Couple of questions/opinions..

[Telnets]

So, I have a simple table i built from an old kitchen table. Its 5ft long, by about 3ft wide. It fits 6 people great and thats really all i need/play with. I added a padded rail, and a padded full surface area with green SSC.

Heres a pic
http://www.telnets.org/gallery/albums/album57/IMG_1006.jpg

Anyhow, So after playing on it a few times, I want to improve the table.

The 2 main things i would like to improve are: Cup holders, and adding a betting line/surface.

With the cup holders, I dont want to embed them into the playing field, and I dont want to embed them into the padded rail. So im leaning towards a racetrack area where they look better, and its seperate from the playing field. A racetrack also allows me to incorporate a betting area seperate form the players chips, without getting custom felt with a line on it.

However, according to my previous poll, most people think the racetrack is nice to look at, but an annoyance to play with due to its harder surface.

My Idea:
Cutting a race track into the table and padding the playing surface of course, however, instead of staining/varnishing the race track, i was thinking about also padding and felting that surface as well in a seperate color.

For example, a black rail, then a black SSC padded racetrack with cup holders, then the green playing surface out in front/middle. This gives a padded surface for the chips, seperates the playing surface from the chip holding area, and gives an area for drink holders around the table. I was also thinking about raising the playing surface about 1/4 inch or so above the "track" as well..

What are your thoughts? Could this be a good idea? has anyone seen it before? any suggestions or "that would be aweful!" opinions?

Anyone have any good color combinations I should look into that would look pretty snazzy? or even suggestions to use a mix of SSC playing surface and say suede railtrack

[ChanmanPokerTables]

i built a felted racetrack table a little while ago, red and black with cup holders in the rail. i padded both the playing surface and the racetrack, both were the same level though, i didn't raise the playing surface at all, i didn't see any reason to do that.

the best tool to use for cutting out the centre playing surface area is a router. it's really hard to get a straight line and an even curve using a jigsaw, even when using a guide because jigsaw blades like to bend and wander. a router will leave a 1/4" gap though when you've cut out the centre piece, so to fill it up, you can use strips of 1/8" hardboard and staple/nail them to the edges to fill in the gap.

here's a pic:

[robinnh]

Get some TV trays/side tables, and don't allow drinks on the table. That is my preference.

[BPTDirector]

Originally Posted by robinnh

Get some TV trays/side tables, and don't allow drinks on the table. That is my preference.

I'm with you on this.
BPT

[ChanmanPokerTables]

you can always get cup holders attached to underneath the table that slide/rotate out.

[abby99]

I provide side tables for drinks/snacks, and for those who aren't seated near a side table, I have slide-under cup holders. Slide-unders are nice because they can be located wherever they're convenient for the players, in contast to fixed cup holders that are, well, fixed.

[JeromyinWV]

I think your table is not wide enough to do a race track. You have 36 inches -you lose 8 or 10 for the rail and another 10 for the race track. Only leaves <20 inches for playing surface. I'd do under the rail or off the table.

[MikesDad]

I use the cup holders with the long tab that slides under the rail. I don't attach my rails to my table since I need to take them off the store the tables... never been a problem

-- Dennis

[DodgeViper]

No Food or drinks should be around a table. If you want to destroy a custom cloth real quick then allow it but at my games the answer when ask is NO. Greasy hands lead to greasy cards, greasy cards lead to a playing surface that gets screwed up. I just finished this custom and I am not about to have a $400.00 custom cloth ruin by drinks or food... My table began in me putting cup holders on the surface but the more I thought about it I decided against it, for one not enough room and second when I decided to do a custom cloth the cup holders went bye bye. My first table I made these slide out cup holders below to be mounted under the table. Doing so the drinks are below the playing surface.

[Sweet]

I use the slide under style also. Quite a few casinos use this style too, where the cup holder will have a tab that slides under the arm rest. Spinetti's sells them on Ebay for about $4 each.