Power Snooker is a cue sport, a variant format of snooker. The sport was conceived in 2010. Its concept was derived from the game of snooker and the game of nine-ball pool, with racks being used and the nine red balls which featured one red and white striped power ball set up in a diamond formation as in nine-ball pool. It was first played in October 2010.
The first tournament was played in London in the United Kingdom.
Barry Hearn, the promoter of World Snooker, stated that Power Snooker is "designed to be fast and very exciting with its power zones and double points scoring". Players competed in time-limited matches based on total points scored, instead of the number of racks won. Power Snooker uses nine red balls which includes one red and white striped power ball. When the power ball is potted a two-minute power play starts and all points scored during this period count as double. The balls are continually re-racked at the end of each rack until the end of the match. Total match play lasts for a fixed 30 minutes, with the winner being the player who has scored the most points overall, irrespective of racks played or won. A 20-second shot clock is imposed on each shot, while additional rules also included a power ball, power plays and power zones which included the scoring of double points, quadruple points and the awarding of an extra 50 bonus points if a century break was made. A time foul carried a penalty of 20 points. if a player committed a foul during a power play or in the power zone the penalty was doubled.
The first Power Snooker tournament to be staged was played at The O2 in London on 30 October 2010. Eight players competed for a first prize of £35,000. Power Snooker had to receive sanction from the WPBSA to allow their players to take part in the cue sport tournament. It was organised and promoted independently by the Power Snooker Group and not by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) which organise snooker events. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the inaugural tournament.
A second tournament was played in 2011. This was the last Power Snooker event that was staged.