blonde poker forum

Has anyone here built their own poker table?

I am seriously looking into it and am making a list of all the parts I need. So far the only thing I am having trouble finding is the foam for the padded rail. Does anyone know where I can get some? I am after 1 large piece big enough to cut a ring out of, so it needs to be at least 8'3" x 4'3" to go around the 8'x4' table. Probably 3" thick.

Hopefully mine will look something like this one:
(http://www.junell.cc/pokertable/pokertable_1122.JPG)
from http://www.junell.cc/pokertable/
but with standard stainless steel cupholders not the super big gulp style.

This is the main resource for anyone interested in making one:
http://www.homepokertourney.com/tables_build.htm

Total price is looking like £250, hopefully worth it. Although I have yet to buy anything yet, I am making sure I can get everything I need 1st. There is a product called Perfect Padded Rail but I think I want to make my own rail, assuming I can find the right foam. And I think you can only get Perfect Padded Rail from the US too, as with a lot of the items I want!

Keep us posted on the project.  Something I intend to do as well.  The wife will be pleased...

Anyway, with regards to the foam - have you tried contacting foam suppliers directly.  http://www.efoam.co.uk/ is one that came up on google, and there are loads more.  Don't have a clue how much they charge, but I'm sure they'll have something suitable.

So far I have contacted a large fabric / sewing store and they said they don't stock foam that size but could order it for £150. Err, I'll get back to you! Something like £20-30 is what I'm after.

Could you not get a long thin bit that goes right round the table? You might need to cut darts in it for the curved end, but it might work.

RioRodent on this forum, builds great poker tables, top quality.
He may be able to help you, im sure he gets most of his bits from America.
Might be worth pm'ing him or if he sees this im sure he will reply.

If you're looking to spend upto £250 why dont you buy a new one?  get some real nice ones for that price.

http://www.williamdowie.com/poker/wp/?page_id=20 (http://www.williamdowie.com/poker/wp/?page_id=20)

The above link may help.....

lol, i love the slogan "making the finest poker tables since 2006" given that we are only 30 something days into 2007 :D

Been to that site already, unfourtunately even though they are from the UK they bought everything from the US :( Which isn't really what I want to do, high shipping, long waits, possible customs charges. But re-examining the site, they bought their foam from http://www.smfoam.co.uk/ so I will see if I can get the right size, then I will have no more excusses for not making the table.

As for these real nice poker tables for £250, where might they be? I have seen some Ok ones for £300 and some real nice ones for £450... but not for around the £250 area.

Looks like you might need to use 2 peices - doubt you could tell if the vinyl's put on well.

Also they used 1 inch thick - 3 might be a bit too much ;)

Our local market has a foam seller I'm sure.  It's been a while since I've been, but there was one.  Worth checking out and asking them.  There's a shop in Woodley (nr Reading) that sells foam too. 

Good luck with this.  I looked into building one last year but haven't started yet :D  Be interested to see how you get on :)

I bought foam for under the cloth from efoam.co.uk and found there service to be first rate, and funnily enough I bought my foam for the padded rail from Silo's said shop in Woodley, it is called Freelance Fabrics and cost me about £20.

you can try http://www.poker-shop.co.uk/home_casino_gbp_en.html i think it is they do really nice tables, and custom ones we got one done from them cost 350 but thats with the legs table its self was about 200

3" definately seems too much now compared to theirs. But i definately want to use just one piece of both foam and vinyl. You can see a join in the foam through the vinyl because it's pulled really tight.

Does this shop in Woodley have a website? Do you think they will do mail order?

Otherwise I think i'll get Premium Firm 80"x90" from here http://www.smfoam.co.uk/site/html/foam.php

TheWhisper, what spec of foam did you get for under the cloth? Did you use 1" for the rail or a bit thicker?

Now then, anyone want to show me a pre built table before I start ordering all this stuff?

Thanks for the help guys.

Hi Rich,

I'm just going out for a couple of hours, but when I get back I'll spend a bit time and do you list of where I get all my materials from.

In the meantime checkout Scott Keens forum for some great tips on all aspects of table building... http://www.scottkeen.com/forum/

Cheers,
Alan

woodley ?  in bredbury(stockport) ? if so tell me where abouts it is i live there ill get the number for u

Try ebay for a table i know it's a cheapy one but 2nd item i looked at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110072722671&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RUPX_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=110086200421&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=active_view_item&usedrule1=UpSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110072722671&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RUPX_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=110086200421&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=active_view_item&usedrule1=UpSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget)

i manufacture poker tables hows this for you £200+vat
i make these for grovesnor casinos so the quality is very good

Well the price is right, but the table isn't quite. If you do different styles then maybe..? It's for home games, so wouldn't want a dealer cut out and would definately want cup holders. If shipping adds on £100 or something silly then I'm back into make it myselft territory I think.


Not after a cheap one mate. Been there done that.


I'm in N Wales but shipping across the UK beats shipping accross the Atlantic ;) When are you ordering stuff? I think a couple of things, probably cloth and cupholders would be a lot cheaper from the US if I didn't have to pay all the shipping.

