Paddy Power offer snooker star £61k for a ‘perfect break’ – after turning down £10k

By Rich Leigh on Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Slightly less in-your-face than a standard Paddy Power stunt this, but nonetheless, demonstrating an appreciation for sentiment in response to a story only snooker fans might otherwise be aware of.

In short – and I’ve had to read up around this to understand it – snooker player Ronnie ‘The Rocket’ O’Sullivan complained about the £10,000 prize for scoring 147 (a ‘perfect break’ – explained here for the uninitiated among us) at the Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan, who’s achieved more perfect breaks than any other, was on course for a 147 yesterday, but decided to score 146 instead in protest at the money on offer, saying a 147 was a massive achievement and worth more. The 147 prize pot goes up £5,000 every tournament it isn’t won, standing at ‘only’ £10,000 because Neil Robertson managed it at the UK Championship in December.

Bookies Paddy Power stepped in with this tweet, offering a precise £61,000 – the significance of which, I’m not quite sure:

Don’t forget the black next time @Ronnieo147 and we’ll give you a cheque for £61,000! #WelshOpen pic.twitter.com/1I44gx9EaM

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) February 16, 2016

O’Sullivan responded, saying he’d give more than the original prize to a charity of Paddy Power’s choice should he make the 147 – directly answering critics claiming that his decision was disrespectful, as he could have simply given the money to a charity:

@paddypower That’s more like it! Tell you what, if I manage to pull off a 147, I will give £11k of this to a charity of your choice

— Ronnie O’Sullivan (@ronnieo147) February 16, 2016