How to Play Carrom: Rules, Scoring and Tips for Pocketing More Coins

The board and the coins

The board is square with a pocket in each corner. There are nine white coins, nine black coins and one red queen. They start in a ring around the centre with the queen in the middle. Each player has a baseline along their side of the board, and the striker must start on it.

Taking a shot

Slide the striker to where you want it along your baseline. Then press the board and pull back, like a slingshot, in the opposite direction to where you want the striker to go. A dotted line shows the path, and a ring shows the first thing the striker will hit. Let go to flick. The further you pull back, the harder the shot.

Classic rules

Player one plays the white coins and starts. Player two plays black. With four players, partners sit opposite each other and play as a team: players one and three are white, players two and four are black, and the turn goes round the board. Three players play points mode, each for themselves.

• Pocket one of your own coins and you shoot again.
• An opponent's coin that you pocket stays pocketed. It helps them, and it does not give you another shot.
• After you pocket the queen you must pocket one of your own coins on your next shot. This is called covering the queen. If you do not, the queen goes back to the centre.
• If you pocket your last coin before the queen has been covered, that coin goes back on the board.
• The board ends when a player has pocketed all of their coins. They score one point for every opposing coin left on the board, plus three points if they covered the queen.

Points mode

In points mode any coin can be pocketed by either player. A white coin is worth 20 points, a black coin 10 points and the queen 50 points, once she is covered. You keep your turn while you keep pocketing coins. When the board is clear, the highest score wins.

Fouls

If the striker falls into a pocket, it is a foul. Your turn ends and the coins you pocketed on that shot go back on the board. In classic you also put one of your pocketed coins back. A queen that was waiting to be covered goes back too.

Tips

• Open with a gentle shot to break up the cluster, rather than a hard one that sends coins everywhere.
• To pocket a coin, aim the striker at the point on the far side of the coin that lines up with the pocket.
• Do not pocket the queen unless you have a coin ready to cover her.
• Soft shots are easier to control. Save hard shots for long, clear lines.
• Think about where the striker will end up, because it can drop into a pocket and give you a foul.

Frequently asked questions