Three cushion billiard is a member of the carom billiard games family. Therefore, general carom billiard rules apply here as well. The object of the game is to achieve a higher score than your opponent by causing your cue ball to contact three cushions before contacting any other object ball.

As mentioned earlier, three cushions billiard is played like ordinary carom billiard games except one main difference, which makes it so challenging even for the most talented billiard players. While in one cushion carom games, a legal count requires you to hit your opponent's cue ball and the object ball at a time, here you are required to cause the cue ball to hit THREE cushions on every shot. Therefore, even if you are a skilled and experienced billiard player and even if the game takes place between professional players, not every shot ends with a score.

Although three cushions is one of the most difficult billiard games to master, learning to play the game is pretty easy.

Here is how:

The game is played on a standard carom table with a set of three balls: two cue balls and one red ball.

The play begins with the breaker who has to first contact the red ball placed on the foot stop, while the breaker's cue ball set on the head string about 6 inches far from the opponent's cue ball.

If the breaker achieves a legal count during the break, he is allowed to continue shooting until he fails.

A legal count is when a player drives his cue ball to contact three cushions before first contacting one of the object balls, either the opponent's cue ball or the red ball. (Except during the opening break, the order is irrelevant).

The winner is the player who achieves a greater score than his opponent; each legal count adds one point to its shooter while every foul reduces a point from its executer.

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