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. 94 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	1,330
2	Judd Trump	England	147	1,156
3	John Higgins	Scotland	147	1,063
4	Neil Robertson	Australia	147	1,039
5	Mark Selby	England	147	963
6	Shaun Murphy	England	147	786
7	Stephen Hendry	Scotland	147	778
8	Ding Junhui	China	147	729
9	Mark Williams	Wales	147	694
10	Mark Allen	Northern Ireland	147	694
11	Stuart Bingham	England	147	635
12	Kyren Wilson	England	147	564
13	Marco Fu	Hong Kong	147	562
14	Stephen Maguire	Scotland	147	539
15	Barry Hawkins	England	147	532
16	Ryan Day	Wales	147	483
17	Ali Carter	England	147	468
18	David Gilbert	England	147	462
19	Ricky Walden	England	147	401
20	Jack Lisowski	England	147	388
21	Peter Ebdon	England	147	380
22	Ken Doherty	Ireland	147	371
23	Xiao Guodong	China	147	365
24	Matthew Stevens	Wales	147	365
25	Jimmy White	England	147	356
26	Steve Davis	England	147	356
27	Tom Ford	England	147	324
28	Gary Wilson	England	147	311
29	Mark Davis	England	147	303
30	Liang Wenbo	China	147	284
31	Zhou Yuelong	China	147	266
32	Graeme Dott	Scotland	147	263
33	Martin Gould	England	147	253
34	Zhao Xintong	China	147	251
35	Fergal O'Brien	Ireland	147	243
36	Matthew Selt	England	147	234
37	Luca Brecel	Belgium	147	232
38	John Parrott	England	147	231
39	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	Thailand	147	223
40	Zhang Anda	China	147	208
41	Robert Milkins	England	147	207
42	Kurt Maflin	Norway	147	203
43	Noppon Saengkham	Thailand	147	184
44	Ben Woollaston	England	147	183
45	Jamie Jones	Wales	147	179
46	Jak Jones	Wales	147	177
47	Hossein Vafaei	Iran	147	174
48	Andy Hicks	England	147	173
49	Jamie Cope	England	147	167
50	Andrew Higginson	England	147	164
51	Barry Pinches	England	147	163
52	James Wattana	Thailand	147	162
53	Wu Yize	China	147	154
54	Alfie Burden	England	147	145
55	Chris Wakelin	England	147	144
56	Jamie Burnett	Scotland	148	143
57	Willie Thorne	England	147	138
58	Tony Drago	Malta	147	131
59	Joe O'Connor	England	147	126
60	Si Jiahui	China	147	115
61	Chang Bingyu	China	147	94
62	Cliff Thorburn	Canada	147	91
63	Rory McLeod	Jamaica	147	88
64	David Gray	England	147	82
65	Xu Si	China	147	81
66	Cao Yupeng	China	147	81
67	Fan Zhengyi	China	147	74
68	Jackson Page	Wales	147	71
69	Adrian Gunnell	England	147	69
70	John Spencer	England	147	66
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	54
76	Zak Surety	England	147	49
77	Nick Dyson	England	147	47
78	Ross Muir	Scotland	147	42
79	Michael Georgiou	Cyprus	147	41
80	Aditya Mehta	India	147	41
81	Alain Robidoux	Canada	147	40
82	Liam Pullen	England	147	34
83	Dechawat Poomjaeng	Thailand	147	29
84	Sean O'Sullivan	England	147	27
85	Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon	Thailand	147	27
86	Kirk Stevens	Canada	147	26
87	Terry Murphy	Northern Ireland	147	25
88	Mehmet Husnu	Cyprus	147	23
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
93	Pat Kenny	England	147	6
94	John Rea	Scotland	147	4

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.