Mark Allen's marvellous 147 at the Halo World Championship on Friday was a career highlight for the Pistol - but he was only the second happiest man in the Crucible as Brian Nicholls from Birmingham became the first lucky fan to pocket £25,000 thanks to the tournament's official betting and casino partner Midnite.
As announced at the start of the event in Sheffield, bookies Midnite are giving away a cash prize to a random member of the crowd for every maximum.
The Midnite Maximum means a seat number is randomly selected at the start of every session and - if a player completes a 147 break - the lucky fan collects £25,000.
Brian, a lifelong snooker fan and amateur player with a top break of 69, celebrated his 75th birthday las year and his son bought him tickets to go to the Crucible for the first time.
"When that last black went in...wow! It was lovely," said Brian. "It's unbelievable, £25,000 is a lot of money. I haven't called my wife yet because I want to surprise her with a phone call. I think we will go on a nice cruise and I'll share the money with my son. I love snooker and always have done but it had never entered my head before to come to the Crucible. I'll definitely come back again now!"
Midnite’s sportsbook was launched in 2018 by Nick Wright and Daniel Qu, who previously created daily fantasy sports platform Dribble in partnership with Sky Bet. Midnite added horse racing and casino to the product mix in 2023 and Midnite’s team has grown from 60 to 110 over the past 12 months.
To take part in the Midnite Maximum giveaway, fans need to be aged 18 and older and opt-in before the start of play at every session at the Crucible. Full terms and conditions can be found here.