Yahoo News Mark Allen prizemoney puts him top of snooker rich list three years on from declaring bankrupt
Antrim snooker star Mark Allen came out on top of the 2022-23 prizemoney list after the best season of his career. That comes less than three years on from Allen having to declare bankrupt, after he made "some wrong moves" in the past.
A new study by the team at OLBG has revealed the top earners in the 2022/23 season and also the money list so far this season In the 2023/24 season to date, Allen comes in third behind Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump.
That will all change after the World Championships at the Crucible with a whopping £2.3 million on offer as prize money. The winner takes home a huge £500,000 with a separate cash incentive also on offer to Allen if he can make another 147, having done so earlier this year already.
Read more: Mark Allen could land whopping 147 bonus at World Championship
Two-time semi-finalist Allen, who made a maximum 147 break at the Masters, would scoop World Snooker Tour’s bumper £147,000 incentive for making two maximums in Triple Crown events this season as well as the £40,000 Crucible 147 prize and share the highest break cheque, £15,000, with Noppon Saengkham - who made one in qualifying.
Allen claimed £683,250 worth of prize money across the 2022/23 season, according to the new findings. Belgium’s Luca Brecel was not far behind after earning £658,750 during the same period - largely due to a stand-out victory at the 2023 World Championship.
Mark Selby lost to Brecel in that fateful final, yet he can also sit back and count his riches after picking up £538,950 in third. The top five is rounded out by both Judd Trump in fourth and Shaun Murphy in fifth who earned £501,400 and £441,000 respectively.
Across the top 50 earners from last season, average earnings amounted to £170,000. However, any player that finished lower than 73rd place (David Lilley with earnings of £33,250) would have earned less than the UK average wage.
As of April 2024, the seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has now surpassed more than £14 million in career earnings and with this, he is the only player to make more than £10 million in their lifetime.
The 2023/24 season will come to a close in May, and so far, Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan are the big winners, earning over £850,000 and £950,000 so far respectively. Allen is in third place with takings of £597,000 so far this season.
It's a far cry from his financial and personal struggles a number of years back which led to him declaring bankrupt in 2021.
"I just overspent in every aspect of my life," said Allen at that time. "Bankruptcy was the only choice. It's easy to read that I made £3.5m on the table, but I spent it as fast it was coming in."
"It was sad saying that given what I've made in the game and how well I've done. It's embarrassing, but the priority now is to get my life in order," he told BBC. "I didn't put any aside for a rainy day and if I was having a bad season I was still spending as if I was having a good season.
"You don't put enough away for tax and everything just snowballs. All the legal stuff with the divorce, if you have to pay for lawyers and barristers, it all mounts up.
"If I could go back I would be more sensible with money. If there was a car available at £50,000 I bought one at £80,000. If there was a house available at £1,500 per month, I'd spend one at £2,500."
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