The same-looking position can be a point in one discipline and a miss in another. Identify the game before borrowing a scoring rule, average or practice target.
The common starting point
In three-ball carom, the player uses an assigned cue ball to contact both object balls. A valid carom earns a point. Free game has no minimum cushion count, but its regulated corner areas prevent the name “free” from meaning no restrictions anywhere.
Two different kinds of restriction
One-cushion and three-cushion count the cue ball's cushion contacts before the second object ball: at least one or three respectively. Balkline instead tracks marked areas occupied by both object balls. In .2 disciplines, one must leave on the second stroke; .1 requires the exit on the first. Anchors add small restricted areas near line ends.
Test one imagined sequence
Consider a non-opening shot: first object ball → one cushion → second object ball, with no other foul and away from restricted zones. Its cushion count can satisfy free game and one-cushion, but not three-cushion. For balkline, the contact sequence alone cannot decide the point: inspect the initial zone state and any required exit. This is a rule-reading example, not a measured shot.
Names that need a separate rulebook
Japanese four-ball uses four balls under the NBA rules; its scoring and restricted areas should not be assumed identical to Korean club 4구. Artistic billiards and pin games also require their own figure or scoring rules. They are not interchangeable modes defined simply by increasing the cushion count. Choose by available competition and the skill you want to practise, not an unverified hardest-to-easiest ranking.
Continue with: Balkline billiards: read 47/2, 71/2 and the exit rule →