If you think of snooker then the likelihood is that you’ll also think of Sheffield. The city’s Crucible Theatre has been the home of the World Snooker Championship since 1977, with the sport’s most prestigious event being held there pretty much ever since. London isn’t particularly known for being a city where snooker is hosted, which is a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that the tournament that is hosted in the capital takes place at a venue that is more commonly associated with a different sport. Ally Pally, as the Alexandra Palace is better known, is where the Masters takes place but also where the World Professional Darts Championship is held.
It is the darts that is more closely thought of as being the sport that takes place at Ally Pally, which is why many people might not even realise that it is also the home of the Masters. Alexandra Palace was opened in 1863 and is located between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London borough of Haringey. There are, of course, some smaller tournaments that take place in London, with the capital having a number of different snooker clubs that are frequented by amateur players and the likes, but it is only really the major tournaments that we’re interested in here. That means that even the likes of the Eden Women’s Masters don’t get a look in.
The Masters

Held for the first time in 1975, the Masters is an invitational snooker tournament for professional players. Only the World Snooker Championship has been taking place for longer than the Masters, which is considered to be one of the Triple Crown of snooker events. In spite of the fact that it isn’t one of the ranking competitions in the sport, it is still thought of as being a prestigious one and is broadcast by the BBC. When it first started, it saw the top ten players in snooker invited to take part, with the competition being held at the West Centre Hotel in London and sponsored by Benson & Hedges cigarettes.
History of the Masters
That inaugural tournament was won by John Spencer, who won the deciding frame of his match against Ray Reardon on a re-spotted black. The excitement of that initial competition might well have been why it became popular, being moved to the New London Theatre in 1976 and then to the Wembley Conference Centre three years later. In 1981, 12 players were invited to take part and that figure was increased to 16 in 1983. A year on from that and it was the top 16 players in the world that were invited to take part, with history being made in 1988 when Steve Davis defeated Mike Hallett 9-0 in the final; the only time a player had been whitewashed.
Stephen Hendry managed to enhance his reputation when he won the competition five years in succession, going unbeaten between his first appearance in the tournament in 1989 until he was eventually defeated by Alan McManus in a final-frame decider five years later. A year on from that, the sponsors were allowed to introduce two wild-cards for the competition, depending on the discretion of the game’s governing body. They would play against the 15th and 16th seeds in the first round, with the Benson & Hedges Championship introduced in 1991 and seeing one of those wild-card places given to the winner.
Venue: Formerly Wembley, Now Ally Pally
In 2003, Benson & Hedges ended their sponsorship of the competition owing to the fact that the United Kingdom restricted tobacco advertising in the country. It meant that different companies took over the sponsorship deal in the years that followed. In 2007, the Masters was moved to Wembley Arena for the first time, with one extra wild-card added in order to bring the total number of players at the event to 19. That only lasted a year, however, and in 2011 the wild-card system was discontinued. That was also the final year that Wembley Arena was used as the venue for the competition, with Alexandra Palace becoming its new home in 2012.
Tournament Format
The tournament’s format has been largely the same over the years since 1984, albeit with the likes of occasional wild-card variations. The defending Masters champion is given the number 1 seed, whilst the World Champion at the time of the tournament is given the 2 seed, providing it is a different player. The remaining seeds are then allocated according to their position in the world rankings. With a few notably exceptions, the 16 players invited to take part in the tournament tend to be the top 16 players in the world at the time. When Ronnie O’Sullivan won his seventh Masters in 2017, he overtook Stephen Hendry’s record number of wins.