Billiards: An umbrella term for cue sports, including carom billiards, pool, and snooker. In a comparison with pool, people often use "billiards" as shorthand for carom billiards, a family of games played on a pocketless table with three balls.

Pool: Also called pocket billiards, pool is played on a pocketed table. Common American variations include eight-ball, nine-ball, and ten-ball, each with its own rules and ball set.

English billiards is an important exception: It uses three balls on a pocketed 12 ft by 6 ft table, the same size as a snooker table. So "billiards" alone does not tell you whether a table has pockets. See the WPBSA introduction to English billiards.

Carom Tables: Have no pockets and continuous cushions around the playing surface. A full-size example is the Gabriels Rafale 2.0, with a 2.84 m by 1.42 m playing area. That is the playing surface, not the table's overall footprint.

Pool Tables: Have six pockets (four corners and two sides) and come in common nominal sizes of 7 ft, 8 ft, and 9 ft. Both carom and pool tables commonly use a slate bed covered in billiard cloth, but their playing areas and cushion profiles differ.

Carom Billiards: Uses three balls: each player has a cue ball, and the third ball is red. A carom (or cannon) occurs when your cue ball contacts both other balls in one shot. A legal carom earns one point, subject to the discipline's conditions.

Three-cushion is a specific carom discipline: Your cue ball must also make at least three cushion contacts before it touches the second object ball. That extra condition is not the definition of every carom game. The UMB carom rules distinguish the general cannon rule from the rules for individual disciplines.

American Pool: Eight-ball uses 15 numbered object balls plus one cue ball. Players clear their assigned solids or stripes before legally pocketing the eight-ball. Nine-ball uses nine numbered object balls plus one cue ball; the cue ball must contact the lowest-numbered remaining object ball first, and legally pocketing the nine-ball wins the rack. See the WPA rules of play for the full rules.

Both games use a tipped cue to strike the cue ball. Cue length, weight, and tip specifications vary with the game, design, and player preference. Choose a cue suited to the game and comfortable for your stance and stroke.

Carom Billiards: The immediate task is to connect your cue ball with both other balls while meeting the discipline's conditions. Angles, spin, and speed also affect the position you leave for your next carom.

American Pool: The task is to pocket a legal target and position the cue ball for the next shot, or play a safety when attacking is a poor option. Both games reward control and planning.

Try carom billiards if you want to explore cue-ball routes and scoring without pockets. Start by learning the conditions for the particular discipline available at your club.

Try American pool if you enjoy pocketing balls and working through a rack. Eight-ball and nine-ball offer different targets and tactics, so agree on the rules before you begin.

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