page_title: Carom billiards
section_title: Balls
hierarchical_section_title: Carom billiards / Equipment / Balls
caption_attribution_description: A standard set of carom billiards balls (61.5&#160;mm [27&#8260;16&#160;in] diameter), including a red object ball, a plain white cue ball, a dotted cue ball for the opponent. Some games use two object balls.
context_page_description: Carom billiards, sometimes called carambole billiards or simply carambole are a family of billiards games played on cloth-covered tables. In these games, the players strike heavy balls with sticks called cues. Carom billiards tables have no pockets or opening where balls are sunk, that snooker and pool tables do have. In its simplest form, the object of carom billiards games is to score points or "counts" by bouncing one's own ball, called a cue ball, off of the other two balls on the table. The date the first carom game was invented is not exactly known. Also, how exactly the games developed and which game was first is not clear. However, carom billiards games are believed to have started sometime in the 18th-century in France in Europe.
  There are many different games, each with distinct rules, strategies and objects of play, that are all part of carom billiards. Some of the most well known games are straight rail, cushion caroms, balkline, three-cushion billiards and artistic billiards. There are many other carom billiards games that combine aspects of these games, but that are not as well known.
context_section_description: Modern billiard balls are made from "phenolic resin", which is a type of very strong plastic. The size of carom billiards balls is normally 61.5 mm (2⁷⁄₁₆ in) in diameter. They weigh between 205 and 220 grams (7.23 – 7.75 ounces; 7.5 is average), and are quite a bit larger and heavier than the balls used for pool games. While UMB, the International Olympic Committee-recognized world carom billiards authority, permits balls as small as 61.0 mm (approximately 2³⁄₈), no major manufacturer produces such balls any longer, and the main standard is 61.5 mm. The three standard balls in most carom billiards games are a completely white cue ball, a second cue ball sometimes having a red or black dot on it (to help people in telling the balls apart), and a third, red ball. In some sets of balls, however, the second cue ball is solid yellow. Both types of ball sets are allowed in tournament play.
  Billiard balls have been made from many different materials since the start of the game. For example, they have been made from clay, wood, ivory, plastics (including celluloid, Bakelite, crystalate, and phenolic resin) and even steel. The most common substance from 1627 until the early- to mid-twentieth century was ivory. The search for a substitute for ivory use was not for environmental reasons but based on how expensive they were and fear of danger for elephant hunters. The search was made more enticing when a New York billiard table maker offered a $10,000 prize for a substitute material. The first usable substitute was made from a material called "celluloid". Celluloid, which is an early form of plastic, was invented by a man named John Wesley Hyatt in 1868. There was a problem with the material though. Celluloid was unstable and highly flammable, sometimes exploding when people were making it.
caption: A standard set of carom billiards balls (61.5 mm [27⁄16 in] diameter), including a red object ball, a plain white cue ball, and a dotted cue ball for the opponent. Some games use an additional object ball.
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