The Masters, in its 10th year, changed the format into a championship for the game's top 16 ranked players.

The BBC extended their television coverage to show all 8 days of the event and the prize money was more than double that of the previous year.

Defending champion Cliff Thorburn lost to John Spencer in the first round, but it was fellow Canadian Kirk Stevens' maximum break against Jimmy White in the 9th frame of their semi-final, for which the tournament is perhaps best remembered.

Meanwhile, White won the match 6–4 with a 119 break in the next frame and went on to win his only Masters title.

In front of his home crowd, he beat Welshman Terry Griffiths by 9 frames to 5, playing in his fourth Masters final in five years.