Championship League Snooker format

Seven groups of seven players produce seven winners who play in one further group where the eventual winner plays in the 2010 Premier League Snooker.

In each group every player will play each other once in a best of 5 frame match (21 matches) after which the top four players will contest in the play offs – semi finals and final over the best of 5 frames.

Players will be awarded 1 point for each match won, then most frames won and the least frames lost in the league series will determine their position in the league table. Dead frames will not be played in either the league or knock-out stages.

The play-off winner will progress to the final league of the Championship League Snooker while the players coming sixth and seventh in the group will be relegated and will not feature in any further group matches.

Therefore after the group has played its total 24 matches (21 League matches plus play offs semi finals and final) three players will leave and be replaced by a further three players.

Prize money - group phase
£3,000 Winner of each final. £2,000 runner-up in final. £1,000 losing semi-finalists. £100 per frame won.

Prize money - winners group.
£10,000 overall champion. £5,000 overall runner-up. £3,000 losing semi-finalists. £300 per frame won.

Total prize fund - £200,500.

The dates for the groups are as follows...
Group 1 - Monday, January 4 and Tuesday, January 5
Group 2 - Wednesday, January 6 and Thursday, January 7
Group 3 - Monday, January 18 and Tuesday, January 19
Group 4 - Wednesday, January 20 and Thursday, January 21
Group 5 - Monday, February 8 and Tuesday, February 9
Group 6 - Wednesday, February 10 and Thursday, February 11
Group 7 - Monday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 23
Winners' Group - Wednesday, March 24 and Thursday, March 25

The players in each group are... (groups 4-7 subject to confirmation)
Group 1 - Ali Carter, Ryan Day, John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and Judd Trump.

Group 2 - Four players from Group 1 plus Marco Fu, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Group 3 - Four players from Group 2 plus Mark Allen, Stephen Hendry and Joe Perry.

Group 4 - Four players from Group 3 plus Peter Ebdon, Liang Wenbo and Mark Williams.

Group 5 - Four players from Group 4 plus Jamie Cope, Barry Hawkins and Dave Harold.

Group 6 - Four players from Group 5 plus Stuart Bingham, Joe Swail and Ricky Walden.

Group 7 - Four players from Group 6 plus Steve Davis, Ding Junhui and Michael Holt.

Winners' Group - Winners of groups 1 to 7