Carambole billiards
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Carambole billiards (or carom) is a billiards game possibly developed in the 18th century in France, though nobody knows its exact time of invention. The game consisted of two white cue balls and a red object ball. The red ball was called carambola after a red fruit. The object of the game was to score points by hitting the opponent's cue ball and the object ball in a single stroke. The word carom was derived from carambola and it describes the shot where the cue ball first contacts one ball and then makes contact with a second ball.
Variations
Three cushion billiards
Three cushion billiards is the most difficult carom game to play, but its rules are very simple. The game arose after the older carom games proved too easy for the top players who could score large numbers of points at each turn at the table.
The game is so difficult, that even the top players cannot always manage to score a point each time they shoot.
Three cushion billiards is played on a table with no pockets. The correct size for the table is ten feet by five feet. Other carom games are sometimes played on smaller tables.
There are two cue balls (white and yellow)and a red object ball. Each player shoots his own cue ball during a game. Carom billiard games are the only billiard games played that do not have players sharing a cue ball.
The object is to shoot your cue ball such that it hits both object balls, and hits three cushions. However, three cushions must be struck before the cue ball contacts the second ball. A player may score all the rails first, or use any combination of ball and rails as long as three cushions are struck before the last ball is touched by the cue ball. For example, you can hit three rails in succession, then the white, then the red to score a point. If you score a point, you may continue.
Archival Billiard Resource (http://www.3csuhion.com)de:Carambolage fr:Billard français