# 1988 Masters (snooker)

The 1988 Masters (officially the 1988 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 24 and 31 January 1988 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The players ranked inside the top 16 took part in the competition.
Defending champion, Dennis Taylor, lost in the first round against Mike Hallett, who had made his debut. Steve Davis won his second Masters title by defeating Hallett 9 frames to 0. This is the only time a whitewash has occurred in a Masters final.
Davis received £56,000 as winner, plus £5,000 for making the highest break of the tournament, a 126 in the second frame of the final.

## Field

Defending champion Dennis Taylor was the number 1 seed with World Champion Steve Davis seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings. Mike Hallett and John Parrott were making their debuts in the Masters.

## Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
* Winner: £56,000
* Runner-up: £32,000
* Semi-final: £18,000
* Quarter-final: £12,000
* Last 16: £6,000
* Highest break: £5,000
* Total: £225,000

## Main draw

| Last 16 Best of 9 frames | Last 16 Best of 9 frames | Last 16 Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | | Final Best of 17 frames | Final Best of 17 frames | Final Best of 17 frames |
| 1 | Dennis Taylor (NIR) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Mike Hallett (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Mike Hallett (ENG) | 5 | 16 | Mike Hallett | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Alex Higgins | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Tony Knowles (ENG) | 4 | 9 | Alex Higgins | 2 | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Alex Higgins (NIR) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Alex Higgins (NIR) | 5 | | | | 16 | Mike Hallett | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 13 | John Parrott | 5 | | | | |
| 5 | Cliff Thorburn (CAN) | 5 | | | | | | | 13 | John Parrott | 5 | | | | |
| 12 | Rex Williams (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Rex Williams (ENG) | 3 | 5 | Cliff Thorburn | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 13 | John Parrott | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Neal Foulds (ENG) | 4 | 13 | John Parrott | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 13 | John Parrott (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | John Parrott (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | 16 | Mike Hallett | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 9 |
| 3 | Jimmy White (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 9 |
| 14 | Doug Mountjoy (WAL) | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Doug Mountjoy (WAL) | 0 | 3 | Jimmy White | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Joe Johnson | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Joe Johnson (ENG) | 5 | 6 | Joe Johnson | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Willie Thorne (ENG) | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Willie Thorne (ENG) | 4 | | | | 6 | Joe Johnson | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 6 | | | | |
| 7 | Terry Griffiths (WAL) | 5 | | | | | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 6 | | | | |
| 10 | Silvino Francisco (RSA) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Silvino Francisco (RSA) | 3 | 7 | Terry Griffiths | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Steve Davis (ENG) | 5 | 2 | Steve Davis | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Dean Reynolds (ENG) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Street Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 31 January 1988. :
| Steve Davis England | 9–0 | Mike Hallett England |
| First session: 68–55 (61), 130–0 (126), 87–25, 75–20, 99–28 (72), 98–27, 70–33 (53), 59–46 |||
| 126 | Highest break | |
| 1 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 4 | 50+ breaks | 0 |

## Century breaks

Two century breaks were made during the tournament:
* 126 – Steve Davis
* 105 – John Parrott