Fun Carom games for beginners

nataddrho

nataddrho

AzB Silver Member
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I would like to buy a Carom table for my home. It's my favorite game. Do there exist some great games less difficult than 3c for my friends to play when they visit? Most of them are not pool or Carom players at all. My concern is that they might be disappointed if they don't get the immediate satisfaction of pocketing a ball that they are used to.

For example, I like one pocket. It might be fun to buy a few sets of Carom balls, use one white as the cue ball, lots of reds for the rack, and stuff yellows in the corners to simulate pockets. If you touch a yellow with an OB then you remove it when it stops moving.

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erriep

erriep

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5 pins is a good point to start with friends, because they play 1 shot , then the opponent play .. and they like to hit the pins !
 
Texas Carom Club

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
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There is no easy game for new to carom pool players

Not on a 10ft table and 3 cushion is not for begginners without proper instruction otherwise as you know they get discouraged, i still do at times

Perhaps think about a 8ft or 9 ft carom table if thats your aim

Then straigh rail being the most basic carom game will be the one to get your friends started with
Here is a video of cuadron explaining straight rail, aka freegame or partie libre

https://youtu.be/-A9VCXPc0vk

Even 1 cushion as its a bit more basic also tough game but on smaller tables is where we rrally need to start newbies


https://youtu.be/-4HD_AZfSS4

5 pin takes getting used to and yoi habe to pick up the pins after each turn seems really slow
 
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Dean_H

Dean_H

luv the small modalities
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Some ideas for fun games

Free game ( Straight Rail ) and 9 and one are good games for beginners. The Easiest game I have seen is Four ball French/Japanese style where you can use your cue ball and make a carom of any two of the other three balls for a point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ULMPYGvlHY
 
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nataddrho

nataddrho

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I got one... Pretend that the opponents cue ball is a pocket, and shoot the red into the opp. Cue ball. I think they might like that.

They're gonna want to shoot.

Then maybe I can coax them into 3c after a while.

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Texas Carom Club

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
your just trying to turn carom into a pool game, and they arent learning anything about how the ball acts off contact or all the english used

then you want to try and get the to play the most difficult and complex game on the planet?
 
K

KissedOut

AzB Silver Member
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nataddrho said:
I would like to buy a Carom table for my home. It's my favorite game. Do there exist some great games less difficult than 3c for my friends to play when they visit? Most of them are not pool or Carom players at all. My concern is that they might be disappointed if they don't get the immediate satisfaction of pocketing a ball that they are used to.

For example, I like one pocket. It might be fun to buy a few sets of Carom balls, use one white as the cue ball, lots of reds for the rack, and stuff yellows in the corners to simulate pockets. If you touch a yellow with an OB then you remove it when it stops moving.

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Click to expand...

Put out just the white and yellow and you score by hitting the other ball after hitting 3 or more rails. It is easier than 3c and is a good way to learn how the ball travels over multiple rails. And it is fun. IMO. I sometimes do this as a practice drill.

If you want insanely difficult, on the other hand, do the same thing but add that you have to hit the other ball, get 3 or more rails and then hit the same ball a second time to score. This is called Uniards and one example on YouTube credits our own Bob Jewett with creating it. Here is a link to a short video of Sameh and Dani playing it.

https://youtu.be/oz8kJAVeHRU
 
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HomeBrewer

HomeBrewer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had seen KissedOut's second example before ('Uniards') but I had never heard of his first idea.

Sounds neat!
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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KissedOut said:
... This is called Uniards and one example on YouTube credits our own Bob Jewett with creating it. ...
Click to expand...
The game was already being played at the UC Berkeley Student Union Rec Center when I arrived about 1965. If it was invented there, I would guess it was by Doug Young or Ilmar Laase (sp???) who were some of the most active 3-C players. In that room we also played call-shape 14.1 (one call ahead), and Irish/reverse pool where you score by scratching object balls off the cue ball. There were a few people who played straight rail but most of us played 3-C even though we weren't even 0.5 players.

For beginners I'd suggest 1-cushion uniards instead of 3-cushion. The 3-cushion lag suggestion above could also be 2-cushion or even 1-cushion. The latter might even produce long runs.
 
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nataddrho

nataddrho

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Good. There seems to be quite a bit you can do with games here. I like.it.

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Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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There is also a game I saw played in Paris in the 1970s.... You have to make three (or so) of each of a variety of shots. The varieties included things like straight rail, one cushion, three cushion, three cushion but rails first, drive the red into the white, and I don't know what else. Perhaps someone from Europe could fill in the details. As I recall there was a special chalk board for scoring. You could make up your own categories like:
straight rail, red to cue
straight rail, cue to red
one cushion
two cushion
three cushion
drive red to cue
drive cue to red
any rail-first
 
M.G.

M.G.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As I always write...
Aramith's Five Ball really is something even beginners can master quite well!
Upside also is, that you do just one shot and then the other one(s) have to shoot. That keeps motivation, because you don't have to wait for a good player to finish a 10 shot run...

Downside is, you kind of need to buy the ball set or get some other colored balls.

http://www.saluc.com/html/billiard/index.php?idlien=47

You can also try cowboy pool (on a pool table even) and vary the amount of points needed.

Cheers,
M
 
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