Carom Billiards
Umbrella family of pocketless cue sports — straight rail, balkline, 47/2, cushion carom, three-cushion.
👥1 per team🌤indoor
What is Carom Billiards?
Carom billiards is the family of pocketless cue sports played on a 3.048 × 1.524 m billiard table with three balls. Variants include straight rail (any legal carom counts), balkline, one-cushion, three-cushion and artistic billiards. It is the oldest form of billiards and remains dominant across Europe and East Asia.
Quick facts
Category
Precision Sports
Type
Individual
Players
1 per team
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇫🇷 France
Estimated origin
18th-century France (pocketless variant of billiards)
Olympic
No
Popularity
major
Sources & provenance
Last verified 2026-08-20.verified