Create Your Own Card Night Table

An American tradition, card and game night is a time when friends and family come together to relax and have fun. One way you can make these nights even more enjoyable, especially for fans of poker, is a custom card table, tailored to the type of games you like and the number of people playing. To get card tables that meet the requirements of your game group without spending a year’s worth of buy-ins, build your own at home!

Building a DIY card table is an easier process than you would guess, but there are still a few steps that can be easily overlooked by an inexperienced card player or table maker if they haven’t done their research. Beyond the basics (most game tables are round or oblong, have soft elbow padding around the outside edge, etc.) a few smaller touches can separate the bland from the best.

Perhaps the most easily overlooked aspect of a great card table is that there’s a layer of padding under the playing surface: thin rubber sheets, very similar to exercise mats. A high-density foam pad is usually used, about 1/8 of an inch thick, which is soft enough to pad the table, but firm enough for stability. Many people don’t realize the table is padded until they play on a wood-only surface. Comfort isn’t the only reason for these pads either. When closed-cell foam is used, the cushion is non-absorbent, smart for protecting against condensation or spills. The gentle give of the padding also makes sliding and picking up cards easier, prevents chips from bouncing wildly, and keeps games quieter as well.

Another table component of the table to keep in mind is the fabric. It needs to be smooth enough to easily move cards and chips, but durable and able to be to spot cleaned as well. While table fabric is often referred to as felt, genuine felt is a very poor material for tabletops. Felt pills quickly and gets linty, quickly showing wear. Poker fabric is specially made for these applications and is a much more durable layer, able to give you years of game night enjoyment