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How to Learn Carrom

Carrom involves hitting black and white game pieces into pockets in a manner similar to billiards, but it's played on a 29-by-29-inch board rather than a full-sized table. Also, you use your fingers rather than a cue stick to flick a striker piece, which is similar to a cue ball. Two to four players compete --- divided into two teams in a four-player game --- with the winning side determined by sinking nine pieces followed by the red piece, known as the queen. In a three-player game, players score points to determine the winner.

Instructions

- 1
  Arrange the pieces with the queen in the center surrounded by alternating black and white pieces so that six white pieces form a "Y" shape and nine black pieces form three separate "V" shapes. The remaining three white pieces are placed with one inside each of the three black "V" shapes.
- 2
  Players sit opposite each other in two-player games, while partners sit opposite each other in four-player games. In three-player games, players may sit in any arrangement.
- 3
  The white player or team breaks. Players must remain seated at every shot and place the striker so it does not touch the diagonal line on the table. The striker must either cover the red circle or not touch it.
- 4
  Aim the striker at one of your pieces and flick it with whichever finger is most comfortable. If your piece lands in a pocket, your turn continues. If you sink the queen, you must sink one of your pieces on the next shot in order to cover it. If not, the queen is placed back into the center of the board.
- 5
  Once a player sinks all her pieces, points are totaled as follows: one point for each opponent's piece on the board and three points for sinking the queen. No points are awarded for the queen unless it was covered by the first player to sink all his pieces. Once a player reaches 22 points, no more points are awarded to that player for the queen. The first player to reach 25 points wins. If no one reaches 25 points after eight boards, the player with the highest score wins.

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