Miss (snooker rule)

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In snooker, a miss will be called if a player does not hit the 'ball on' first and is deemed by the referee to not have made a good enough attempt at the shot. This gives his opponent the option to have the balls replaced as they were and have the fouling player take his shot again. The rules does not apply when either player requires snookers.

The rule was introduced to prevent players from intentionally playing a foul shot, so as to remove the risk of hitting a shot too thickly and leaving a frame-winning chance for his opponent. Multiple misses often occur because players attempt to hit a shot thinly, so as to avoid leaving his opponent a chance. This can lead to a relatively easy shot to hit being retaken several times, as players feel that it is better to concede many points but leave a safe position, than concede none and leave a frame-winning chance.

However, the applied interpretation of the rule has proved controversial, as players sometimes narrowly miss a shot many times. Sometimes this is due to pure bad luck, or the difficulty of the snooker - meaning that a good snooker can have more 'payoff' than a great pot.

However, when a player is not snookered on the ball 'on', 3 consecutive misses result in a player conceding the frame.