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History
The history and origins of the game of snooker are generally regarded as being in the latter half of the 19th century. Billiards had been a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, and variations on the more traditional billiard games were devised. One variation, devised in the officers' mess in Jabalpur during 1874 or 1875, was to add coloured balls in addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool.

The word "snooker" also has military origins, being a slang term for first year cadets or inexperienced personnel. One version of events states that Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment was playing this new game when his opponent failed to pot a ball and Chamberlain called him a "snooker". It thus became attached to the billiards game now bearing its name as inexperienced players were labelled as snookers.

The game grew in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th, and by 1927 the first World Snooker Championship had been organised by Joe Davis who, as a professional English billiards and snooker player, helped move the game from a pastime activity into a more professional sphere. Joe Davis won every world championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played.

Things saw some improvement when in 1969 the BBC commissioned the snooker tournament Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting. The TV series became a ratings success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two. Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Championship was the first to be fully televised.

The game quickly became a mainstream sport in the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth and has enjoyed much success in the last 30 years, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised. In recent years the loss of tobacco sponsorship has led to a decrease in the number of professional tournaments, however new sponsors have been sourced and the popularity of the game in the Far East and China, with talent such as James Wattana and Ding Junhui, ensures that the future of the game looks secure.

Governance and Tournaments
The most important event in professional snooker is the World Championship, held annually since 1927 (except during the Second World War and between 1958 and 1963). The tournament has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield (England) since 1977, and was sponsored by Embassy from 1976 to 2005. Because since 2005 tobacco companies are not allowed to sponsor sporting events in the United Kingdom, the World Snooker Championship had to find a new sponsor.

It was announced in January 2006 that the 2006–2010 world championships would be sponsored by online casino 888.com. The status of winning the World Championship is great, and it is the most highly valued prize in professional snooker, both in terms of financial reward (£200,000 for the winner) as well as prestige. The World Championship is televised extensively in the UK by the BBC and gains significant coverage in Europe on Eurosport and in the Far East.

UK Snooker Championship
The UK Championship is a professional snooker tournament, generally regarded as the second most prestigious tournament after the World Championship.The UK Championship was first held in 1977 as the United Kingdom Snooker Championship, an event open only to British residents. Patsy Fagan won, beating Doug Mountjoy by 12 frames to 9, to win £2000.

The rules were changed in 1984 to allow all professionals to enter (although until 2005, only players from Britain and Ireland had ever won the event), and it was granted ranking status. It carries one and a half times as many ranking points as all other tournaments, with the exception of the World Championship.

The 2007 UK Championship will be held at the Telford International Centre, having previously been held at the York Barbican Centre.The tournament has had many different sponsors over the years including Coral, Tennents, StormSeal, Royal Liver Assurance,Liverpool Victoria, PowerHouse, Travis Perkins and is currently sponsored by Maplin Electronics. It is one of the tournaments televised by the BBC and it is held towards the end of each calendar year. Prize money in 2005 was £500,000 ($966,549) with the winner receiving £70,000 ($135,316).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker