The 1970 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 October 1969 to 11 April 1970, as an edition of the World Snooker Championship. The final was held at Victoria Hall in London from 6 to 11 April 1970. The championship was sponsored by Player's No.6 for the second and last time.

There were nine participants in the tournament, one more than in the previous year. The defending champion was John Spencer, who had defeated Gary Owen 37–24 in the final of the 1969 World Snooker Championship. Spencer was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1970 event with a 33–37 loss to Ray Reardon, who claimed the title with a 37–33 final victory over John Pulman. Reardon also made the highest break of the tournament, a 118, and received total prize money of £1,225. He held the world title for only seven months, until the next championship in Australia which concluded in November 1970. Reardon eventually won a total of six world titles, the last of these in 1978.

The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India. Professional English billiards player and billiard hall manager Joe Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with Birmingham-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season. The annual competition was not titled the World Championship until 1935, but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship.

In 1952, the, following a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the BACC about the distribution of income from the world championship, the PBPA members established an alternative competition known as the World Professional Match-play Championship, the editions of which are now recognised as world championships, whilst only Horace Lindrum and Clark McConachy entered for the BACC's 1952 World Snooker Championship. The World Professional Match-play Championship continued until 1957, after which there were no world championship matches until it was revived on a challenge basis in 1964. John Pulman retained the title in several challenges from 1964 to 1968. Tobacco brand John Player sponsored his 1968 match against Eddie Charlton. The good attendances for the championship match led to John Player deciding to sponsor the 1969 World Snooker Championship as a knock-out format tournament, using their "Players No. 6" brand. The 1969 championship is regarded as the first of the modern snooker era, and was won by John Spencer, who defeated Gary Owen 37–24 in the final.

The 1970 Championship was sponsored by tobacco company John Player, using their Player's No.6 brand, the second and last time that they were the world championship sponsors. The tournament was played between 15 October 1969 and 11 April 1970. The winner of the event received cumulative prize money of £1,225. The eight players who participated in the 1969 championship all entered again, joined by David Taylor, who had turned professional after winning the 1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship.

Prize money was awarded as follows:

There was one first round match, which was played as the best of 21 frames between Taylor and Bernard Bennett at the Yew Tree Labour Club, West Bromwich, from 15 to 17 October 1969. Bennett won the first two frames, and the players were level at 3–3 before the first day finished with Bennett 4–3 up. He added the eighth frame, with Taylor then taking four consecutive frames. After Bennett won the 13th frame, Taylor made a break of 52 and led 8–6. Taylor ensured qualification for the next round by securing a winning margin at 11–8, with the score 12–9 after dead frames.

The quarter-finals were played as the best of 61 frames. Owen met Williams at West Bromwich Community Centre from 1 to 6 December, and won all six frames in their first session. He won the seventh frame too, before Williams registered his first frame win. With Williams missing many attempts to pot balls, Owen took a winning lead at 31–11, and finished 46–15 ahead. Spencer played Jackie Rea at the Co-Op Hall, Bolton, from 8 to 12 December, and won 31–15. Reardon and Fred Davis contested their semi-final from 15 to 19 December at Longport W.M.C., Bolton, with Reardon prevailing 31–26. The last quarter-final, between Pulman and Taylor, was held from 12 to 16 January 1970, at Grimsby and Cleethorpes Transport Recreation Club. After the first two days of play, the pair were tied at 12 frames each, before Pulman went on to win 31–20, and 39–22 after dead frames.