A quality poker table can be the difference between a decent poker night and an outstanding one. A player pushing all his chips in to the centre of a coffee table feels like a small time nobody. A player pushing all his chips into the middle of a quality poker table feels like he’s all-in, heads up at the World Series. Despite this, far too many home games are suffering from an easily-remedied problem. The vast majority of home game players are, unfortunately and unnecessarily, still playing on dining room tables or Grandma’s little Euchre table. If you play poker once a week, if you play poker once a month, if your poker game is at all a regular event, then you need a real poker table, and there is one out there to fit the needs of your game and your budget.
What Style Is Right For Me?
There are three common styles of poker table available to prospective owners, each with its own advantages. These styles are octagonal, round, and oval “hold ‘em” tables.
Octagonal and round tables are smaller symmetrical designs. Octagonal generally hold 8 players and round tables generally hold between 6 and 8 players. Octagonal and round tables are good options for people who have space constraints or smaller games, as the tables take up less space.
Oval hold ‘em tables are larger than octagons or round tables, usually 7 to 8 feet in length and 4 feet in width. They are better for larger games as an 8 foot table can seat up to 10 people comfortably and more can be squeezed in if necessary. Also, oval tables add a feeling of professionalism for many players, as they are the table type used in the major tournaments that have become so popular on television.
Features And Construction
When buying your table you will be confronted by many different construction options and features. Always inquire what materials are used in construction if details aren’t made readily available. Any reputable builder selling a quality product will be glad to tell you what their tables are made of. Here is a list of the most common materials and their advantages:
Woods: Most tables make heavy use of plywood as their main construction material. This is because plywood is affordable, readily available, and comes in sheets perfectly sized for poker tables. The second most common is MDF (medium-density-fiberboard). The biggest advantage to MDF is that it is perfectly flat. However, it tends to hold screws poorly, so if you’re buying an MDF table, make sure the builder used compatible fasteners. Some builders use hardwoods on their tables. This is not as commonly used as the ply or MDF, except on some octagonal tables, and it is a higher-end, more expensive option.
Foams: Poker tables have two places that make critical use of foams - the padded rail, and under the playing surface. The foam for the padded rail should be high-density foam, usually 1” thick but sometimes thicker. Rail foam should always have 100% recovery, which means no matter how many times you compress it, it will always spring back to its original shape. The foam underneath (more…)
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