Only Two Players Ever Scored Higher Than a Perfect Game in Snooker

In snooker, the highest possible score in a single visit to the table is supposed to be 147 points, known as a maximum break. Every ball potted in the correct order, every red followed by the black, all the way through the colors. It’s considered the closest thing to perfection the sport offers.

Except two players have actually beaten it. And they did it in ways that completely changed what everyone thought was possible.

What a maximum break actually requires

Building a 147 break demands total control. A player has to pot all 15 red balls, each one followed immediately by the black ball worth 7 points, then clear all six remaining colored balls in order. Miss a single shot, and the run ends early. It requires not just accurate potting but perfect control of exactly where the cue ball stops after every single shot, for dozens of shots in a row, without a single mistake.

The very first officially recorded 147 came from Joe Davis in 1955, during an exhibition match, not even a real tournament. It took until 1982 for the first 147 to happen on live television, when Steve Davis achieved it at a tournament called the Classic. That moment is widely seen as the turning point that made the maximum break famous with the public.

How anyone beat “perfect”

Snooker has a rare rule called a “free ball.” If a player’s opponent fouls badly, leaving no fair shot available, the next player gets to treat any ball on the table as if it were a red, opening up an extra scoring opportunity that isn’t normally there.

Jamie Burnett used exactly that rule in 2004, potting an extra “free ball red” before starting his normal maximum run, finishing with a 148 break, one point higher than a standard maximum. In 2026, Ronnie O’Sullivan, snooker’s most successful maximum break player of all time, broke that record too, compiling an official 153 break against Ryan Day.

A ceiling that isn’t really a ceiling

For decades, 147 was treated as snooker’s absolute limit, the mathematical peak of what the sport allows. The existence of these two rare, rule-based exceptions shows that even a number long treated as a hard ceiling can occasionally be broken, if the exact right circumstances line up.

O’Sullivan alone has made more official maximum breaks than any other player in history. His record 153 stands as proof that snooker’s supposed perfect score isn’t actually the highest number the sport allows, just the most common one.

Why tournaments pay extra for it

Many professional snooker tournaments offer a dedicated bonus prize specifically for any player who compiles an officially recognized maximum break during the event, on top of whatever prize money that player earns through the normal result of the match itself.

That bonus reflects how rare and commercially valuable a maximum break is for a tournament's broadcast and highlight value, even though it has no direct bearing on who actually wins the match it happens in.

Does knowing that snooker’s “perfect” score can technically be beaten change how special a normal 147 feels, or does it remain the sport’s true standard regardless?