How the snooker world rankings work
Snooker ranks professional players by money, not points. A player's world ranking is the total prize money they have won at ranking events over the last two years.
- Only ranking events count. Invitational events such as the Masters and the Champion of Champions do not.
- Only money for reaching a round counts. High-break prizes and the £147 maximum-break prizes do not.
- The list is rolling: after each ranking event, the new prize money is added and the money from the same event two years earlier drops off.
That is why a player can fall in the rankings after reaching a final: if they won the same event two years ago, the smaller runner-up cheque replaces a bigger winner's cheque.
What does not count
The WPBSA lists these as not counting for the 2024/25 season:
- invitational events (the Masters, Shanghai Masters, Champion of Champions);
- high-break and maximum-break prizes;
- first-round losers at the Shoot Out;
- seeded players who lose their first match at events such as the World Championship and UK Championship (they still get the money, but it does not count).
"Defending" money
Each event replaces the same event from two years before. The money a player won at that older event is the money they are "defending".
WPBSA's own example: at the 2023 World Championship, Mark Selby was runner-up (£200,000) but lost places, because the £500,000 he won as champion in 2021 dropped off.
From the older article (2014): Ding Junhui became world number one after the 2014 UK Championship, though he lost in the last 32: Mark Selby was defending £125,000 from winning in 2012 and earned £3,000, a £122,000 drop, while Ding gained £1,500 on his 2012 result. A week later Neil Robertson went back above Ding without playing, because Ding lost £9,384 from a 2012 event that dropped off.
Seeding lists
The ranking list changes after every ranking event, but seedings for later events are fixed only at set points in the season (the "seeding revisions" or "cut-off points"). Between them, WST publishes a Latest Provisional Seedings list that already subtracts the money due to drop off. Fans use it to follow races such as:
- the top 16 after the UK Championship, who go to the Masters;
- the top 16 before the World Championship, who go straight to the Crucible.
One-year list
WST also keeps a one-year list: prize money from ranking events in the current season only. It decides entry to some events, such as the three Players Series events.
New tour cards
The older article says a player starting a new two-year tour card begins with zero counting prize money, even if they were on the tour the season before. The current FAQ does not repeat this; confirm it still applies.
History
Rankings began in 1976. Until 2010/11 the list was updated once a year, after the World Championship. Since then it has been updated after every ranking event. In 2014/15 it changed from points to prize money.
A worked example
Made up to show the arithmetic. A player has £600,000 on the list. At this season's International Championship they reach the quarter-finals and win £20,000. Two years ago at the same event they won £50,000 as runner-up. Their new total: £600,000 + £20,000 − £50,000 = £570,000, a fall even though they played well.
- The FAQ lists what does not count "for the 2024/25 season" but refers to the "2025/26 Re-Ranking Points List" in the same page. The current season's rules are in a prize money schedule that is not saved here.
- The introduction article is from 2014 and names events (the Wuxi Classic, the European Tour) that no longer run in that form.
Variations
| Ranking | Covered here |
|---|---|
| Official two-year world ranking | Yes |
| One-year list | Yes (briefly) |
| Women's snooker (World Women's Snooker) | No |
| Amateur (IBSF) | No |