CUSHION CARROMS.
This is a variety of the three-ball game in which a cushion must be touched by the cue ball before the carrom is completed. The cushion may be struck first, and the object ball afterward, or the object ball first, and then the cushion. In the Three-cushion Carrom Game, three cushions must be touched by the cue ball before completing the count. In the Bank-shot Game, the cue ball must strike at least one cushion before touching the object ball.
The Four-ball Game is now obsolete. It was first played on a table with corner pockets, and afterward on a carrom table, two red balls being used, one spotted on the red and the other on the white spot. Two carroms could be made on one shot.
The following are the most important LAWS of the carrom game, and are copied by permission from the 1908 edition of the “Laws of Billiards,” published by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co.
AMERICAN BILLIARD LAWS.
1. The game is begun by stringing for the lead; the player who brings his ball nearest to the cushion at the head of the table winning the choice of balls and the right to play first or to compel his opponent to play. Should the striker fail to count, his opponent makes the next play, aiming at will at either ball on the table.
2. A carrom consists in hitting both object-balls with the cue-ball in a fair and unobjectionable way; each carrom will count one for the player. A penalty of one shall also be counted against the player for every miss occurring during the game.
3. A ball forced off the table is put back on its proper spot. Should the player’s ball jump off the table after counting, the count is good, the ball is spotted, and the player plays from the spot.
4. If in playing a shot the cue is not withdrawn from the cue-ball before the cue-ball comes in contact with the object-ball, the shot is foul, the player loses his count, and his hand is out.