In snooker, six coloured balls are used in addition to the fifteen reds and the white cue ball.
The colours are yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black. They have values from two through seven points, respectively. Together with the reds, these balls create the scoring structure that distinguishes snooker from pool and other cue sports.
At the start of a standard frame, the six colours are placed on their designated spots. The fifteen reds are arranged in a triangular pack, while the cue ball begins in the D. As reds are potted, colours are temporarily returned to their spots while reds remain off the table.
After the last red is potted, the colours are no longer replaced. They are cleared in ascending order of value: yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black. A frequent mistake is to count the cue ball as a colour or to count the reds among the coloured balls; neither belongs in this six-ball total.