Starting in 2011 it was initially just open to the top 64 in the world rankings and produced winners from Barry Hawkins and Martin Gould to Nigel Bond and Finland's Robin Hull in it's first six stagings.
Then in 2017 the controversial decision was made to have the Shoot-Out open to all 128 players on the tour and make it a full ranking event. Anthony McGill was the winner a year ago in Watford, defeating Xiao Guodong in the final and adding £32,000 to his ranking.
While players and fans alike disagreed with this change, when the players were given a vote shortly afterwards, the majority decided to keep the Shoot-Out on the calendar as a ranking event, rather than having it scrapped.
For those that are new to this event, the rules are fairly simple. Matches consist of one frame and this frame is to last no longer than 10 minutes. A shot clock is employed, giving players 15 seconds per shot in the first five minutes of the frame, and 10 seconds per shot in the second half of the frame.
Players must hit a cushion or pot a ball with every shot (thus preventing roll ups into the pack or rolling up behind a colour) and the punishment for this, a time foul or any other traditional snooker foul is to give the opponent "ball in hand".
This year the event will again be staged in Watford after it's move there last year, and it is also the final event before the one-year ranking list cut off for the World Grand Prix, with the top 32 going through to play in Preston in two weeks time.
As always the event is drawn randomly after each round, so here are how things look for the first round, with some very tasty ties:
First round draw: (In running order)
Thursday afternoon session: (12pm start UK time)Anthony McGill Vs Mark Davis
Mark Joyce Vs Alex Davies
Alan McManus Vs Ross Vallance
Ben Woollaston Vs Duane Jones
Ali Carter Vs Craig Steadman
Scott Donaldson Vs Yuan Sijun
Lu Haotian Vs Xu Si
Chen Zhe Vs David Lilley
Martin Gould Vs Ken Doherty
Peter Lines Vs Chen Zifan
Liam Highfield Vs Fang Xiongman
David Gilbert Vs Adam Duffy
Dominic Dale Vs Matthew Selt
Chris Wakelin Vs Billy Castle
Elliot Slessor Vs Sanderson Lam
Shaun Murphy Vs Barry Hawkins
Kuldesh Johal Vs Wang Yuchen
Ashley Hugill Vs Ben Jones
Mei Xiwen Vs Eden Sharav
Joe Perry Vs Hammad Miah
Allan Taylor Vs Ian Burns
Mark Williams Vs Li Hang
Christopher Keogan Vs Michael Williams
Mark King Vs Ashley Carty
Thursday evening session: (7pm start UK time)
Stuart Bingham Vs James Silverwood
John Astley Vs Ross Muir
Chris Totten Vs Kurt Dunham
Noppon Saengkham Vs Paul Davison
Akani Songsermsawad Vs Robin Hull
Li Yuan Vs Basem Eltahhan
Rory McLeod Vs James Cahill
Jack Lisowski Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Anthony Hamilton Vs Jimmy White
Xiao Guodong Vs David Grace
Hamza Akbar Vs Jamie Cope
Tian Pengfei Vs Wayne Brown
Sam Baird Vs Joe Swail
Zhang Anda Vs James Wattana
Stuart Carrington Vs Lee Walker
Leo Fernandez Vs Nigel Bond
Friday afternoon session: (12pm start UK time)
Robert Milkins Vs Alfie Burden
Michael Georgiou Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Daniel Wells Vs Alex Borg
Fergal O'Brien Vs William Lemons
Mike Dunn Vs David John
Kyren Wilson Vs Ricky Walden
Kurt Maflin Vs Jak Jones
Niu Zhuang Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Matthew Stevens Vs Zhao Xintong
Ian Preece Vs Oliver Brown
Jamie Jones Vs Lewis Roberts
Zhou Yuelong Vs Gerard Greene
Peter Ebdon Vs Soheil Vahedi
Zhang Yong Vs Jamie Barrett
Mitchell Mann Vs Martin O'Donnell
Yan Bingtao Vs Graeme Dott
Josh Boileau vs Daniel Ward
Gary Wilson Vs Lukas Kleckers
Michael White Vs Andrew Higginson
Oliver Lines Vs Cao Yupeng
Mark Allen Vs Tom Ford
Rod Lawler Vs Charlie Walters
Luca Brecel Vs Jimmy Robertson
Ryan Day Vs Michael Holt
Following Friday afternoon's play the random draw will be made for the last 64, with these matches following on Friday evening and Saturday evening. Sunday afternoon will then see the full list of last 32 matches, with the final four rounds then being played on Sunday evening.
