What I did this weekend: Built a poker table.

[K-rug]

I’ll start with the finished product and explain what I did.

Here it is. Two days worth of work, some swear words and lots of sweat.



Unfortunately, I failed to check my digital camera before I started working on this project. So I missed taking pictures of the first days work because my battery was dead. After cutting out everything the first thing I started on was staining the race track.



This is a picture of the wood that would be the rail with the foam attached. I used 3/4" HD foam. I wanted 1" but the supplier did not have any in. In the end 3/4" is more than enough.



This is the “negative trackâ€

[K-rug]

Materials I used:

1/2" 4x8 Oak Plywood for my base (originally wanted 3/4" Home Depot did not have it)

3/4" 4x8 Sandeply for the rail and center piece (originally wanted 1/2" Home Depot did not have it)

108" x 54" Black Vinyl

30" x 48" Red Emperor Velveteen

108" x 54" High Density white foam

3M #90 spray adhesive

10 Stainless Steel cup holders

A 2 3/4" hold saw for my drill to drill the cup holder holes.

I used 1 1/2" bolts, I had 1/2", 3/4" and 1 1/4" screws, a ton of staples, all-purpose putty/filler. I had an old 6' table that I bought at Target for $20 that had an AWESOME leg system that were one solid piece not two individual leg units. Because they were one piece they had a support lattace running from one end to the other between the legs. 3/4" pipe coupling to hold the legs to the base.

[ShoelessJoe]

Honestly, no BS, how much would you want for it/another one to build?

I'd buy one for you if I could pick it up (there's no way I'm shipping one of those things).

GREAT JOB.

And if you don't wanna sell one to me you could def. make some cash off making a few more of those and selling them.

[K-rug]

Heh, never thought about selling it. We haven't even played on it yet. We'll do that this Wednesday. There are a few minor defects and things that I learned from buildig this one that didn't come out quite perfect and I wouldn't feel right selling it with.

The materials and supplies easily cost me $400 plus two days time. I'm sure I could cut that down to a day now that I know what I'm doing. I could probably cut the cost down to about $250 for materials since now I have a lot of what I need.

Wood = $100
Foam and Fabric = $100 ($60 foam, $20 Velveteen, $20 Vinyl)
Misc screws, nuts, clamps, glue, adhesive, staples, hole saw, bolts, cheap table from Target, cup holders =$150

I wanted a 3/4" base and a 1/2" center piece. However, Home Depot didn't have the wood I wanted in those sizes. In fact they had the opposite. So the base ended up being 1/2" and the rail and center piece ended up being 3/4".

BUT!!! I forgot when I was securing my legs that the base was now 1/2" but my screwes were 3/4" for the old base. Whoops. I have tiny ittiy bitty barely dectable holes in the race track less than a 1/32" where the screw poked through a bit. I'm going to fix that tonight.

Also, try as I did, I could not get the railing to come out smooth and wrinkle free. So I had to cut each corner to get it straight and then applied a "patch strip" from the left over material to cover up the cut mark. You can probably see the strips on each corner in the finished pic.

Also I didn't secure the cup holders down because if they get dirty I can pop them out and throw them in the dishwasher.

[K-rug]

So I guess to answer you question since I didn't, I wouldn't feel right selling this one. I'd be happy to make one for anyone in my area (Washington D.C. Metro area) if you came to pick it up. Don't know about you though Joe, Florida is a looong way to come to pick it up. Maybe when I'm visiting my buddy in Jacksonville over New Years I'll build him one and an extra one you can buy. Although, I don't know if he has the tools I'll need.

No clue as to what this would retail for.

[BayouBonz]

Excellent Job K-rug!

I'm planning to build a table, and am looking at the various designs. Could you explain how the rail is anchored to the table? Some of the rail designs I've seen are loose, but "nest" on top on the base/racetrack.

Once again, nice job -

[K-rug]

It was quite simple. I screwed the two pieces together.

The one thing I found in common with a lot of plans is the use of three pieces of 4’x8’ wood. Presumably to have the racetrack and center piece close to flush as possible. I’m not really sure why else. So what you have is the need for a “lipâ€

[BayouBonz]

Thanks for breaking that down for me K-rug. I like the simplicity of your design. I agree with you that the 3rd piece on the rail of most other designs must be simply to provide a "lip" to drop over the base.

Again, thanks for your explanation and thanks for posting pics of your great work!

[K-rug]

The other thing with my design is that I can interchange the tops or take it off to clean it or whatever I want at will. I thought that was a nice tough. Now I have the bug. I want to build another.

[Loonbat]

A very sweet table - I hope it serves your needs.

[ShoelessJoe]

Sorry I never got back to ya K-Rug. I was kinda thrown off by the server being down or whatever.

Anyways, I really think you should try to sell some of these babies (not necessarily to people on here but just to poker players in general).

I just can't tell one thing from your graphics. That is... is the rail raised above the felt? IE like the ESPN featured table has that little raised space where the pocket cams go... doesnt ur table have the raised padding like that?

[K-rug]

Yes it is raised. The race track is part of the base board and the rail and center piece mount on top of it. I love this design and honestly, now that we played on it tonight with 10 people almost had three spills I can't say I would ever want the race track to be flush or near flush with the rail or center piece. Spill clean up easier when they are confined and can't soak into anything. But the fact the rail and center piece are raised make playing really really easy and nice. Everyone loved it. I have got to build another one now.

[1988 TR]

That is very nice - Job well done!

[ShoelessJoe]

I have got to build another one now.

:D

[K-rug]

The finace is going to be out of town this weekend. I might just have to do table #2. Problem is I have a poker tourney from 11am-6pm. Damn. Damn. Damn.