The goal
Carrom is finger billiards. You flick a striker to pocket your nine carrommen into the four corner pockets before your opponent pockets theirs. One player takes white, the other black — and the single red carromman is the Queen.
Laws of carrom
Carrom, fully explained.
Every rule of the board — from the first flick at home to a close finish — in plain language anyone can follow.
Created by Murali Balasubramaniam
Tap a number on the board
A friendly, illustrated walkthrough — the fastest way to learn.
01
Start here
The whole game in five moves. If you read only one section, read this one.
Set up the board
Pack all 19 carrommen into a tight circle inside the outer ring, with the Queen in the exact centre and black and white carrommen alternating around her. Dust the surface with a little powder so the pieces glide.
Take your shot
Sit on one side, place the striker anywhere along your two base lines, and flick it with one finger. Pocket one of your own carrommen and you keep shooting; miss, and it becomes your opponent's turn.
Win the board
The first player to sink all nine of their carrommen wins the board, and scores one point for every carromman the opponent still has left on the surface.
The Queen bonus
Sink the red Queen and immediately “cover” her by pocketing one of your own carrommen. Do it before you win the board and you earn 3 bonus points. First to 25 points (or the best of 8 boards) wins the game; matches are the best of three.
02
The board & equipment
What a proper board, carrommen, and striker are made of — and the sizes that make a board tournament-legal.
The playing surface
Plywood or an equally smooth wood, at least 8 mm thick, cut into a square between 73.5 and 74 cm, with a perfectly smooth top. Quick quality test: a 15 g striker hit hard from a base line should run at least three and a half lengths of the board.
Frame & pockets
A hardwood frame (rosewood or similar) with curved inner corners, 1.9–2.54 cm tall and 6.35–7.6 cm wide, braced underneath so the board stays flat. Its four corner pockets are rounded inward, 4.45 cm across, each backed by a net able to hold at least ten carrommen.
Lines, arrows & circles
Two parallel base lines (each 47 cm) run along all four sides, the outer line 10.15 cm from the frame, closed by red base circles. Diagonal arrows point into each pocket (no longer than 26.7 cm). A red centre circle marks the middle; a 17 cm outer circle rings the starting pile.
The carrommen
Nine white, nine black, and one red Queen — smooth wooden discs 3.02–3.18 cm across, 0.7–0.9 cm thick, and 5.25–5.5 g each, all uniform so they behave the same way.
The striker
A smooth, round disc no wider than 4.13 cm and no heavier than 15 g. Any material except ivory or metal is allowed; engraved designs are fine, but visible fixed metal is not. Each player's striker is certified by the umpire before play.
Stand, seat & light
The board rests on a firm stand 63–70 cm high; players use an armless stool or chair 40–50 cm high. A shaded 60–100 W lamp lights only the board and can be raised or lowered so it never shines in a player's eyes.
Powder
Good-quality, dry powder spread evenly keeps the surface fast and true. Spread it before the break — never too much, never too little.
03
Setting up & the break
How the 19 carrommen are packed, who breaks, and what counts as a clean opening stroke.
The arrangement
Before play, pack all 19 carrommen flat inside the outer circle: the Queen in the centre, the rest ringed tightly around her with black and white alternating, and three white carrommen forming a small “Y” pointing toward the breaker. Every carromman must touch its neighbours.
Who breaks, and colours
The player who chose to strike first takes the break and plays white for that board; the opponent plays black. The Queen is the common carromman, earned by whoever covers her legally.
What counts as a break
The break has been made the instant the striker touches any carromman — even the lightest graze counts.
Missing on the break
If the striker misses every carromman, you get up to two more attempts. Fail all of them and both the break and the turn pass to your opponent, who plays black — with the pile left exactly as arranged, and no due charged.
Timing the break
Break only after the umpire calls “Play,” and within 15 seconds of that call. Break too early and any carrommen you pocket are removed, a foul is declared, and you lose the turn.
Who breaks each game
The turn to break alternates through the first game. In the second game the player who didn't break first now goes first; in a deciding third game, the original first-breaker opens again.
The break arrangement
Queen dead centre, carrommen packed tight and alternating around her, three whites forming a small “Y” aimed at the breaker.
04
Playing: turns & scoring
Striking cleanly, keeping your turn, and how points, games, and matches are counted.