The following players with professional tour cards have not entered the 2018 Shoot Out:
Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, John Higgins, Marco Fu, Neil Robertson, Liang Wenbo, Stephen Maguire, Yu De Lu, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Robbie Williams, Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn, Boonyarit Kaettikun, Rhys Clark.
These non-entries mean there are a total of 12 non tour card holders in the tournament with an opportunity to shine. These players are: Alex Davies, Ross Vallance, David Lilley, William Lemons, Ben Jones, Michael Williams, James Cahill, James Silverwood, Jamie Cope, Ashley Carty, Daniel Ward, Charlie Walters.
Hopefully these players will add extra excitement to the event and be able to take inspiration from last year's top amateur player. Andy Hicks was not on the tour at the time but did not let that stop him from making it all the way to the semi-finals before his dream was ended by Xiao Guodong. In the quarter-finals Hicks overcame Steven Hallworth who was also playing in the event as an "amateur top-up".
THE BIG TIES
All of these non-entries make last year's semi-finalist Shaun Murphy the number 1 ranked player in the competition, but he plays the number 2 ranked player and former champion Barry Hawkins in the most notable first round draw.Defending champion Anthony McGill will kick the event off against Mark Davis, as he looks to become the first player ever to defend the title.
2013 winner Martin Gould faces Ken Doherty, while Dominic Dale the 2014 champion takes on Matthew Selt.
2016 winner Robin Hull kicks his campaign off on Thursday evening against Akani Songsermsawad, with the inaugural winner Nigel Bond closing out the first days play when he faces Leo Fernandez.
2015's champion Michael White has to wait until later on Friday afternoon before his return to the Shoot Out stage, where he will face Andrew Higginson.
Two time runner-up Xiao Guodong, the only man ever to make multiple finals, faces David Grace in round one, while there are also a number of other high seeded match ups in round one.
These include Kyren Wilson facing Ricky Walden, as well as Ryan Day facing Michael Holt for the fourth time in the events history, with Holt winning two of the previous three Shoot Out meetings. 18th seed Yan Bingtao faces 19th seed Graeme Dott in a battle between two players who have been runner-up to Mark Williams in ranking events this season.
Williams himself faces Li Hang in round one, with Li previously overcoming the Welshman to record his best ranking finish in this season's China Championship.
Elsewhere, Masters champion and former finalist Mark Allen faces Tom Ford, another runner-up and fifth seed Luca Brecel has the task of defeating Jimmy Robertson. Seventh seed Ali Carter will face up to Craig Steadman, and Stuart Bingham will make his return to a full tournament when he opens up Thursday evening's play against amateur James Silverwood.
THE MATHS
When all is said and done, the winner of the tournament will collect the trophy and £32,000, with the runner-up receiving £16,000. Losing semi-finalists will receive £8,000 and £4,000 will go to the losing quarter-finalists. With last 64 losers only taking home £500, last 32 losers getting £1,000 and first round losers not adding to their ranking money tally, it is very much the case that players will need to make the latter stages on Sunday evening in order to make a move in the seedings lists.Although, as the final event before the World Grand Prix cut off, there are still some significant moves that could be made. Everyone from current 29th placed Ricky Walden, who has a lead of over £7,000 on 33rd place Tom Ford, should be safely qualified for Preston. Stuart Bingham and Robert Milkins are then in joint 30th spot on £56,500, while the man right on the bubble in 32nd is Ben Woollaston with £53,500.
Tom Ford though is just £275 adrift of Woollaston and would only need to go one round further than him in the competition to make the jump up into the qualifying spots. Ford of course faces a tough task against Mark Allen in round one, while Ben Woollaston faces Duane Jones.
Zhou Yuelong is the next player with a chance, but realistically needs to make the quarter-finals, while the likes of Hossein Vafei and Kurt Maflin 36th and 37th would need to make the semi-finals to have any chance of making it in. Anyone one below that number would have to make the final, while it is mathematically possible for players as far down as Aditya Mehta in 78th if they win the tournament, depending on other results. Players from 68th and above would have a much better chance mathematically of making it in by winning the tournament, as the £32,000 would also see them leapfrog the figures that Stuart Bingham and Robert Milkins are currently on.
So whatever happens over the next few days in Watford, there are plenty of things to keep an eye on, and UK viewers can watch matters unfold on ITV4.
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