potted, otherwise it is a foul. All fouls result in cueball in hand for the incoming player. For further information on the Shoot Out rules, watch the video below.

How does the draw for the Shoot Out work?

A total of 128 players will start the Shoot Out. As well as the professionals, a group of amateurs have been invited.

The tournament is straight knockout throughout and every round is randomly drawn - there are no seedings or protections in the draw, anyone can draw anyone and at anytime.

How many players have won the Snooker Shoot Out?

The Snooker Shoot Out in its current form has been held every season since the 2010/11 campaign.

Due to the untraditional and frantic format, it is very hard to predict a winner. From the 15 editions in its current guise there have been 15 different winners, with only Mark Allen winning the event whilst ranked inside the world’s top 16.

Players representing eight different nations have lifted the trophy before: England, Wales, Finland, Scotland, Cyprus, Thailand, Iran, Northern Ireland.

Following a vote amongst players, the competition became a ranking event in 2017 and has kept that status since. Six players have claimed their maiden ranking event crown at the Shoot Out, including last year’s winner Tom Ford.

What is the prize money at the 2025 Snooker Shoot Out and how much does the champion get?

• Champion: £50,000
• Runner-up: £20,000
• Losing semi-finalists: £8,000 (each)
• Losing quarter-finalists: £4,000 (each)
• Losers in the last 16: £2,000 (each)
• Losers in the last 32: £1,000 (each)
• Losers in the last 64: £500 (each)
• Losers in the last 128: £250 (each)
• Highest break of the tournament: £5,000
• Total prize fund: £171,000

Losers in the last 128 (opening round) will receive the prize money but this doesn’t get added to their ranking total.

Who is playing at the 2025 Snooker Shoot Out?

Several top ranked players have elected to skip the event, but there is still lots of star power on show in Blackpool.

Reigning champion Ford - who won this title on home soil in Leicester last year - begins his title defence against Martin O'Donnell.

No-one has won both the World Championship and the Shoot Out - the longest and shortest versions of the sport on the World Snooker Tour - but Ken Doherty, Shaun Murphy, Stuart Bingham, Luca Brecel, and reigning Crucible king Zhao Xintong are all aiming to become the first player to tick both boxes over the coming days.

Bingham and Brecel have both reached the final before, while Murphy compiled the first and only 147 maximum break in Shoot Out history in 2023.

Alongside Murphy and Zhao, the other top 16 exponents who have signed up this year are former champion Allen, Wu Yize, Si Jiahui and Gary Wilson.

Snooker legends Jimmy White and Marco Fu are in the line-up, as too is 14-year-old rookie professional Michal Szubarczyk who will get his first taste of Shoot Out action.

Whilst the prize money is modest across the opening rounds, any amount could be crucial come the end of the season with players trying to keep their professional tour card. Liam Graham was a surprise finalist last year, and the £20,000 he earned from his run helped him stay up via the one-year list and obtain a new two-year ticket.

This is also the penultimate counting event in the race to qualify for February's World Grand Prix in Hong Kong. Following the conclusion of the Scottish Open later this month, the top 32 players from the one-year/seasonal list will earn invites to the first Players Series event of the term in the Far East.

For the full first round draw, visit the World Snooker Tour website here.