In the final, defending champion Stephen Hendry performed what is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks in snooker history,[3] when he defeated Mike Hallett 9–8, after trailing 0–7 and 2–8 earlier in the match.

World number 1 Hendry went into the final as a firm 1/6 favourite, and with 9–3 Hendry being the most favoured score with the bookies, but world number 7 Hallett played one of the most dominant snooker sessions by an underdog to win all 7 frames of the afternoon session to take a 7–0 lead.

Players seeded 15 and 16 (Tony Meo and Alain Robidoux) competed in the wild-card round against Alan McManus, who was the winner of the qualifying event, and Gary Wilkinson (ranked 19), who was the wild-card selection.

Martin Clark (ranked 12), Alan McManus, Alain Robidoux, and Gary Wilkinson were making their Masters debuts.

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[2] [4][5] Alan McManus won the qualifying tournament, known as the 1990 Benson & Hedges Satellite Championship at the time beating James Wattana 9–5 in the final to qualify for the main tournament at Wembley.