The Rules of Century
© Mike Stooke 2015. Contributed by Hassan Kazmi of Lahore, Pakistan.
‘Century’ is a little known variation of snooker that might only be played in the Lahore area of Pakistan. The object of the game is to score exactly 100 points, the first player to do so wins the game. The game can be played by any number of players, from, say 2 – 8, each playing individually.
Only one red and the six colours are used in this game, with the colours placed on their normal spots, and the red spotted halfway between the blue and the pink. When any ball is potted it is respotted before the next shot is played. The diagram shows the table set to begin the game.
Before explaining this game in detail there is one rule that is very unusual and perhaps unique, and that is that none of the rests are allowed to be used in this game. So if there is a shot that you would really like to play, but you could only play it if you used the rest – well, you can’t play it, you have to choose another shot.
No player can begin scoring until they become ‘open’, and to become ‘open’ each player has to pot the red ball. This only has to be done once by each player throughout the game, but until a player has potted the red they cannot play at any other ball.
That first pot red carries no points, but allows the player to then play at any ball at any time throughout the rest of the game, but no ball can be potted more than three times in succession.
After any player has potted their first red to become ‘open’ if they choose to play the red again it has a value of 10 points if potted, or minus 10 points if the red is missed.
The six colours have the same values and use the same spots as they do in regular snooker.
Towards the end of the game, if a player has 99 points then the red may be potted for 1 point to take that players total to 100.
Unusually the points for any foul stroke are deducted from the score of the player who made the foul stroke, The points are not added to the scores of any of the opponents.
This can mean that a player can have a minus score. If at the beginning of the game a player makes a foul before he has potted that first red, then his score could be minus 5 if the foul was on the blue, so 105 points would need to be scored to make the winning 100. This allows for plenty of strategy at the beginning of the game.
VARIATIONS
If all players agree BEFORE the game begins, then the following variations may also be used:
The last player to NOT have potted their opening red is automatically open. For example, if three players are playing then once player A and B have both potted their opening reds, C becomes open automatically (without having to pot the red).
Another option is that the red ball is worth 1 point until ALL the players are open. Once everyone is open, the red is +10/-10.
If a player is on 99 points, the red becomes +1 for him and there is no -10 even if he misses the red. So the player at 99 will stay at 99 until he pots the red or commits a foul. He can still pot other balls to stay at the table but will not score any points for those balls.
Administrator’s Note: The text of the rules has been taken from http://snookergames.co.uk and is published with the permission of Mike Stooke.