Well the price is right, but the table isn't quite. If you do different styles then maybe..? It's for home games, so wouldn't want a dealer cut out and would definately want cup holders. If shipping adds on £100 or something silly then I'm back into make it myselft territory I think.

we can do them without the cut out for about £15 cheaper,cup holders can be done for aprox £45 so this would be about £230+vat these are really good quality tables and cloth and hand rails...i will get a few pics

Do you have a website? Do you need a website, I sense a deal coming on...

As mentioned, does it have legs? What shipping costs would there be?

lol,i manufacture furniture for most of the leading companes in the uk,and ive just started skimming the surface of this coz cardiff casino asked if i could make them,all i know is that im going to be much cheaper than the poker table sites out there at the moment we are making 16 for cardiff 14 for swansea and maybee some for elliot in Brighton....
what makes them cheaper for us to make is that we have 20,000 meters of vinyl in stock 7000,000meters of fabric in stock diffrent colours and my own joinery shop(wood mill) and 17 joiners,ive priced them up for all materials and it costs aprox £110+labour so £200+vat is going to be very competitive....

I think you might be suprised how little the shipping from the US is... I would have look at YourAutoTrim (http://www.yourautotrim.com/capraucl.html)... if you register with Scott Keen's forum you will get discount at YAT.

I would recomend YAT for Playing Surface Cloth, Foam for under cloth (1/4" Volara) and Cup Holders.

SM Foam are good for rail foam... go for 1" thick.

Be sure to get a Vinyl with a knitted backing, as opposed to woven... one from the'Stock' range at The Uholstery Shop (http://www.upholsteryshop.co.uk/index.php?cPath=32) will be fine.

A bit of advice about doing a racetrack table... DON'T!!!!  It is a lot of extra work... a lot of extra expense (you have to use a decent plywood eg birch faced)... and they realy aren't very practical.

If you must have cupholders then put them in the rail.

Cupholders - the small (regular) cupholders from YAT or PimpMyPoker (http://www.pimpmypoker.com/) are just big enough for a beer/soft drink can or 1/2 pint bottle... if you to be able to put a cup, glass or water bottle in one then you will need the jumbo size ones. PMP also give discount to Scott Keen Members.

Have you tried to put cupholders in the rail? I would imagine that it is even more work than making a racetrack table. I could go the Bellagio route and just use a serviette on the table with your drink on, but I think more drinks will get spilt at my house than in the Bellagio. I'll price up all the stuff and see what it comes to. Have you shipped all this stuff over? Did you get any customs fees?

Would I still need 2 sheets of plywood if I make a table without a racetrack? Or could I use 1 sheet of plywood and 1 sheet of mdf for the rail?

Thanks for all the info.

Have you thought of using those cup holders with the bit to slip under the rail? They used them in a csino I was in & they worked well (apart from when in seat 1 I put my beer in the silver cup-holder that was the dealer's tips holder  ;oopsy;).

Same no of holes to cut... but 6 or 7 coats of varnish less!!


Yes... had to pay VAT once, but that was when I ordered enough for 3 tables... if you're just making one table you'll be OK.


I would stick with ply... 15mm mdf is heavy and the dust gets everywhere (and is harmful).


Excellent idea.  :)up

Wot about mounting the cup holder through the foam and the vinyl, doesn't that cause problems   ;carlocitrone; and possibly produce a rubbish finish around the edge.

I didn't say it was all easy... I'd made two for myself (without cupholders) before I got the knack of making a rail  that I thought was good enough to sell to someone else.

If you don't feel like cutting them into the rail, then my advice would be the ones with the tab that slide under the rail... anything but a racetrack!!

And another thing... to make a decent racetrack table, with a flush playing surface, you actually need a 3rd sheet of ply.

Just spoted this. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Webber-Delux-10-seat-Poker-Table-The-BestAvaliable_W0QQitemZ110087042760QQihZ001QQcategoryZ35749QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now i may be stupid and have never used ebay but in bid history for this item how comes bidder 3 managed to inflate the price from £5 to £100 all with in 20 minutes of one day.
Is this not suspicious?

No, bidder 3 would have put in his max bid and then a subsequent bid by another person will have increased it to that amount automatically.

These are cheap, far east imports.

The racetrack sits on top of the playing surface... I've not played on one but I would think it makes moving your chips in and out  a nightmare.

If you are going to buy one, then I would say that sofa--king's tables look pretty good value.

If you are going to build one then you MUST read / search the table building board on Scott Keen's forum... all your questions have already been asked and answered on there.

If you are going to buy one, then I would say that sofa--king's tables look pretty good value.thanks mate...ive found we made afew racetrack tables and they really look the part but wasnt practical,,the chips slip all over the place..im trying out a few new designs of a drinks holder that folds away i think you get the idea

I have played on a couple of racetrack tables and one was fine, the other had the racetrack and cloth and different heights (significantly!) and it was a bit aukward.