The Masters is one of the most prestigious events on the snooker calendar and is contested annually by the top players in the world.

The invitational tournament, which will be undertaking its landmark 50th staging in 2024, is one the sport's three Triple Crown events alongside the World Championship and UK Championship.

Held at the Alexandra Palace in London, the Masters is traditionally contested between the top 16 players in the world rankings, with the previous year's winner seeded at number one.

Here is everything you need to know about the Masters.

What	The Masters
Where	Alexandra Palace, London
When	Sunday 7th – Sunday 14th January, 2024
How to watch	Eurosport, BBC
Odds	Judd Trump 4/1, Ronnie O'Sullivan 9/2, Mark Selby 13/2, Neil Robertson 8/1, Luca Brecel 12/1

The Masters Dates

The Masters is a fixture of not just the snooker calendar, but the wider sporting landscape, with the Triple Crown event taking place in early January each year.

The 50th edition is scheduled to be held from the 7th January - 14th January, 2024.

The defending champion traditionally gets the tournament underway and the eight first-round matches, quarter-finals and semi-finals are played over a best-of-eleven-frame format, with the final a race to 10 frames.

The event runs from Sunday to Sunday and the one-table set up means that fans can catch all of the action.

The Masters Times

With The Masters involving 16 players across eight matches, the opening four days of action features two matches each.

One of those last-16 matches will take place during the afternoon session at 1pm while the second will start at 7pm, which is the evening session.

This is a theme of the tournament until Sunday’s final, which is over a best-of-19 instead of the standard best-of-11 and is played across two sessions.

The Masters Venue

The Masters is held at the iconic Alexandra Palace in London. 

Bar a switch to Leicester in 2021, the tournament has been held in the English capital since its inception in 1975. 

First played at the West Centre Hotel and then the New London Theatre, the Masters found its spiritual home at the Wembley Conference Centre in 1979.

The competition remained at that famous venue until 2006, but was then switched to Wembley Arena after the demolition of the Conference Centre in the same year.

Alexandra Palace picked up the baton in 2012, and the Haringey venue has done a good job of replicating the special atmosphere that was produced at the Wembley Conference Centre. 

Many of the world's best players now point to Ally Pally as the venue with the best atmosphere in snooker. 

How to watch The Masters

Broadcasting rights for the 2024 Masters are yet to be confirmed, but the tournament has been traditionally shown on both the BBC and Eurosport over recent years.

It can also be viewed on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app and on the Eurosport player. 

The Masters History 

It won't come as a surprise to find out that Ronnie O'Sullivan has claimed the most Masters crowns. 

The Rocket has won the event seven times, but the Chigwell cueist hasn't lifted the trophy since 2017. 

Stephen Hendry won five consecutive Masters titles between 1989 and 1993, with the Scotsman having won the tournament six times in total.

Mark Selby has won the Masters on three occasions and the likes of John Higgins, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson have a brace of titles on their records. 

With three titles, Paul Hunter's name is synonymous with this event

He famously collected his Masters wins in 2001, 2002 and 2004 - all of them via 10-9 scorelines and featuring notorious comebacks from the Leeds-born talent, who sadly passed away in 2006 following an illness.

Fittingly, since 2016, the world's best now compete for the Paul Hunter Trophy in honour of the three-time champion at snooker's most prestigious invitational event. 

Judd Trump is the defending champion after he beat Williams 10-8 in the 2023 final - that was the Ace in the Pack's second Masters success.

The Masters Odds

Not only is Trump the defending champion, but he started this season in remarkable fashion, notching up three title successes at the English Open, the Wuhan Open and the Northern Ireland Open by mid-November. 

Trump, who overcame Mark Williams 10-8 in last season’s final, is 4/1 favourite but, with plenty of snooker still to be played, it is worth noting that the draw has not yet been finalised.

It won't come as a surprise to find out that Ronnie O'Sullivan has claimed the most Masters crowns with seven title and he is 9/2 to chalk up yet another success at Ally Pally.

However, the Rocket hasn't lifted the trophy since 2017, so punters may be more tempted by the 13/2 available about Mark Selby.

The Leicester cueman has won the Masters on three occasions, although his latest victory in the event came back in 2013 and he tends to favour a longer format such as the World Championship.

Neil Robertson is an 8/1 chance but the two-time champion, which included winning this event two years ago, has been woefully out of form in the opening months of the season.

The same could be said for reigning world champion Luca Brecel, who is a 12/1 chance, while the same price is offered on Shaun Murphy and John Higgins. Mark Allen, the winner in 2018, is a 14/1 shot.