Work out calories and kilojoules burned playing pool, billiards or snooker, based on your body weight and how long you spent at the table — plus an honest look at just how light this pub favourite actually is on energy burn.
Billiards calorie burn is estimated with calories = MET × body weight (kg) × time at the table (hours), using a MET value of 2.5 that covers pool (8-ball and 9-ball), billiards and snooker together — the Compendium of Physical Activities groups them under one code because they share essentially the same physical demand: standing, leaning over the table to line up a shot, and walking a few steps around the table between turns. A 75 kg player over a 90-minute (1.5-hour) session burns roughly 281 kcal, about 1,177 kJ. Be honest with yourself about what that number means — MET 2.5 sits below a slow walk, so the vast majority of that modest burn simply comes from being on your feet and moving lightly around the table rather than sitting on a couch, not from any real physical exertion. It's a genuinely enjoyable social game, but it isn't exercise in any meaningful sense.
| Session Length | Calories | Kilojoules |
|---|
The calculation combines three inputs: a MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value for billiards, your body weight, and the time you actually spent at the table. Billiards carries a single MET value of 2.5 in the Compendium of Physical Activities, and that one figure is used for pool, 8-ball, 9-ball, billiards and snooker alike, since none of them meaningfully change how much energy your body burns — you're still mostly standing, occasionally leaning in for a shot, and walking a short distance around the table between turns regardless of which variant you're playing. The calculator simply multiplies that MET by your weight and your time at the table to give an estimate of total energy burned.
There's not a lot of physical effort involved in a game of pool or snooker, and it's worth being upfront about exactly what does and doesn't contribute to the calorie figure. You're on your feet for most of the session rather than seated, which alone burns more than sitting still. You lean over the table and extend your body to line up and take each shot, which involves some light muscular engagement through the core and shoulders but nothing sustained. Between shots you walk a few steps around the table to assess the next play, chalk your cue, or swap position with your opponent. None of this adds up to much — it's closer to pottering around a kitchen than any kind of cardio or strength effort. The concentration and precision that pool and snooker genuinely demand, reading angles, judging pace, controlling a cue with real finesse, are mentally taxing and skill-intensive, but none of that mental effort shows up as extra physical intensity in a MET figure, which measures energy expenditure, not focus.
What billiards lacks in physical intensity, it more than makes up for in cultural presence. Pool tables are a fixture of pubs, clubs and RSLs right across Australia, and 8-ball in particular is a genuine pub sport with an established competitive scene — local pub leagues, pennant competitions, and state and national championships all sit underneath the casual after-work game most people know it as. Snooker has a smaller but well-established following here too, with dedicated clubs, its own competitive circuit, and a loyal audience that follows the professional game closely even though the sport gets less everyday airtime than pool. Both are social fixtures worth celebrating in their own right — just don't mistake either one for a fitness routine. Enjoy it as the relaxed, skilful social pastime it is, and look elsewhere on this site if your goal is a genuine calorie burn.
This table holds session length constant at 90 minutes (1.5 hours) of billiards, pool or snooker, so you can see how much body weight alone changes the total.
| Body Weight | MET | Calories (1.5 hours) | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 2.5 | 225 kcal | 941 kJ |
| 70 kg | 2.5 | 263 kcal | 1,098 kJ |
| 75 kg | 2.5 | 281 kcal | 1,177 kJ |
| 80 kg | 2.5 | 300 kcal | 1,255 kJ |
| 90 kg | 2.5 | 338 kcal | 1,412 kJ |
| 100 kg | 2.5 | 375 kcal | 1,569 kJ |
Because body weight is a straight multiplier in the formula, a 100 kg player burns two-thirds more than a 60 kg player over the same 90-minute session — but even at the higher end of that range, the totals stay modest next to almost any other activity, which is the nature of a MET value this low.
Here body weight is fixed at 75 kg while session length changes, since a game of pool can be over in under an hour or stretch out over a long social evening or a multi-frame snooker match.
| Session Length | Hours | Calories | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 minutes | 1.0 | 188 kcal | 785 kJ |
| 90 minutes | 1.5 | 281 kcal | 1,177 kJ |
| 120 minutes | 2.0 | 375 kcal | 1,569 kJ |
Australian nutrition panels list energy in kilojoules, not calories, so it helps to see your session in the same unit your food packaging uses. Multiply your calorie figure by 4.184 to get kilojoules. A 75 kg player over a 90-minute session at the table burns about 281 kcal, which is roughly 1,177 kJ — a useful, and honestly quite small, number to hold against the energy value printed on a pub meal or a round of drinks enjoyed alongside the game.
How many calories does playing pool or billiards burn?
For a 75 kg player over a typical 90-minute (1.5-hour) social session, pool or billiards burns roughly 281 kcal, about 1,177 kJ. This figure uses a MET value of 2.5 and scales directly with your own body weight and time at the table — use the calculator above for a number based on your details.
Is playing pool or billiards good exercise?
Not really, and it's worth being honest about that. A MET of 2.5 sits below the MET usually given to a slow, casual walk, which puts billiards near the bottom of the intensity scale for any activity you'd track. It's a genuinely enjoyable social game and better than sitting completely still, but it doesn't provide a meaningful cardio or strength stimulus and shouldn't be counted as a workout or exercise session.
Does snooker burn the same calories as 8-ball pool?
Yes, essentially. The Compendium of Physical Activities lists one MET value of 2.5 covering pool, billiards and snooker together, since all three involve the same basic pattern of standing, leaning in to take a shot, and walking a short distance around the table between turns. A longer snooker frame might keep you on your feet for more total minutes than a quick game of 8-ball, but that's a difference in session length, not in intensity.
Is billiards popular in Australia?
Very much so. Pool tables are a familiar sight in pubs, clubs and RSLs across the country, and 8-ball pool in particular has a genuine competitive scene beneath its casual pub-game reputation, with local leagues, pennant competitions and state and national championships. Snooker has a smaller but well-established following, with dedicated clubs and its own competitive circuit. Both are enduring parts of Australian social and pub culture, even though neither is played for fitness.
Why is the MET value for billiards so low compared to other sports on this site?
Because the actual physical demand is low. Billiards, pool and snooker involve standing, occasional leaning and light walking, with long pauses while you or your opponent line up shots — there's no running, jumping, lifting or sustained cardio effort involved at any point. The Compendium of Physical Activities assigns MET values based on measured energy expenditure for an activity, and billiards simply doesn't require much energy to play, regardless of how much skill or concentration it demands.
Does a competitive pool match burn more calories than a casual social game?
Only marginally, if at all, and mainly through session length rather than intensity. A competitive match might keep you on your feet and moving around the table for longer than a relaxed pub game, which would increase total calories simply because more time has passed. But the physical intensity of taking a shot doesn't change much between a casual and a competitive setting — the MET value of 2.5 is intended to represent general play at the table either way.
How does billiards compare to walking for calorie burn?
Billiards actually burns less than a brisk or even a slow walk. A MET of 2.5 sits below the roughly 2.8–3.5 MET range typically assigned to walking at an easy to moderate pace, largely because walking involves continuous movement while billiards is mostly standing with short bursts of stepping around the table. If your goal is genuine calorie burn, a walk around the block will generally beat a night at the pool table.
What are the limitations of this calorie estimate?
This calculator uses a single population-average MET value multiplied by your body weight and time at the table, which gives a general estimate rather than a personalised measurement. It can't account for how much you walk around the table, how long you spend standing versus sitting between turns, your fitness level, or whether you're playing a relaxed social game or a longer competitive match. Treat the result as a reasonable, honest estimate of a genuinely low-intensity activity, not an exact figure.