Maximum 147 Breaks

The maximum break in snooker is 147 — achieved by potting all 15 reds with 15 blacks, then clearing the colours. It is the pinnacle of break-building. 92 players in our database have achieved a maximum.

147 Records

Most career 147s	Ronnie O'Sullivan	15+
Fastest 147	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5 min 8 sec (1997 World Championship)
Oldest player to make 147	John Higgins	Age 48 (2024)
First televised 147	Steve Davis	1982 Lada Classic
First World Championship 147	Cliff Thorburn	1983

Players Who Have Made a Maximum

#	Player	Nationality	Highest Break	Career Centuries
1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	England	153	1,324
2	Judd Trump	England	147	1,149
3	John Higgins	Scotland	147	1,061
4	Neil Robertson	Australia	147	1,038
5	Mark Selby	England	147	961
6	Shaun Murphy	England	147	781
7	Stephen Hendry	Scotland	147	778
8	Ding Junhui	China	147	723
9	Mark Williams	Wales	147	691
10	Mark Allen	Northern Ireland	147	689
11	Stuart Bingham	England	147	633
12	Kyren Wilson	England	147	557
13	Marco Fu	Hong Kong	147	555
14	Stephen Maguire	Scotland	147	538
15	Barry Hawkins	England	147	527
16	Ryan Day	Wales	147	480
17	Ali Carter	England	147	464
18	David Gilbert	England	147	449
19	Ricky Walden	England	147	392
20	Jack Lisowski	England	147	386
21	Peter Ebdon	England	147	380
22	Ken Doherty	Ireland	147	371
23	Xiao Guodong	China	147	362
24	Matthew Stevens	Wales	147	361
25	Steve Davis	England	147	356
26	Jimmy White	England	147	354
27	Tom Ford	England	147	319
28	Gary Wilson	England	147	311
29	Mark Davis	England	147	303
30	Liang Wenbo	China	147	284
31	Graeme Dott	Scotland	147	263
32	Zhou Yuelong	China	147	258
33	Martin Gould	England	147	253
34	Fergal O'Brien	Ireland	147	243
35	Zhao Xintong	China	147	238
36	Matthew Selt	England	147	230
37	John Parrott	England	147	230
38	Luca Brecel	Belgium	147	228
39	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	Thailand	147	222
40	Robert Milkins	England	147	206
41	Kurt Maflin	Norway	147	203
42	Zhang Anda	China	147	199
43	Ben Woollaston	England	147	183
44	Noppon Saengkham	Thailand	147	175
45	Jamie Jones	Wales	147	175
46	Andy Hicks	England	147	174
47	Jak Jones	Wales	147	169
48	Jamie Cope	England	147	164
49	Hossein Vafaei	Iran	147	164
50	Barry Pinches	England	147	163
51	James Wattana	Thailand	147	162
52	Andrew Higginson	England	147	161
53	Jamie Burnett	Scotland	148	143
54	Chris Wakelin	England	147	143
55	Wu Yize	China	147	139
56	Alfie Burden	England	147	139
57	Willie Thorne	England	147	138
58	Tony Drago	Malta	147	131
59	Joe O'Connor	England	147	122
60	Si Jiahui	China	147	114
61	Cliff Thorburn	Canada	147	91
62	Rory McLeod	Jamaica	147	87
63	David Gray	England	147	82
64	Cao Yupeng	China	147	81
65	Chang Bingyu	China	147	79
66	Xu Si	China	147	77
67	Fan Zhengyi	China	147	70
68	Adrian Gunnell	England	147	69
69	John Spencer	England	147	66
70	Jackson Page	Wales	147	65
71	Peter Lines	England	147	63
72	Marcus Campbell	Scotland	147	59
73	Mike Dunn	England	147	59
74	Tony Meo	England	147	55
75	Aaron Hill	Ireland	147	50
76	Nick Dyson	England	147	47
77	Zak Surety	England	147	46
78	Ross Muir	Scotland	147	41
79	Michael Georgiou	Cyprus	147	41
80	Aditya Mehta	India	147	41
81	Alain Robidoux	Canada	147	40
82	Dechawat Poomjaeng	Thailand	147	29
83	Liam Pullen	England	147	29
84	Kirk Stevens	Canada	147	26
85	Sean O'Sullivan	England	147	25
86	Terry Murphy	Northern Ireland	147	25
87	Mehmet Husnu	Cyprus	147	22
88	Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon	Thailand	147	20
89	David McLellan	Scotland	147	18
90	Jason Prince	Northern Ireland	147	17
91	David McDonnell	Ireland	147	16
92	Karl Burrows	England	147	12

About the Maximum Break

A maximum break of 147 is achieved by potting all 15 reds, each followed by the black (15 × 1 + 15 × 7 = 120), then clearing all six colours in sequence (yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, black 7 = 27). Total: 120 + 27 = 147.

Breaks higher than 147 are possible when the opponent commits a foul with reds still on the table, awarding a free ball. The highest possible break is 155 (free ball used as an extra red, potted with black, then a standard 147). Breaks of 148-155 have occurred in professional play.

Ronnie O'Sullivan's 147 at the 1997 World Championship, completed in 5 minutes and 8 seconds, is widely considered the greatest single break in snooker history.