How To Build A Poker Table (or not)

Go HERE for Poker Table #2.

Well, as you can see from the picture I decided for my first table to be only a table top and not have legs for a bit more portability with the possibility of legs in the future. I have affectionately named it Trial and Error for that exact reason, all of the trial and error that went into my first poker table.

It started out with a 4′x8′ 5/8″ MDF from Home Depot. You can’t really see it but all the measurements have been marked and they are ready for cutting. I decided that this table would be the classic tournament “oval” shape and that it would be approximately an 8 seater at 48″x80″, having cut off 16″ from the end of the board.

Here you can see all the cuts that have been made that will provide the table with the exact shape it will have along with all the scraps and tools used laying right on top. I also plugged in the electric sander and went to work on the edges smoothing them out with a 60 grit to start with and finished it with a 150 grit. I hear you are supposed to go even higher than that but I didn’t feel like making trip number 1,000 to Home Depot. HINT: Prior planning is KEY!

Next you can see that I have cut out the 3″ rail that will go all the way around. This rail here is made out of particle board. This was also cut down to 48″x80″ from a 4′x8′ 5/8″ board from Home Depot. From here on out I won’t bother mentioning Home Depot because that’s where I got everything, except for just a few items that I will point out where they came from as well.

I took the rail back off the main part of the table and got to staining. The one I, and when I say “I” – I really mean Katie, picked out was MINWAX Wood Finish English Chestnut 233. I would say that it came out rather nicely. I put down two coats of this. See, this is where my table differs from most all other tables. I wanted to try my hand at a simple beginner’s table and just use the wood as the playing surface without adding in the felt center. I was partially inspired by a conference table at my roommate Chris’ office that we had a poker night at once, it was very slick. Plus, Katie mentioned how she liked the way the grain of the wood looked once stained and I agreed with her, it gives it character having it look a bit different.

This is me attempting to get rid of a warp in the wood. One end of the board has a significant, at least 1″, warp that I have been trying to get out with limited success. Like I said earlier, this is my first table, so I don’t expect it to be perfect by any means.

These next two shots are of the edge of the table painted with RUST-OLEUM Protective Enamel Flat Black with the first coat of MINWAX Polyurethane Clear Gloss. I would eventually put on four coats of this.

The next three pictures here are of the covering of the rail in doubled up 1/2″ auto trim foam from Fisher Auto Trim here in Lubbock, TX. I got myself only 2 yards of it. If they had 1″ foam then I should have gotten 3 yards of it so that it would be one uniform rail without pieces, trial and error, right? I glued it all down together with the highly recommended 3M “77″ Super spray Ahesive. It worked like a charm as you can see.

Unfortunately I had already bought the vinyl, 2 yards of it, at Hancock Fabrics before I bought the foam and realized it would have been MUCH easier to do it as one large piece instead of four cut outs, but again, this is where I’m learning. The next several photos will take you through my wrapping of the rail in vinyl. This is easily the hardest part of the table and is mostly a two person job, for half of it my girlfriend Katie helped and my roommate Andy helped with the second half of it and my hands are still killing me from this as I type. For the wrapping I used 3/8″ staples and my PowerShot staple gun, beware, you will use hundreds of staples, trust me and you will have some freakish looking forearms when you are finished.

The final two pictures here are of the finished rail flipped over, it doesn’t look half bad for my first rail/upholstery job, a few wrinkles here or there, but not anything I can’t live with. Then comes the completed table top. I secured the rail to the table playing surface with six 1 1/2″ flat wood screws. It worked perfectly and there isn’t any wobble in the rail. I am moving this weekend and having a poker game with beer and pizza for those helping me move so I will have a few more pictures of this thing in action in a few more days.

Those legs in the last photo belong to my roommate Andy. He helped me test it out by throwing cards and chips back and forth across the table with me. I’m really looking forward to playing on it for the first time. Now we’ll see if I have enough time to work on making some coasters out of the MDF that I have left over. I’ll take pictures of that when I’m done.