Why does Snooker have such a higher class than Pool?

Question

Someone please tell me, why does Snooker have such a higher class than Pool?

I mean if you take a look at professional Snooker players and the way they dress and the way they talk you clearly see a big difference in them.In the championships Snooker players wear tie and vest while pool players wear funny T-shirts, the level of world championships and professionality in Snooker is way higher than pool.Why is that?!!

Answer 1

I   have  noticed  this  also  and  find  it  strange.  Snooker   and  Pool  are  both  great  games  that   I  enjoy.   Snooker  requires  you  to  be  more  precise  with  your  shooting.

Answer 2

This completely has to do with the revenue generated by snooker versus pool.  Snooker players simply make much much more.  The sport gets far more attention and their fans expect a level of class.

In America, pool is not terribly popular, at least, not as a spectator sport.  It's never shown live on television.  With the exception of the top 5, its participants make little and players simply do not feel a need to dress up the same way.

Occasionally, you will see pool players a little dressier than they normally are.  The US Open Straight Pool in New York City back in 2000 required all participants to wear tuxedos.  Also, The World Championship Straight Pool in New Jersey the past two years have required all players wear button-down shirts, vests and dress pants.  Even at most local 9-ball tournamnets, at least a polo is required.

I firmly believe if the money were equal for both sports, the fashion would be the same.  However, until America shows an interest in watching pool, I doubt that will consistently be the case.  I'm sorry if it sounds like chicken & egg logic.

Answer 3

I'm with you on this, it's odd, I know alot of people who call pool a dumbed down version of snooker, which makes me angry.

Answer 4

I dont consider it a higher class or standard at all. Its not how you dress, its how you play.

Answer 5

Well, Pool is generally a bar game, and is played for fun.

and you cant compare the level of difficulty and strategy with Pool, and the people. like  some other people said,comparing pool and snooker is like comparing backgammon with Chess.

Answer 6

Pool is to snooker....what checkers is to Chess

Answer 7

Play them both and you'll quickly realise that snooker requires a much greater accuracy of shot than pool.

The "class" thing is in dress only. The original snooker was an adaptation of traditional billiards, played by young subalterns, known as "Snookers", in Indian Officers' Messes. The tradition of dress code, in tournaments, stems from these origins. However, the "class" is superficial.

Answer 8

I wish that I could tell you but to be honest with you where I live I have never even seen a snooker table much less played it.  I wish it was played here more, but its just not.  Professional pool here in the U.S. used to be a lot more classy with guys wearing suits and looking very nice, but it has changed.

Answer 9

Fancy clothes do not make the game high class. It's just a dress code, nothing more. And for the record, trick shot pool competitions require participants to wear tuxedos, so you can throw your theory right out the window.

EDIT: You people are hilarious. Yeah, pool is to snooker as chess is to checkers. Pool = Chess, snooker = checkers. Pool is for cerebral players, snooker is for shotmakers. I have NEVER met a single person who's actually good at both pool and snooker and honestly thinks snooker is harder than pool. I have played both extensively, and can tell you that neither is really harder than the other, and good players at EITHER game are not automatically good at the other. If that were the case, snooker players would be dominating the pro pool tour, and that's simply not the case. Only a handful of snooker players have EVER won professional pool tournaments.

To address your comments, you seem to be comparing the snooker matches that you see on TV to the pool games you see people playing at the bar. Of course the people in the audience at snooker matches are classier than the people at the bar. If you watch professional pool tournaments on TV, you'll see respectful and informed people in the audience, just like pro snooker tournaments.

From the comments made so far that snooker players seem to be quite elitist. Their game is the hardest, their fans are the best, blah, blah, blah. There's a reason that snooker is primarily played in the UK, and pool is played around the world, and it seems to be quite clear it's because attitudes of the people who play it.

Answer 10

Snooker is more popular in Europe. Here in the U.S. ,pool is more common. The tradition in snooker is stronger and as such people who play and watch it have higher standards. Pool on the other hand tends to be a bar game or recreational game where people could care less how people dress. I play pool every day- mostly 9-ball- but I think snooker is a much harder game because the tables are much larger.

Answer 11

It is classed as the easier sport , pool, snooker is a more challenging game, in the same way chess is harder that draughts. Snooker also has more coverage.