QUESTION Recently my wife attended a hen party on the Isle of Wight. After several drinks she began a game with another woman on the pub snooker table. She claims to have had a break of 155. Is this possible?
Additionally she then went on to play darts and claims to have achieved a nine dart finish, whatever that was.
Mr. Nick Swarzkopf
ANSWER Hello Nick. Regarding the snooker, your wife's opponent must have played a foul shot, leaving your wife snookered on all 15 reds. She could then have nominated a colour as a red, a free ball which would have counted one point. If she had then potted a black, that would have been seven more points.
Fifteen more reds with blacks must have followed, and then all of the colours.
This would have given a quite legitimate break of 155 at odds of 55 million to one.
Regarding the nine dart finish, 501 points must have been achieved by throwing nine darts. Contrastingly, this is simple to do and a very common occurrence at hen nights.
The trick is not to block your next dart with a careless throw. The odds against the nine dart finish are a more palatable 1,795 to one.
