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

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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	4th-14th January, 2024
Odds	Ronnie O'Sullivan 4/1, Judd Trump 5/1, Neil Robertson 11/2, Mark Selby 7/1, Shaun Murphy 10/1

How can I 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.

When is the Masters?

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.

Where is the Masters held? 

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 many times has the Masters taken place?

The Masters was first introduced into the snooker calendar in 1975. It's the second-longest running tournament behind the World Championship, and alongside the Sheffield showpiece and the UK Championship, and forms part of the Triple Crown series of events. 

The tournament originally featured a field of 10 players before that was then expanded to 12 cue-men in 1981 and then 16 potters in 1983. 

It's an invitational event, meaning that it has become standard that the top 16 ranked players are given the opportunity to compete in the feature competition. 

There have been 49 previous editions of the Masters, meaning the 2024 event will be the landmark 50th staging.

Who has won the Masters on the most occasions?

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.

Who is the favourite to win the 2024 Masters?

As the record seven-time winner of the event, it is no surprise to see O'Sullivan is the 4/1 favourite to win the 2024 Masters.

Defending champion Trump is 5/1 to lift the trophy for the second year in a row, while 2022 winner, Robertson, is available at 11/2 to land his third Masters title.

Three-time winner Selby is 7/1 to become just the third player to win the Masters four times, with 2015 champion Shaun Murphy (10/1), 2018 victor Mark Allen (12/1) and reigning world champion Luca Brecel (12/1) also considered as likely contenders.