On the internet one reads about etiquette of playing snooker. No drinks on table, no loud noises etc. And all of this make sense, however, it makes the assumption that you have referee. When you have a private game between two people, who replaces the color balls and who marks the scores? My mates and I have been playing the following:

The person who is not on replaces colors and marks the points for the other person when he is finished, and every person is responsible for marking their own fouls.
Another point that may be relevant is the calling (or attention) to fouls. That is, should it be gentleman like, or is it up to the opponent to look for fouls?

Can you direct me to how a private game should be conducted?

Where do you play from when your opponent accidently pots the white and there is no space in the semi circle for the white?

Player A commits an in-off foul and Player B has the white in-hand in the D - Player B positions the white according to a shot he wanted to take which happened to be cueing over the brown which was on the baulk cushion. He accidentally fouls that brown with the cue whilst feathering, but not having taken the stroke. He calls his own foul and receives the appropriate penalty.

Question is, does the white have to stay where it is, having not had a stroke played, or can player A deem it still to be 'in hand' and move it to a more sensible position?!

My 2nd question is regarding the push stroke... rule 18 part a)... "A push stroke is made when the tip of the cue remains in contact with the cue-ball (a) after the cue-ball has commenced its forward motion."

What does this refer to exactly? Surely if you're playing any shot with any amount of follow through, deep screw, powerful top spin etc, the tip will be in contact with the cue-ball after it has started moving forwards? Is this referring to a 'double nudge'?

Which is the most difficult game, snooker...   or chess?

I just potted the last red and the white went in-off. My opponent places the white in the D in several places and claims a free ball as the yellow is down the table near the blue which is on it's spot.
I claim it's an optical illusion to look in the whites path to the yellow because the white is close to your eye, then the blue is 3 feet away and looks smaller, the yellow is 1 foot away again and looks smaller still.
So I place a red either side of the blue which reveals clear paths for the white to hit the yellow. Who is right? How is a free ball decided when long distances are involved?

I wonder if you could shed some light on this, whilst browsing e-bay I noticed a set of billiards balls that contained 4 reds, 4 whites and 1 black. I've tried google, etc, and the lads in my snooker team but to no avail and I wondered what game they were used for?

Are there any rules on legal breaks. Do any balls have to hit a rail for a legal break? Also can you tell me where I can get a template for the curve in the pocket openings.

What is the height to the top of the cushion from the slate bed playing surface on a full size snooker table? I think it's about 37mm or 1 7/16 inch.

I have a question that came up the other day while chatting with snooker mates (purely theoretical - it didn't all actually happen):

It's about commiting a fault by touching a ball with something else than the cue (usually the hand or arm, or the player's clothes). Would it be considered as a fault to touch a ball extremely slightly, for instance with one's hair or with a little wire coming out of the player's shirt? (so not with the actual skin or cloth itself).

Also - and that one already happened to one of my mates (well, he said): what if the ball is touched by some fluid (not to mention: blood - or anything else coming out of the player's nose, sometimes at great pace)?

I know this sounds funny but quite interesting I guess...

During our club's recent doubles tournament a disagreement arose over the interpretation of what constitutes conferring under Section 3 Rule 17 (e).

The partner from one team encouraged his own partner (who was at the table) by referring to the quality of his partner's shot making, e.g. "good shot" or "well done", etc. The referee construed this as conferring and imposed a penalty under Section 3 Rule 12 (x), "conferring with a partner contrary to Section 3 Rule 17 (e)". The offending partners felt a penalty was unfair as the one partner was only complimenting the other partner. The other team felt the referee was perfectly correct as conferring could take the form of advice, compliments (which could be advice disguised as compliments) etc., and the best way to resolve the matter would be for a partner to remain silent while his partner is at the table.

Would you please give me your comments on this matter and in particular what does the word "confer" imply within Section 3 Rule 17(e)?

Suppose I have 70 points and my opponent has 20. I have just potted a red but have snookered myself on all colours with 51 points (3 reds + blacks, etc.) possible remaining. That means my opponent could win with 71 or more should I lose control of the cue ball.

Knowing that illegally potted reds are not returned to the table, what would keep me from fouling, illegally potting a red, giving my opponent 4 points whilst leaving only 43 points (2 reds + blacks, etc.) possible? Now my opponent's maximum would be 67 and would need a snooker to win.   Is this possible?

In snooker has the 4 point minimum penalty always been the rule. I seem to recall it used to be the value of object ball fouled on. Please confirm.

I was in discussion with a mate of mine who says that the pockets in televised championships are wider than the ones at a standard snooker club so they can get higher breaks. I disagreed saying that if anything it would be the other way around with the championship tables having smaller more accurate pockets because of the level of the players.

Snooker clubs tend to have one or two match tables which are obviously different to the rest of the club table. Can you shed some light on this aspect?