The 1986 Pot Black was the eighteenth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, and the last of its original run. It took place in December 1985, but was broadcast in 1986. The tournament was held at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and featured sixteen professional players in a knock-out system. All matches until the semi-final were one-frame shoot-outs, the semi-final was won by aggregate score over two frames, and the final was decided by the best of three frames.

Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 22:10 on Thursday 16 January 1986, later than in previous series. David Icke presented, with Ted Lowe as commentator and John Williams as referee.

The only Pot Black debut in this series was that of Patsy Fagan. All the competitors in this series were 1985 World Championship last-16 players. Jimmy White won the event, beating Kirk Stevens 2–0 with a break of 106 in the last frame.

Main draw

Last 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finals Aggregate score of 2 framesFinal Best of 3 frames
Wales Doug Mountjoy62
Republic of Ireland Patsy Fagan67
Republic of Ireland Patsy Fagan0
England Jimmy White1
England Jimmy White76
Wales Terry Griffiths47
England Jimmy White1
Canada Cliff Thorburn0
Canada Cliff Thorburn58
England David Taylor38
Canada Cliff Thorburn1
England Tony Knowles0
England Tony Knowles100
Australia Eddie Charlton13
England Jimmy White2
Canada Kirk Stevens0
England Steve Davis45
Canada Bill Werbeniuk65
Canada Bill Werbeniuk0
Canada Kirk Stevens1
Canada Kirk Stevens62
England Tony Meo54
Canada Kirk Stevens1
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor0
Wales Ray Reardon1
Northern Ireland Alex Higgins0
Wales Ray Reardon0
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor1
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor1
England John Parrott0

Final

Final: Best of 3 frames. Referee: John Williams. Pebble Mill Studios, Birmingham, England, December 1985 (Broadcast 17 April 1986).
Jimmy White England2–0Kirk Stevens Canada
60–46, 106–21 (106)
106Highest break45
1Century breaks0
150+ breaks1