THE DETAILED RULES

Familiarize yourself with the board design and pieces. Think of carrom as a game of finger billiards. Instead of balls, you use small playing coins and try to put them in the pockets with a heavier piece called a striker. 

The Board Design

• The main center design is where the coins are arranged to set up the game. 
• Displayed on all four sides of the board are the baselines, the long ovals with circles at the ends. Each player has their own baseline, and must shoot the striker from it during their turn. When taking your turn, the striker must be touching the top and bottom lines of the baseline and may not go past the circles on either end of the baseline. [1:21]
• If coins are covering your baseline, you may NOT move coins to place the striker. Find a clear area on your baseline to shoot from. 
• Although rare, if there are so many coins on your baseline that there is zero space for the striker to fit, you may slightly move one coin to fit the striker on the baseline for your turn.
• The pockets sit in the four corners of the board. Players aim to flick the striker so that the striker knocks coins into the pockets. 
• The coin moat that borders the entire carrom board can be used to hold coins that have been successfully pocketed. 

The Game Pieces

• There are 9 black coins, 9 brown coins, and one red coin (the queen), in addition to the heavier piece known as the "striker.”  Your carrom board comes with extra coins in case you misplace any! 
• The red coin is called the queen, and it can be pocketed any time you want after sinking your first coin (the queen's function is similar to the black 8 ball in Billiards).
• The striker is the piece players flick to knock coins in the pockets. There are legal and illegal ways to flick - see this video for examples. Make sure you flick the striker from the back instead of pushing it.  

Set Up and Get Ready to Play Carrom: 

Powder the board. Powdering the board surface is important for smooth game play. You want just enough powder on the board for your coins and striker to glide smoothly. Too little powder means they stop short or abruptly, and too much makes the coins move unintentionally.

• To play for the first time, powder the board by using one teaspoon of the powder provided and sprinkle it on the board surface. Use either your hands or your striker to evenly distribute the powder across the board. 
• For subsequent games, check the amount of powder on the board by flicking the striker or feeling the board surface with your hands, and add more powder if needed. 

Practice your flick technique. If you’re new to carrom, there are legal and illegal ways to flick the striker! As a general technique, use a flicking motion to hit the side of the striker, but don’t use your thumb. Use your pointer or middle finger to follow through with your flick, without bracing against your thumb. 

• Do not push the striker in any way. 
• Do not use your arm in the motion of hitting the striker. The flick should come entirely from your finger and/or wrist. 

Set up the coins. Arrange the coins in the center of the board as pictured above, in either the traditional spoke pattern or the spiral pattern. Start by placing the queen in the center of the board. For the next layer, alternate 3 black and 3 brown coins around the red coin. Continue to set up the coins until all 9 black and 9 brown coins are placed. The striker should be poised for action on the baseline of the player who will start the game.

Gather your team! Carrom can be played with 2 or 4 players. For 2 players, players sit opposite each other. For 4 players, players play in teams of two and sit opposite of their teammate. Each player flicks the striker from their baseline. 

• You and your opponent take turns flicking the striker. For 4 players, rotate turns counterclockwise. 
• When you pocket a coin, you get to go again, and can continue your turn until you fail to pocket a coin.

Starting a Game of Carrom: 

Take a shot to break the coins. To start a game, one player breaks the coins in the center by flicking the striker from their baseline. [1:21]

• If you pocket a coin in this move, that color is yours for the rest of the game, and you may continue your turn until you fail to pocket a coin, or until you pocket an opponent’s coin or the striker. If a coin is not pocketed in the break shot, it is the next player’s turn. 

Take turns flicking the striker from the baseline until you determine who pockets which colors. You do not start a game of carrom knowing whose coins are black and whose are brown. This is determined in play. The first player to pocket a coin must pocket coins in that color for the rest of the game. [1:36]

Playing and Finishing a Game of Carrom: 

Continue playing until one player has pocketed all of their coins. Players continue to take turns flicking the striker from their baseline to pocket their coins. [2:04]

• In the event you pocket a coin, you get to continue your turn. You can shoot your striker again, and can continue to shoot your striker until you fail to pocket a coin, pocket an opponent’s coin, or pocket your striker. 

Cover the queen. The queen, or red coin, has to be pocketed by the end of a game. A player must both pocket and "cover" the queen to keep it out of play. [8:42]

• A player can only pocket the queen once they have pocketed a coin of their color. 
• To cover the queen, the player who pocketed the queen must pocket a coin of their color into any pocket in their next shot. If you do not successfully pocket a colored coin to cover the queen, the queen is returned to the center of the board and your turn ends. [4:47]

Fouls:

• If you accidentally pocket the striker, this is a foul. You must return one of the coins you already pocketed back to the center of the board as a penalty. [3:36] [3:55]
• If you accidentally pocket one of your opponent's coins, your turn ends and your opponent keeps the point. [3:08]

The first player to pocket all their coins wins. The goal is to pocket all your coins before your opponent can. [8:54]

• You do not have to pocket and cover the queen to win the game, but the queen must be out of play in order for any player to win.