The Poker Table

I have gone on a small poker run to gather points to qualify for some of the larger, free with qualification, tournaments of Tavern Tourneys. I was doing very well the other night when my two pair ran into a higher two pair, then two pair ran into a straight and then with three Q’s on the board and pairing the next high card my full house ran into quads. It was a wonderful night with really good players. I reached far into the higher blinds, typical, before I went all-in from late position at the final table with a Q, J suited and lost to a pair of eights.

If anyone dares suggest that I would sit on a stack to make the final table or gain points by sitting idle they are telling you a lie, spinning a yarn, telling a tale, forwarding a fib, concocting conflagrations of contortioned conflicting conveyances contrary to conscience and common sense. I play poker.

I finally finished my first poker table. It started with a couple of 4x6 particle boards that I had laying around for a long time. I actually picked them up for less than $5 a sheet some years ago to make a tree stand, but haven’t been able to fund developing our swamp land potential and holding a proper deer hunt.

I ordered some high end vinyl, on clearance, and some speed cloth and velveteen online, though you can find most anything you need at a place like Jo-Ann Fabric. The foam is another story. I found an online place in Michigan that has free shipping for orders over $75; could be two tables worth. These materials are one of possibly two major expenses in making your own table. Here is a site with many links to online suppliers. The second major expense would be the legs. With the legs you have about two choices; cheap folding or just plain expensive. If you see an old beat up table at a rummage sale and think you could salvage the legs for your table…

I put the rail together with glue and some wood screws. (the rail, two pieces, sits atop and around the playing surface) I decided to use some post and pin fasteners to connect the playing board to the rail. I drilled some test holes to make sure my drill bit produce the proper sized hole first. The idea being you can easily disconnect and reconnect the two if you want to change the upholstery. I needed a post with a head that will dig and fasten into the wood; glue just didn’t work. Half of them snapped loose. Next time I will drill the holes and fasten the two sheets of plywood together before I do any cutting. Hopefully everything will line up easier that way when it comes to putting the final product together.

Did some sanding of the rough edges.

Went with some cheap folding legs from Harbor Freight. Really cheap, they lock in place with screws you need to take off to fold the legs down. As you may have noticed a 4x6 foot table is about as small as you can go if you are going to use folding legs.

Glued the 2lb closed cell volara foam roll, 1/8”, to the playing surface with some spray adhesive.

Trimmed it.

Trimmed the speed cloth. Upholstered it with a cheap staple gun; again from Harbor Freight. Moved it up to finish the job after the speed cloth was in place. I’m sure I used too many staples. I bought some Ace Hardware staples that were described as for use in upholstery. They have a slight crown.

There’s the playing surface.

Then came the rail foam. Again I used the spray adhesive to hold it in place. You should always use spray adhesive outdoors. Then I attached spacers to my sharpie and marked where to cut. You have to take care to keep the cuts clean and straight. After the fact I saw a you/tube video where they hacked through the foam and then folded it over the edges, used a few staples to hold it in place and then trimmed along the bottom edges. The foam folded over the edges when I upholstered the rail.

All trimmed up.

Applying the vinyl.

Our dog Ike can hardly wait till it is done.

Moving it indoors. No, you don’t need to take such obsessive care to cut the vinyl. The cuts hardly need to be straight but the spacing should be even and you don’t want to cut too close to the rail.

Make the cuts, pull taught and start stapling.

Trim away the excess. Attach the rail. You can just connect the rail with wood screws rather than the fore mentioned system I attempted to create. My system worked though it was a bit of a hassle to get everything lined up and fastened.

Ta da!