Flick — don't push
The striker must be struck cleanly with a finger. A shove or a jerk of the elbow (a “push”) is a foul. You may use either hand, and your hand may rest flat on the surface as you play.
Stay behind the line
Your elbow may not come over the playing surface or reach past the arrow lines, though your hand may cross them. Leaning on the stand, board, or table for support is not allowed.
Placing the striker
When you shoot, the striker must touch both base lines. If you play from a base circle instead, cover the circle completely but don't touch the arrow.
Keeping your turn
As long as you keep pocketing your own carrommen (or the Queen legally), you keep shooting. The moment a stroke pockets nothing of yours, the turn passes to your opponent.
The 15-second clock
You have 15 seconds for each stroke, counted from the moment the carrommen settle and the striker is picked up and out of the way.
Playing out of turn
Strike out of turn and, if the umpire catches it, you lose the board by the carrommen and Queen then on the surface. If nobody notices before the next stroke, the play stands and turns simply carry on.
Winning the board
The first player to pocket all nine of their own carrommen wins that board.
How points are counted
The winner of a board scores one point for each of the opponent's carrommen still on the surface at the finish. The Queen's value counts only for the player who wins the board.
The 12-point ceiling
A single board is worth at most 12 points; any outstanding penalty carrommen are simply written off at the finish.
Games & matches
A game is 25 points or eight boards, whichever comes first. Every match is decided by the best of three games. If a game is level after eight boards, one extra board settles it — with a toss for the break only.
Changing sides
Players swap sides at the end of each game. From the quarter-finals onward, sides also change once anyone reaches 13 points within a board.
When the striker jumps off
If the striker leaps off the board during a stroke, your turn still continues — as long as that same stroke pocketed one of your own carrommen or the Queen.
Placing the striker
The striker must touch both base lines. Playing from a base circle instead? Cover it fully — but never touch the arrow.
05
The Queen
The red carromman — worth three points, but only if you earn her and cover her in time. Carrom's trickiest rule, made simple.
Earning the Queen
You may keep the Queen only after you've already pocketed one of your own carrommen. Sink her, then “cover” her by pocketing another of your carrommen on the same or the very next stroke.
Taking her too early
Pocket the Queen before any of your own carrommen are down — or while a due is outstanding against you — and she is returned to the centre, and your turn ends.
Cover her or lose her
A Queen that isn't covered goes back to the centre. But if neither the umpire nor the opponent notices before the next stroke, she counts as properly covered.
Queen and a carromman together
Sink the Queen and one of your own carrommen in the same shot and she's covered at once. (One exception: on the break, when all nine of your carrommen are still down, a single carromman with her isn't enough — you still owe the cover.)
Where she's replaced
The umpire always returns the Queen to the centre circle. If the centre is covered, she's placed touching it, where she's hardest to pocket — and that placement is final.
Queen with the striker
If the Queen and the striker drop together, the umpire replaces the Queen and you owe a penalty carromman. Whether you keep your turn depends on whether the stroke was clean (proper) or a foul (improper).
The 22-point cut-off
The Queen's 3-point bonus counts only up to and including a score of 21. Once you're on 22 or more, covering her adds nothing to your total.
The Queen in the endgame
Sink your last carromman, your opponent's last carromman, and the Queen all at once and the result swings on two things: whether the stroke was proper or improper, and whether you're under 22 points (full 3-point swing) or at 22-plus (a single point). A foul stroke hands the swing — and often an extra point on demand — to your opponent.
No shortcuts with penalty carrommen
You may not use a due or penalty carromman to line up a shot at the Queen. Do it and the umpire has you rectify, with a foul.
Sink her, then cover her
Pocket the red Queen, then pocket one of your own carrommen on the same or next stroke to keep her — and her 3 points.
06
Fouls, dues & placing
What goes wrong, what it costs you, and exactly how penalty carrommen are taken out and replaced.
Two kinds of foul
Anything against the laws is either a Technical Foul — committed before your turn's first stroke, or by the player not on strike — or a Foul, committed during or after your first stroke.
Technical foul
A technical foul costs you one carromman — taken out for your opponent to place — but your turn continues.
Foul
A foul costs you one carromman and your turn. If the same stroke also pocketed carrommen, those are taken out too, along with one extra.
Sinking the striker
Pot the striker on its own and you lose the turn and owe a “due” — one of your carrommen is removed for placing. Do it on a foul stroke and you owe two carrommen (a due and a penalty).
