John Barrie won the qualifying competition for three of the ten entrants at Burroughes Hall in London and joined the other seven players in the main draw.

Davis won his third world title by defeating defending champion Donaldson by 58 frames to 39 in the final after achieving a winning margin at 49–39.

Donaldson made the highest break of the tournament with 106 in frame 32 of his semi-final match against Horace Lindrum.

[7][8] Davis had also won the title every year from 1928 to 1940, after which the tournament was not held again until 1946 due to World War II.

[10] Several professional players did not participate in the 1951 Championship, including Alec Brown, Con Stanbury and two-time runner-up Willie Smith.

[15] John Barrie, winner of the qualifying competition,[18] had been due to be married the day before the start of his match against Fred Davis, but two days before the wedding date, postponed it until later in the year as his fiancée Joan Odlin's parents wanted to have a larger-scale ceremony than originally planned.

[15] Walter Donaldson and Kingsley Kennerley played each other in the championship for the fourth successive year.

[25] The cold conditions at the venue for the match between John Pulman and Sidney Smith, runner-up in the 1938 and 1939 championships, meant that the balls frequently skidded across the surface of the billiard table.

[32] Walter Donaldson and Fred Davis played the final at the Tower Circus in Blackpool, over 97 frames, in front of record crowds for a World Snooker Championship match.

[31] Davis said that, based on past experience, he expected to lose 0.5 stone (3.2 kg) of bodyweight during the match.

[33][36][37] Davis was presented with the championship trophy by BACC chairman John Bissett,[38] and remarked that he considered the final the best of the five that he and Donaldson had contested.

[33] Sources:[40][13][41] John Barrie met Sydney Lee at Burroughes Hall in London from 6 to 8 November.