The World Snooker Championship is undoubtedly the sport’s greatest event and, as such, boasts a winner’s cheque that is bigger than every other tournament.
The £500,000 top prize at the Crucible will be won on Monday by either Shaun Murphy or Wu Yize, with the first to 18 frames claiming the jackpot as well as the title of world champion.
The Saudi Arabia Masters, which ran for two editions in 2024 and 2025, also rewarded the winner with a £500,000 payday before it was announced last month that the tournament has been cancelled indefinitely.
The jackpot on offer these days dwarfs the money that was up for grabs in the first edition of the World Championship at the Crucible in 1977, which saw John Spencer land a winner’s prize of just £6,000.
World Snooker Championship prize money
As mentioned, 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.
The player with the highest break, meanwhile, will be given £15,000.
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
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 last 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 for last year’s competition.
The 24-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
Prize fund for the other two snooker majors
UK Championship
Winner: £312,500
Total: £1,500,000
Masters
Winner: £350,000
Total: £1,015,000