Pocketing by a foul
A carromman sunk with an illegal stroke still counts as pocketed — but you lose the turn, and a penalty carromman is taken out for your opponent to place.
Placing penalty carrommen
Removed carrommen (“dues”) are placed flat inside the outer circle by the opponent, as soon as they become available — never covering the centre circle.
What “placed” means
A carromman is placed the moment your finger lifts off it and it's resting inside the outer circle. You may not hold any other carromman or the striker while placing, and you must not disturb any carromman already on the board.
You may decline a due
You can forego your penalty carrommen entirely — all of them, not just some — as long as you tell the umpire within 15 seconds.
Hands off the carrommen
Once the break is done, carrommen may only be moved by a stroke. Nudge one by accident and the umpire restores it — with a foul against you.
Powder conduct
Spread powder before the break only. Once the umpire calls “Play,” you may not add powder, wipe it, or blow it off the surface — though you may clear excess along your own base lines with the striker.
Empty hands
During your turn you may hold nothing solid in either hand except the striker itself.
07
Off the board & resting
Carrommen that jump, bounce, stand on edge, or teeter at a pocket's mouth.
Carrommen that jump off
A carromman or Queen that flies off the board is replaced by the umpire in the centre circle. When several jump at once, the umpire has a set order for restacking them around the centre.
Bounced back on
A carromman that leaps up and lands back on the surface is still placed in the centre — unless it first strikes the lamp or shade, in which case it's treated as a normal, natural run and left where it lies.
On edge or overlapping
A carromman or Queen resting on its rim is left exactly as it stands, and two pieces that come to rest overlapping are left undisturbed.
Striker resting on a carromman
The umpire carefully lifts the striker off (or lifts a carromman off the striker) without disturbing anything. If a carromman at a pocket's mouth loses its balance during that lift and drops, it counts as pocketed.
The slow drop
A carromman balanced at a pocket's edge that eventually falls in — for any reason at all — counts as properly pocketed.
08
Tournament play & conduct
The toss, changing sides, protests, and the conduct expected at a serious match.
The toss
At the start of each match the umpire tosses a carromman (or has a player call a piece). The winner chooses either the side or the break — but not both.
Trial boards
Each player or pair gets exactly two practice boards after the toss, before the match proper begins.
Keep still
During a board, only your playing arm may touch the board or stand. Rings, a watch, or loose clothing must not brush the playing surface.
No distractions
Don't distract your opponent, don't chat with spectators without the umpire's leave, and in doubles never talk to or signal your partner during a board.
Appeals stop the clock
Raise a point with the umpire and the clock stops. Play only resumes when the umpire calls “Play” again; carrying on before that call can cost you the whole board.
When a board is replayed
A board is cancelled and replayed if both players pass three times running, if there's genuinely no room to place the striker, or on any freak event beyond the umpire's control.
Losing the whole match
A player forfeits the entire match for serious misconduct — leaving the playing area without permission, defying or insulting the umpire, playing under the influence, using an uncertified striker, or failing to appear within 15 minutes.
Protests
Protests go in writing, in English, to the tournament secretary through the umpire, within 15 minutes of the board, with the scrutiny fee. Upheld, the board is replayed and the fee refunded; overruled, the result stands and the fee is kept.
Intervals & conceding
There's a 10-minute interval between the second and third games, and a player is free to concede a game, or the whole match, at any stage.
09
The language of the laws
The handful of special words the laws use — decoded.
Board
One complete round of play — from the umpire's call of “Play” until the last carromman is pocketed.
Break
The very first stroke of a board.
Cover
Pocketing one of your own carrommen on the same or next stroke after sinking the Queen, so that she counts for you.
Due
What you owe after pocketing the striker: one of your carrommen is taken out for your opponent to place.
Cannon & pair
Two carrommen (or a carromman and the Queen) lined up toward a pocket. Touching each other, it's a “cannon”; with a gap between them, it's a “pair.” Together they're called a “shot.”
Push
An illegal jerk of the elbow instead of a clean finger-flick.
Thumbing
Playing the striker with the thumb — permitted under the laws.
Proper & improper
A “proper” stroke follows the laws; an “improper” one breaks them. Almost every penalty in the game turns on which of the two you played.
White & Black Slam
Clearing all of one colour — and, for white, the Queen too — in a single unbroken first turn. Also called “break to finish,” it's carrom's version of a perfect break.