Players Championship: Start date, schedule, seedings & betting odds

One of the most lucrative events of the World Snooker Tour is the Players Championship, which is a culmination of the season's play featuring the top-16 players on a one-year ranking list.

The Players Championship has been a fixture on the calendar since 2011. It is the second event in the Players Series, after the World Grand Prix and preceding the Tour Championship.

Players Championship date

The Players Championship starts on Monday 19th February with the final scheduled for Sunday 25th February.

Players Championship venue and location

The Players Championship this year will be held at the Telford International Centre. This will be the first time a professional snooker event has been held at the Shropshire venue in 14 years.

The last event hosted in Telford was the 2007 UK Championship won by John Higgins.

The competition has been held in previous years at various venues around the country including the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, the Convention Centre in Southport, the Guild Hall in Preston and last season it was staged at the Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton.

Players Championship previous winners

Only three players have won the Players Championship more than once with Ronnie O’Sullivan doing the double in 2018 and 2019, Judd Trump winning in 2017 and 2020, while Shaun Murphy bagged his second title last year after winning the inaugural event in 2011.

Murphy will not be defending his crown in 2024 after he failed to qualify for the event, having finished outside the top 16 on the one-year ranking list after his qualifying loss at the Welsh Open.

Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Allen, Joe Perry, Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui are all previous winners.

Players Championship format

The Players Championship sees the top 16 players in the world do battle and they are seeded by the amount of points they have secured in the one-year ranking list.

The matches will be played as the best-of-11 frames until the final, which is a best-of-19 frames played over two sessions.

Players Championship prize fund

The tournament has a total prize fund of £385,000, with £125,000 going to the winner, and the runner-up taking home £50,000.

A run to the semi-finals will bag each player £30,000. Reaching the quarter-finals will see the eight individuals get £15,000, while each participant earns £10,000 for appearing in the last 16.

The player who makes the highest break will be awarded £10,000.

Will the Players Championship be televised?

The tournament will be available on bet365's Sports Live Streaming platform, while it will also be televised on Eurosport and on ITV.

What are the current world rankings?

Ronnie O'Sullivan is at the top of the world rankings ahead of Judd Trump, although these two will be seeded second and first respectively for the Players Championship based on the one-year rankings list.