In "Three-Handed Snooker" three players each play against each other, but it's a strange game as safety is of little use. A player who plays a good safety shot rarely reaps the benefit, so although some care should be taken it's always best to attempt a pot.

Although the usual rules of snooker govern Three-Handed Snooker, there is one change covering the penalty points that are awarded after a player fails to escape from a snooker.

When this happens, only the player who laid the snooker should receive the penalty points. This example should explain the reasoning behind this.

Suppose Player 'A' is on 52 points, 14 points ahead of both Player 'B' and Player 'C' who both have 38 points, and only the pink and black remain.

If Player 'B' snookers Player 'C' who misses, then if only Player 'B' receives the penalty points, the scores would then be:- Player 'A' 52, Player 'B' 44, and Player 'C' 38.

So Player 'B' can then win by potting both pink and black.

But if both player C's opponents received the penalty points, Player 'A's score would also have increased by 6 points to 58, and Player 'B' would still need a snooker - even though he'd just played a successful one !