Carom billiards, sometimes called carambole billiards or simply carambole and, in some cases, used as a synonym for the game of straight rail from which many carom games derive, is the overarching title of a family of billiard games generally played on cloth-covered, 5 by 10 foot (approximately 1.5 × 3 m) pocketless tables which often feature heated slate beds. At its simplest form, the object of most carom games is to score points or "counts" by caroming one's own cue ball off both the opponent's cue ball and the object balls on a single shot.
 
There are many different types of Carom games such as:

Three cushion is a carom game wherein the shooter's cue ball must contact the cushions of the table at least three time before first touching the second object ball of his shot in order for the shooter to count a point. The object of the game is to reach a predetermined point count before your opponent.One point is scored each time a legal count is made. A legal count is scored any time the shooter causes his cue ball to contact three cushion before first contacting the second object ball (both his opponent's cue ball and the red ball ball must be contacted on the shot). The order of ball and cushion contacts is otherwise irrelevant. A legal counting stroke entitles the shooter to continue at the table until he fails to legally count.