Snooker season calendar 2026/27
The snooker season runs from summer to the following spring and builds towards the World Championship in Sheffield. Three tournaments stand above the rest and are known together as the Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown
| Tournament | Dates | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| UK Championship | 28 November to 6 December 2026 | Barbican, York |
| Masters | 10 to 17 January 2027 | Alexandra Palace, London |
| World Championship | 17 April to 3 May 2027 | Crucible Theatre, Sheffield |
Other dates in Britain
| Tournament | Dates | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Shoot Out | 9 to 12 December 2026 | Tower Circus, Blackpool |
| Welsh Open | 8 to 14 February 2027 | Venue Cymru, Llandudno |
| Players Championship | 2 to 7 March 2027 | Telford International Centre |
| Tour Championship | 29 March to 4 April 2027 | Manchester Central |
| World Championship qualifiers | 5 to 14 April 2027 | Sheffield |
The governing body lists all dates as provisional, so check before booking travel.
UK Championship
The UK Championship is the first of the three big events each season. It is a ranking tournament, so results count towards a player’s world ranking.
The Masters
The Masters is an invitation event for the top 16 players in the world. It carries no ranking points, but it is the second oldest professional tournament after the World Championship and has been held at Alexandra Palace since 2012.
World Championship
The World Championship has been played at the Crucible Theatre every year since 1977. The top 16 in the rankings are seeded straight into the main draw. Everyone else must come through the qualifying rounds held in the days before.
Matches at the Crucible are long. The final is played over two days.
Ranking and non-ranking events
| Type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ranking event | Prize money counts towards the world rankings |
| Non-ranking event | An invitation or special-format event with no ranking points |
Rankings decide who is seeded and who qualifies for events with limited fields, such as the Players Championship and the Tour Championship.
The club season
Local leagues usually run from early autumn to spring, with cup finals in April or May. That puts the end of the league season close to the World Championship, which is when club tables are busiest.