How to Bill Snooker by the Frame (and Why Per-Minute Can Lose You Money)

Ask ten club owners how they charge for snooker and you’ll get three answers: by the minute, by the hour, or by the frame. For snooker specifically, frame billing is often the most profitable — and the most fair to players. Here’s why, and how to set it up cleanly.

Per-minute vs per-frame

Per-minute billing charges for time on the table. It’s simple and great for pool, where games are quick and casual. But for snooker it has two problems:

1. Slow frames cost you. A careful frame between two good players can run 40+ minutes. On a low per-minute rate, you’re effectively renting a premium table for very little.
2. Players watch the clock, not the game. Time pressure changes how people play and rush — not the relaxed experience that keeps regulars coming back.

Per-frame billing charges a fixed price for a frame, regardless of how long it takes (up to a sensible cap). Players know the cost upfront, play properly, and you get paid fairly for table occupancy.

When to use each

• Pool / quick games → per-minute or per-game.
• Snooker, league nights, serious players → per-frame.
• PlayStation / console → per-minute or per-hour, plus a per-controller charge.

A good setup uses different modes for different tables — and good software lets you do that per table.

Setting up frame billing the right way

Whatever tool you use, a solid frame setup has four parts:

1. A base price per frame — your standard charge for one frame.
2. A duration assumption — roughly how long a frame “should” take (say 30 minutes).
3. An overtime rate — a small per-minute charge once a frame runs well past the assumed duration, so marathon frames don’t tie up a table for free.
4. A grace period — a few minutes before overtime kicks in, so you’re not nickel-and-diming.

With those four numbers, your staff just tap “start” and the bill is correct every time — no arguments, no mental maths.

A worked example

Say your base is ₹120 per frame, assumed at 30 minutes, with overtime at ₹3/minute after a 5-minute grace:

• A 28-minute frame → ₹120 (within assumption).
• A 50-minute frame → ₹120 + (50 − 35) × ₹3 = ₹165.

The casual player pays a clean, predictable price. The two-hour marathon pays its fair share of the table’s earning potential. Everybody understands the bill.

Don’t make staff do this by hand

The reason frame billing gets skipped is that it’s fiddly to calculate manually during a busy evening — so clubs default to a flat hourly rate and lose money on long frames. The fix is software that does the calculation automatically.

CueBill supports frame billing for snooker out of the box — base price, durations, overtime and grace — alongside per-minute, per-game and PlayStation controller charges. Set it once per table and your bills are right all night.

See CueBill’s billing features → or start a free trial →.