wanting to build a poker table

smalltimer

hey guys. looking to build a table with a buddy. i know nothing about tools. hes the brains.. you guys have any favourite site for you materials? any tips? any "i wish i would of..."? thanks guys. looking for a 10 seater.. 9 plus dealer but no dealer spot. regular spot but put a slide out drawer for cash/chips.

trigs

What's the budget?

I would personally suggest not including a racetrack. I have one with a racetrack and one without and I prefer having more felt space.

Something I don't have in my tables but would consider getting are charge ports at each seat.

If you are planning on including a riser, I'd suggest 3/4" max. Anything more gets too uncomfortable.

Keep in mind that good seats are also a nice luxury to have.

You should consider updating this thread with pics of the build.

thisORthat

Instructables is good website for DIY how to's, see:

https://www.instructables.com/howto/poker+table/

Note that you will need wood working related tools to complete the project.

If you are in the Kitchner-Waterloo area you can check-out KW Library of Things which is an tool lending co-op.
Or KW Artz Lab which is a not for profit "Maker" (or hobbyist) society (space) which has an "Open Night" on Tuesdays which allows for prospective members to test out their facility. (too anarcho-communist-ish?)

smalltimer

Thanks for the comments guys! Man.. sounds like k/w is the mecca for poker in Ontario. Haven’t put together a budget yet. Im off for the summer break so it’s not a have to hurry and get this done project. So far im learning not cheaping out on the cloth ( looking at speed cloth and water proof) or the vinyl for the rail and obviously not the legs. Like i said my buddy is gonna build with my probably useless assistance i can plug in the power tools..lol no lie i got lost when just looking at the plywood.. there is like 4 different kinds. Keep the comments coming guys! Really appreciate it. Great community here!

trigs

KW is the poker mecca of Canada, that is very true.

Agree to not cheap out on the felt. Definitely want those cards to slide nicely and use enough cushion underneath to have a little softness give to it.

MrCaspan

If you have zero tool experience just a note that you are going to run into a lot of roadblocks that you will just not know how to solve properly. I say this because if you have zero tool experience then down stream from that is zero wood working skills or building experience. Not to say you should not try and learn as long as you are okay with re doing stuff that is half assed or being okay with a final product that has issues and being okay with the errors. What is the drive to make your own table compared to buying a prebuilt one? Is it just cost?

I am a builder myself as a hobby as I have renovated half my house and even as hobbyist builder with decent knowledge I run into stuff that takes me hours to figure out what should be simple. Or I run into issues where I should have done something 10 steps ago and I have to redo a lot of work. I encourage you to learn about the process and watch a couple of YouTube videos so you know what you are getting into and the time required!

smalltimer

Totally agree… my construction builder buddy is leading the way… im the wallet and the “clean up labourer”

MrCaspan

haha 100% understand, sous-chef

smalltimer

MrCaspan;c-422286 wroteIf you have zero tool experience just a note that you are going to run into a lot of roadblocks that you will just not know how to solve properly. I say this because if you have zero tool experience then down stream from that is zero wood working skills or building experience. Not to say you should not try and learn as long as you are okay with re doing stuff that is half assed or being okay with a final product that has issues and being okay with the errors. What is the drive to make your own table compared to buying a prebuilt one? Is it just cost?

I am a builder myself as a hobby as I have renovated half my house and even as hobbyist builder with decent knowledge I run into stuff that takes me hours to figure out what should be simple. Or I run into issues where I should have done something 10 steps ago and I have to redo a lot of work. I encourage you to learn about the process and watch a couple of YouTube videos so you know what you are getting into and the time required!

As i totally read your full comment.. its a bit of i need something to do all summer and i would like to learn tools a bit. If incould find a used one i would take the easy way out.. and just add the drawer for rebuys and the cash..

Card Dead

I built a very simple one a few years ago that wasn’t too taxing or expensive. I think the speed felt, vinyl, rail foam, and underpad came to $300-ish. I did not add cupholders or a racetrack.

I deconstructed an old table that was on it’s last legs so I could see how it was built and used a you tube video as a guide to make the changes I wanted. The hardest part was getting the rail right. It was much harder to wrap the vinyl and get the rail to sit flush than I thought.

The best decision I made was not using the standard folding legs, rather, I picked up a very solid kitchen table on Kijiji for free and mounted the tabletop to it, but made it easily removeable for flexibility. It was much more stable than the folding legs but not as convenient if you need to put it away every time since the table was a solid unit.

Though it sounds cool, Not sure I like the drawer idea since the dealer would need to pull back from the table to access it and I could see the dealer’s knees hitting it, like the toke box at a casino table.

thisORthat

Maybe consider integrating mirrors into the table at each seat.
So that players can peak at there cards without bending them.

Might be able to buy the aperture from somewhere as it a common feature on Blackjack tables.