Long Shot. Anyone Play Carrom?

[gubbyduffer]

As per the title, this is a long shot, but on the back of unusual sports threads I recently saw clips of guys in India playing Carrom. I have to admit it looks like a cool table top game to perhaps while away the hours on rainy afternoons during caravaning holidays.
Is it as fun as it looks or are these guys making something frustratingly difficult, look too easy?
I have the inkling to try to make a board from scratch, although perhaps a bit smaller than regulation size.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Never heard of that table top game, but I've made the occasional carom shot in billiards and pool. (!)
.

 

[mingc]

Played it as a boy in Malaysia in the days before video and console games. I've no idea if people still play it there today

 

[OzPiper]

Played it as a boy in Malaysia in the days before video and console games. I've no idea if people still play it there today

^^^^ ditto
BTW I sucked at it.
Not much better playing billiards or snooker
Never put a gun in my hands

 

[trouttimes]

Played years ago as a kid. I think there is still a board stored somewhere in the old family house.

 

[Briar Lee]

My parents had carom boards that featured multiple games like backgammon, chess, checkers, and had a reversible top and pockets at four corners. They bought us a new one about sixty years ago when I was a child.

They sell on eBay as collectibles.



Ours is somewhere in the milk barn.

 

[irishearl]

Yup, as a kid some 60 years ago we had a carom board.

 

[AroEnglish]

A friend of mine in elementary school had one of these and I loved it. Haven’t played it since but would love to.

 

[LOREN]

My parents had carom boards that featured multiple games like backgammon, chess, checkers, and had a reversible top and pockets at four corners. They bought us a new one about sixty years ago when I was a child.

They sell on eBay as collectibles.

View attachment 283400

Ours is somewhere in the milk barn.

This looks like the board we had many, many years ago when I was a kid. I remember having fun with it but not being any good with it.

 

[sablebrush52]

My brothers and I played Carom when I was a kid, 60+ years ago.

 

[anotherbob]

can someone explain how the game is played.

 

[kcghost]

Never heard of the let lone played it. Billiards is the only game I played that actually had events called "caroms".

 

[cshubhra]

Did not play it for a long time, and was not really good at it, but it’s fun, and if you practice then it’s very easy.

In US you can buy in Amazon or from a large Indian grocery.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Can you describe how it's played?

 

[cshubhra]

There are 9 white, 9 black and a red disk on a super polished plywood surface. It is often made more slippery with boric acid. There are four pockets in four corners. You need to pocket all your disks before your opponent’s. The red disk is targeted by both teams and worth 5 points. If you sink the red then you need to follow up (cover) by sinking one disk of your own color. There are many other rules. The set is won when one team reaches 29.

Of course there will be regional variations, and I am not super familiar with the official international rules

You sink the disks using a heavy disk called a striker, which you must flick and not push.

 

[Carol]

Yes. We played this when we were kids. I still have the board and game pieces. Been decades since I played though.