How to Win at Carrom: Aiming, Power and Queen Tips
Carrom looks like a game of strong flicks, but the winners are the players who place the striker well and use just enough power. In this Carrom every bounce is simulated, so angles behave as they do on a real board. This guide covers aiming, power, the red queen, fouls and the safe shots that stop your rival from clearing the board.
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Place the striker before you aim
You can slide the striker anywhere along your baseline, and the easiest shot is a straight line from striker through coin into a pocket. Before you pull back, move the striker until the short coloured line from the ghost circle points straight into the pocket. A small change of position is usually better than a sharp cut.
Use less power than you think
A soft shot that just reaches the pocket drops more often than a hard one, which can rattle out or send the striker in after the coin. Pocketing the striker is a foul: any coins you sank in that shot come back, plus one more of your coins as a penalty. On straight shots at a corner, use only the power you need so the striker stops short of the pocket.
Hard shots do have one job: breaking up a tight cluster when you have no clean shot. Even then, aim so the striker comes back towards the middle.
Time the red queen
Pocketing the queen gives you another shot, but it must be covered: sink one of your own coins in the same shot or the next one, or the queen goes back to the centre. So go for the queen only when you already have an easy coin lined up for the follow-up.
The queen earns no points here; it is a gate. You cannot sink your last coin until it is covered, and once it is covered, by either player, whoever clears all nine coins first wins. Never leave yourself with one coin and the queen still on the board unless the queen is easy.
Think about what you leave behind
Pocketing only your rival's coins ends your turn and helps them. When you have no good shot, play safe: nudge one of your coins towards a pocket, or knock a rival coin away from the edge, so your rival's next shot is hard. Coins of yours sitting near pockets are an investment for the next turn.
Beat the computer and play online
Learn the angles against the Easy computer, then move to Medium and Hard, which pick cleaner shots and punish easy leaves. You can also pass one device between two players or challenge a friend online, where each shot has a timer, so line up your shot before the clock gets low.
Questions
- What happens if I pocket the striker?
- It is a foul: coins you pocketed in that shot come back to the board, one of your coins is returned as a penalty and your turn ends.
- Do I have to cover the queen myself to win?
- No. The queen just has to be covered before anyone can sink their last coin. Once it is, the first player to pocket all nine of their coins wins.
- What does the ghost circle show?
- Where the striker will meet the first coin, and the short line shows the direction that coin will travel.
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