Mother lied - he was on 9 pointsRonnie O'Sullivan fired a remarkable 147 break at the World Open in Glasgow after halting play when on nine points to check the prize for a maximum.
He was told there was no separate pot but cleared up to beat Mark King 3-0.
The 34-year-old appeared content to end on the pink in the final frame and had to be persuaded to pot the black.
Jimmy White now waits in the fourth round for O'Sullivan, whose break was a record tenth career maximum, one more than his rival Stephen Hendry.
It was a typically extraordinary performance from the mercurial O'Sullivan, who has surprisingly fallen to sixth in the world rankings, largely because he chose to miss the recent event in Shanghai...
...Then came the brilliance, and after potting the first red and black in frame three O'Sullivan halted proceedings to ask what the prize for a 147 was, only to be eventually told there was no additional purse and only a £4,000 sum for the highest break.
He potted some outstanding balls in his maximum, achieved in barely 10 minutes - even with the delay when researching about the 147 prize - but shook hands with King after disposing of the pink.
Referee Jan Verhaas persuaded O'Sullivan to finish the break and he duly slammed in the black in nonchalant fashion.
"I wasn't going to pot the black to be honest with you because I asked the ref and was told there was no break prize for a 147," O'Sullivan admitted to the BBC.
"I wanted to make sure because if there was a decent prize then I would definitely have gone for it and I thought I might as well go for it anyway.
"Jan talked me into it [potting the black]. My whole thing was I was going to make 140 and leave the black What's the point of making a 147 if they're only going to give you four grand for it?
"I'm surprised. They're getting stingier. I thought Barry Hearn was supposed to be putting more money into the game, not taking it out.
"I've had loads of 147s so I don't really get excited by it and thought I needed to give myself something to go for. I just thought 'why not?'"
O'Sullivan has been a supporter of Hearn, who has promised to revitalise the sport as new supremo of World Snooker.
The shorter-form World Open sees only three frames needed to win in the early rounds.
Although by my maths if he's only potted 1 red and a black that is 8 points.
