The World Snooker Championship is the sport’s greatest event, although it no longer can boast a winner’s cheque that is bigger than every other tournament.
The prize fund at the Crucible remains the largest on the World Snooker Tour calendar but the top prize, which will be won on Monday by either Mark Williams or Zhao Xintong, has been equalled by another competition.
The Saudi Arabia Masters has emerged on the calendar this season and has matched the World Championship’s top prize of £500,000.
Judd Trump won that event in Riyadh, dramatically beating Williams in a deciding frame to land the handsome prize.
There remains more money on offer in Sheffield overall, though, and of course there is more prestige and glory to be banked by winning the World Championship.
The first edition of the World Championship at the Crucible in 1977 saw John Spencer land a winner’s prize of £6,000.
How much prize money does the World Champion get?
The winner of this year’s competition will walk home with £500,000, whilst the runner-up will be consoled with a pay day of £200,000.
World Snooker Championship prize money round-by-round
Winner: £500,000
Runner-up: £200,000
Semi-finalists: £100,000
Quarter-finalists: £50,000
Last 16: £30,000
Last 32: £20,000
Highest break (qualifying stage included): £15,000
Total (including qualifying): £2,395,000
How much does a player get for a 147?
Any player making a 147 at the Crucible this year will win a bonus of £40,000.
There have only been 15 maximums at the Crucible since the World Championship moved to Sheffield in 1977, so it remains a rare feat.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stephen Hendry have made three each of those 15, while Mark Selby’s in 2023 remains the only one in a Crucible final.
Mark Allen added his name to the illustrious list this year, with the Northern Irishman compiling his maximum break in his second-round clash against Chris Wakelin.
Jackson Page, meanwhile, made two 147s in the same match in World Championship qualifying last month.
The 23-year-old made snooker history in Sheffield by becoming the first player ever to make two maximum breaks in the same match during a 10-2 win over Allan Taylor.
Page, however, failed to reach the main draw after subsequently slipping to a 10-7 defeat to Joe O’Connor.
Crucible Maximums
1983 – Cliff Thorburn
1992 – Jimmy White
1995 – Stephen Hendry
1997 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2003 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2005 – Mark Williams
2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2008 – Ali Carter
2009 – Stephen Hendry
2012 – Stephen Hendry
2020 – John Higgins
2022 – Neil Robertson
2023 – Kyren Wilson
2023 – Mark Selby
2025 – Mark Allen
What are the other big prize funds in snooker?
Saudi Arabia Masters
Winner: £500,000
Total: £2,302,000
UK Championship
Winner: £250,000
Total: £1,205,000
Masters
Winner: £350,000
Total: £1,015,000
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