What is a 167 golden break in snooker?
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A 167 golden break in snooker is where a player completes a maximum break of 147 and then pots a 20-point golden ball immediately after it.
The prize for completing this feat is $1m (£760,000) and it only applies in the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia.
The concept of adding the golden ball in order to create the big-money 167 break was introduced at the Riyadh event in 2024, although no player was able to achieve the 167 break in either of its first two iterations.
In the initial tournament, only the first player to do it would receive the $1m prize, although that has since been changed so that all players to achieve it will receive $1m.
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Is a tournament win or a 167 break better?
Pot the golden ball or win the Riyadh Season Championship?
Before the tournament, which starts on Thursday, players have been debating whether they would rather win the tournament or achieve a 167 break.
The prize money for winning in Riyadh is £250,000, less than a third of the prize money for a single 167 break.
"I think I'd rather get the big break to be honest with you," said seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.
"I've won the tournament before and it's great to win the tournament, but to get the 167 I think would be amazing."
John Higgins added: "It would be a crazy sum of money to win, wouldn't it? Just for 10 minutes work.
"I'd rather get a 167. That will do me. It is the equivalent of winning three tournaments, isn't it?
"If you think about the World Championship and what it takes to win that, it's 17 days of torturous snooker to win that and half a million pounds. To actually do it in 10 or 12 minutes and win probably win the biggest prize in snooker, it would be crazy."
Judd Trump said that he would still "rather win the tournament" itself than the payday for a single 167 break.
"I think that's probably the next step up [from the 147 maximum break]," former player Shaun Murphy told BBC Sport.
"I think the 167 will go this week. The million-dollar bonus was a bit of a surprise for everyone last time round, but I think everyone's been gearing their practice around that this time and everyone's prepared for it.
"I've had a few days with nothing to do so I've been practising them myself, and I just think the 167, with everything it means out here, is probably the next step for snooker."
O'Sullivan disagreed that a 167 would happen this week.
"I don't think anyone will do it, that's just my personal opinion," he added.
"I'd be happy to be wrong because if someone did it, it would be an amazing achievement."
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