Mark Allen’s Crucible maximum bags one fan £25k Midnite Maximum bonus

Mark Allen’s maximum 147 during his round-of-16 World Snooker Championship match has netted one lucky fan £25,000. Allen himself will get a £40,000 prize money bonus for the maximum, which is the first scored in the main tournament since Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson both scored maximums in 2023. 

Although this is the first maximum in this year’s main tournament, Welshman Jackson Page earned a massive £147,000 bonus for scoring two maximums in a single game during the qualifying games. Page failed to qualify for the tournament, however. 

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Allen started the morning session 6-2 behind against Chris Wakelin. Wakelin then proceeded to take the first four of the morning session’s frames. 10-2 down, Allen hit the practice table during the mid-session interval, and it did the trick. 

After Wakelin missed a long red, Allen secured a mid-range pot on the first red. Although there were a couple of difficult moments, he then proceeded to secure the first 147 at the Crucible since 2023 to take the best-of-25 match to 10-3. 

Since then, the Northern Irishman has won one more frame, but Wakelin has racked up two more and only requires one more frame to win. The game is currently 12-4. Allen is now 40/1 to stage an incredibly unlikely comeback in Friday evening’s session. 

While the £40,000 bonus prize will be scant consolation for missing the rest of the tournament, one fan was incredibly happy to see the final black drop in. 

Brian Nicholls from Tamworth was randomly selected before the day’s action started, as part of the Midnite Maximum promotion. That meant, if any player scored a maximum 147 during the game’s play, he would win a £25,000 prize, paid by event sponsor Midnite. 

Nicholls, who has been a lifelong snooker fan, has never visited The Crucible before, and was attending after his son bought him a ticket. The lucky fan was sitting on the other side of the crowd and was forced to watch the maximum unfold on a monitor. 

He said: “Twenty-five grand is a lot of money, it’s lovely. I wasn’t calm, my heart was pounding. After the yellow, that was the ball where I thought it's on. My son had pointed to a possible 147 with a few reds left. I thought he had blown it when he got to the yellow as they are only human and can make a mistake. When that black went in, wow, lovely!” 

He went on to say: “I couldn’t believe it. The Crucible is a wonderful place, I’ve been walking around it having a look around. I hope Mark wins his match tonight and wins the tournament – I wanted to kiss him!”

Bookmakers Midnite were announced as the tournament sponsor earlier this month, and a week before the first ball was hit, they announced the Midnite Maximum promotion. Throughout the tournament, a fan’s name will be drawn at random at the beginning of every day. If a maximum is scored they will pick up £25,000. 

Allen’s was the 15th Crucible maximum and, while it is unlikely there will be another, two were recorded in 2023. The bookmaker could yet be forced to pay out again.